Lance went back to the waiting room and spoke to Lynne and Rickii about getting in touch with Pastor Jeremiah and have the prayer chain put into affect until Elaine was out of danger. Then he turned to the people assembled there. More people had arrived since he had gone in to see Elaine.
She had touched so many lives in the time she had been with them. The Bible Studies were a safe haven and a regrouping tool for a lot of folks. By bringing Jesus to these people, she had brought a peace to their lives. They finally realized there was a purpose to their lives.
He looked to everyone as he walked to the front of the room. When he reached a table they had set up he spoke to everyone. The room was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop. "First of all, I want to thank everyone for being here to lend support to Elaine. She needs our unceasing prayers right now. She is, this moment, being taken up to surgery. I got to speak to her for a few minutes and she is in good spirits. At this time, I would ask that if you have a home church, if you will contact them and ask for prayer for her. If they have a prayer chain or prayer circle, ask them to put it in motion for her. Also, if we could keep some type of prayer group going here at all times until she is out of the woods, I would appreciate it. Pray, not only for Elaine, but for her doctor, Dr. Susie Rent, who asked that we keep the faith and pray."
Lance stopped for a moment and looked down as if to compose himself. When he looked back up, there were tears in his eyes and running down his face.
"Folks, I don't have to tell you what she means to me. You know, you're family. She is my very life and I love her more than my own life. God's going to work a miracle here, but only if we believe. As Dr. Rent said, we have to have faith and pray."
The guys along with Lynne, Rickii, Kelly and Dani came to Lance and they immediately started praying. They went around the circle and each offered their petitions to God.
When they were done, Lance turned and there was an official from the hospital. It seemed they were being bombarded by calls wanting to know what was going on, whether he had been shot and was dead or what was going on. Johnny offered to handle it, but Lance wanted to, because, for one, he wanted the fans to know that he was okay and two, he wanted to ask them to pray for Elaine. He asked that they set something up ASAP as he wanted to get back to the chapel as soon as he was done.
The press and media were called together in the Media Center of the hospital.
The hospital spokesperson called everyone together and advised that Lance would be speaking to them. She asked that they refrain from asking questions until he was done speaking and then only a few questions as he, himself, was recovering from a gunshot wound.
Lance entered the room and took his place at the microphones. "First of all, I would like to thank you all for being here at this ungodly hour and I hope you will understand the briefness of my statement and the fact that I can only take a few questions. A lot of the technical and medical information will be provided by the hospital personnel, so please don't ask me to comment on medical conditions other than to say, they are critical at this time."
He shifted and put his arm, that was in a sling, on the podium. "First of all, my fiancee and I were both shot this evening by a former acquaintance of mine. She is obviously mentally disturbed and was not acting rationally. My fiancee attempted to push me out of the way and in doing so, put her own life in jeopardy. I have been told that by my pulling her with me and being hit first, I may have helped to keep her from being hurt worse. It doesn't make me feel any better. She should never have been hurt in the first place. As I speak to you now, she is fighting for her life in surgery," Lance's voice began to crack with emotion. He stopped for a few seconds and was given some water by Chris, who was standing by his side.
Lance continued, "For those of you listening by radio or watching by television, I have only one request of you. Those of you that are our fans and say you love us and want us to be happy, please show that you do by getting on your knees right now and praying that God works a miracle here tonight. She has the best Neuro Surgeon around for her doctor, but, even she can only do so much. My Elaine, needs your prayers. I need your prayers. We need your prayers, because without her, I am nothing. I beg that you not bother the hospital with calls, no matter how well intended, as they interfere with other important business. We will have regular updates and as soon as she is out of surgery, we will let you know. Now, I will take a few questions and then I must get back to the chapel."
"Sheryl Campbell, Orlando Sentinel, Mr. Bass we would like to extend our heartfelt sympathies for all that has happened and we will be praying that Elaine will be all right. When you referred to her, you called her your fiancee. We are aware that you announced tonight at the concert that you were a couple. Are we to understand that this has changed and you are now engaged?"
Lance actually smiled at this and commented, "Yes, you are correct. We became engaged on the trip from the venue to her birthday party. Kind of funny in away. We just started talking and the next thing we knew, we were engaged."
"Ernie Douglass, Florida Times Union, the woman who shot you, Vivica Lawrence, is she a former girlfriend?"
Lance winced at the mention of her name, but he knew he would have to get used to talking about her as they could not very well hide this one. "Yes, Ms. Lawrence and I were once involved a long time ago. She left and I have moved on."
"Kendra Marshall, Miami Herald, do you have any idea why this happened?"
Lance thought that he better speak carefully. "I have no clue as to why this has happened. The only assumption I could make is that she is severely mentally disturbed to hurt someone like Elaine. She has obviously snapped from where she was when I knew her," he concluded, praying to God to forgive the lie.
"Krista Stempler, USA today, how long have you known your fiance and have you set a date yet?"
Lance welcomed being able to speak about Elaine instead of Vivica. "I've known Elaine for over five years. When her Mom came to work for us, she visited quite often and we became best friends. I used to help her with her Science Projects in school, in fact, at her graduation a few months ago, she was awarded the Science Award for her class. As for setting a date, we have not done that, but I hope to be able to do that real soon. I just pray we are able to. I'm really tired and I need to get back to the waiting room to check on Elaine's progress. Johnny Wright, our manager will be releasing an official statement later and you will all be given a copy. Please excuse me and thank you for understanding. I will talk to you later." He left the reporters to the doctors for explanations.
After the conference, Lance went back to the waiting room, after he went by the surgery ward to check on the progress of the surgery. They had managed to repair the lung and keep the bullet from moving any further in toward the spine. Now, they were tediously following the path the bullet had taken. Her vitals kept fluctuating and they had to really stay on top of things.
When he got back to the waiting room, there were groups gathered all over the room, praying. A lot of people had gone to the chapel to pray. Lance found a couch and laid down to rest for a while. His arm was really starting to hurt and he hoped to get a little rest.
In the operating room down the hall, Dr. Rent was working tediously to repair the damage the bullet had down. Elaine's breathing had become shallow and they were monitoring her respiration and heart rate closely. The procedure they were doing was with a micromini scope following the path of the bullet. As they got closer to the location of the bullet, the swelling increased. As the swelling increased, the heart rate and breathing were more affected.
Susie's hand began to shake. She stopped and took a deep breath. "Lord, keep my hands steady. Keep my eyes focused. Father, help me to save this young woman's life."
She watched the monitor closely as the small camera at the end of the scope showed her the path the bullet had taken. Miraculously, it had missed major bones and arteries. Finally, they had the bullet in sight. As Susie moved the probe around, it appeared she was not going to be able to get the bullet from this angle without causing the bullet to move closer to the nerves coming out from the spine.
The probe was backed out and an incision was made to the side of where the bullet lay. There were numerous nerve endings all around the bullet. It seemed as though they were huddled around the bullet keeping it in place.
Suddenly, the monitors started ringing and beeping and the nurse monitoring Elaine's vitals was shouting that her BP and heart rate were dropping. Susie studied the monitors. She closed her eyes and prayed, "Lord, show me where to go."
The heart monitor went into a flatline. The staff looked at Dr. Rent and she spoke, "We're on the clock!" They started monitoring and doing CPR and readying the paddles, in case they were needed.
(Some people may not believe in "out of body experiences," but I have known two people who have had them. They know about things that happened outside the room of the facility they were in. You may not believe, but I chose to and this next part is based on the experiences of one of the people I know)
The room was cold and bright with light. The view from above was incredible.
Everyone in the room was scurrying around like frightened mice. Elaine saw Dr. Rent watch the nurses working on the body on the table. Was that her?
She blinked her eyes, it seemed, and she was in a waiting room and all her family and friends were in there. Where was Lance? She looked over and saw him lying on a couch with his arm in a sling. Thank God he was all right, she thought. It was as though she were sitting by his side stroking his face and hair as he slept. He was so handsome, she was a lucky girl to have him love her.
Slowly, Lance's eyes opened. He shivered as though a chill had gone through him and right to the bone. There was a sudden fear in his eyes and this frightened her. Lance looked at the clock and it was 3:33 AM. He jumped off the couch and yelled to everyone to start praying for Elaine. "I don't know why, but we have to pray NOW!! Someone get those in the chapel. Everyone join hands and pray."
Everyone was in a circle and they were all praying as one. Elaine watched as they prayed and a bright light caught her eye and seemed to draw her near. The light seemed soothing to her spirit. She did not fear it, in fact, she welcomed it's warmth. It enveloped her body like a warm blanket. It was so peaceful and serene. As she went closer to the light, she heard singing. It was her favorite hymn "Amazing Grace." The voices that sang were perfect. It was a huge choir that seemed to go on forever. She stood and listened.
The sound surrounded her with love. It was a presence near her that brought her back from listening to the heavenly music. She turned and there was a person standing by her. She could not really make out whether it was a man or woman. The creature was incredibly beautiful.
"Welcome my child. We are so glad to have you."
"But, why am I here? I want to go back to Lance. He needs me."
"You must renew your strength. There is a lot ahead of you and you need to have a renewed strength and a renewed spirit. Evil is still in your future and you must look to the One who can deliver you from it."
This being talked to Elaine without talking. It was as though they had mental telepathy. After what seemed like a long time, Elaine started moving from the light. She had been told many things and she wanted to be back with the man of her dreams.
"Thank you for all you have done for me," conveyed Elaine.
"Thank you for believing," came this huge deep voice. "There is a reason for your existence. I am proud of you my child, you have kept my Word and commandments. Now go and stand strong in the face of adversity."
In a flash, Elaine was at Lance's side. She reached out and touched his cheek and conveyed every ounce of love she had in her for him. Suddenly, he felt as though everything would be all right.
He looked at the clock and it was 3:40AM. His body began to shake as if he were extremely fatigued. As he looked at the others, he said, "She's going to be fine, don't ask me how I know, but she is going to be fine." He crawled back on the couch and went back to sleep, relaxed this time for he felt in his soul that she would be okay.
Back in the operating room, another miracle had occurred. They had gotten Elaine's heart back beating, stronger than ever and when they went to roll her back to try and remove the bullet, the bullet was lying on the table. Dr. Rent lifted her eyes to heaven and prayed, "Thank you Father for your miraculous wonders." She proceeded to close the incisions and to bring her off the anesthesia.
Lance slept sound and hard for about thirty minutes. When he awoke, he felt the best he had felt in a long time. He felt so rested and refreshed. He was smiling and Chris wondered if he had took too much pain medication and was on a drug high. "No, I'm feeling great because I know that Elaine is going to be all right."
"How do you know?" asked Justin.
"I'm not sure, but I felt her leaving us and that's when I started praying. Then when I stopped, it was like she was right there beside me encouraging me to be strong. She even gave me a date for us to get married."
"What?"
"I'm going to wait and see what she says before I say anything else."
Around 4:30AM, the door to the waiting room opened and in walked Dr. Rent with the biggest smile on her face. She gave Gwen a big hug and told everyone to sit down. As they listened intently, she conveyed ALL that had happened in the OR. When she told of Elaine's heart stopping, Lance asked what time it was. When she told him, he looked as though he had seen a ghost. And the time that she was revived, when they both said 3:40 together, they both looked at one another, almost knowingly.
Of course the biggest news was how the bullet was removed. "I have been a doctor for many years and nothing ceases to amaze me, but this I am completely and totally amazed by. All I can say is, you guys must have been doing some heavy duty praying while I was in there and I thank you for me and my patient. We are still concerned due to the time it took to revive her, but somehow, I don't think we are going to have to worry about that."
Lance was so excited he couldn't stand still. "How long before I can see her?"
"She is in recovery right now and we will be monitoring her for a couple of hours before we move her to a room. You can see her then."
Lance took Susie's hands and held them to his chest. "You have given me back my heart and my love. There is always a place for you in our lives, always." He held her and gave her a hug and whispered thank you to her.
"You are very welcome Lance. I am so thankful we were successful. God is good. Remember that."
As it was going to be a couple of hours before he could see her, he decided to go home and change clothes so that he was more presentable to see her. He let the guys know what he wanted to do. "Why don't I take you home and I have all of Elaine's gifts in my vehicle too. When we went to get the food, we got her presents as well. That way I can empty out my car when I drop you off," said Joey.
"That will be great. We can put them in the family room until she gets home.
Home, that sounds so good to say that she will be home," said Lance. And off they went.
