Prodigal Son(71)

“No, I didn’t see a gun,” I answered, for the second time. “He might have one, but all I saw was the knife. I flinched as the paramedic brushed up against my chest. “Ow,” I yelped, as I saw fresh blood seeping through the t-shirt I’d thrown on to cover up.

“Hey, back off a minute,” the paramedic said to the cops, waving them away. “She’s bleeding.”

The paramedic called for help and for a stretcher, while one of the police officers in the living room called back to the guys in the bedroom.

“Everything okay back there?”

I didn’t really think that I needed to be taken out on a stretcher, but I was too overwhelmed to argue with the medical folks. I was settling myself as one of the cops came out of the bedroom, and I couldn’t believe that he was pushing Luke ahead of him. The man who’d rescued me was in handcuffs.

“Luke!” I cried out, horrified at the rough treatment he was getting. “What’s going on?” I yelled.

The officer who held Luke’s arm explained. “We have a dead man in the bedroom, and this man admitted to killing him. Baseball bat is his weapon of choice, apparently.”

I was frantic, and I pulled at the sleeve belonging to one of the cops I’d been talking to, but he ignored me.

“He says he had no choice, but we have to take him in and at least get his statement. We need a statement from the girl, too. He says she’s injured, and we’re going to need to know the extent of her injuries.”

I watched, helpless as the cop took Luke outside.

I grabbed the arm of the cop who stood nearest me. “He saved my life. You can’t arrest him.”

“Ma’am, calm down,” he said. “You’re injured. We’re going to get you taken care of, and we’ll sort this out. If he didn’t do anything wrong, then he has nothing to worry about.”

“But you don’t understand. Bug was gonna kill me.” I could feel myself start to hyperventilate, and I started crying as my breathing became increasingly rapid and shallow. “You have to stop them. He saved me from…”

“Ma’am, you have to calm down,” the paramedic told me. “If you don’t calm down, we’ll have to give you something to sedate you. Do you hear me?”

I took a deep, ragged breath, and forced myself to be still, stop talking, and focus on what was most important.

“I’m okay,” I said. “I’m calm now,” I said, sounding much more composed than I felt.

The paramedic smiled and put her hand on my arm. “I know you’ve been through a lot, honey, and we’re gonna take good care of you. Everything will be okay.”

She and her partner put me in the ambulance, and one of the police officers sat silently off to the side, while they temporarily patched me up on the way to the hospital. His blank expression revealed nothing, though I tried to listen in to the phone calls he received on the ride to the emergency room. When we arrived, I had no idea what was going on with Luke, but I tried to stay calm and figured that I could be most helpful by explaining everything that had happened, as clearly as possible.

“Well, Krystal,” the physician assistant said as he entered the room. “I can’t say I’m happy to see you again. Want to tell me what happened?”

The police officer who had been asking me questions stepped back when the PA entered. “I’ll be right outside the door, and we’ll finish up after your exam,” he said as he exited.

I told the story to the PA, and he examined all of my injuries, deciding that as long as we kept butterfly bandages on them, that they weren’t deep enough to need stitches.

“You’ll need to keep them clean, of course, and Krystal,” he said, looking me straight in the eye. “You need to stay away from the guy who did this to you. Two days in a row in the ER is too many.”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry. I won’t be back.”

“Well, all things considered, you were pretty lucky. We’ll get you all cleaned up and bandaged up, and you’ll be free to go. You take care of yourself.”

He walked outside the room and I could hear him talking to the cop. It hadn’t completely sunk in that Bug was dead, and I figured that I should probably feel sorry, or guilty, or something, but to tell you the truth, all I felt was relief. I hadn’t realized how much of my energy had been consumed by him until that burden was gone. As soon as Luke was cleared and released, my fresh start could begin.

Not until I’d gotten my discharge orders and signed all of the paperwork, did I realize that I had no way to get home. I tried to call Luke, but his phone was turned off, and I assumed that he was still at the police station. I managed to catch the police officer who’d taken my statement just before he left.