Chapter Three
I tried to lift my heavy eyelids as the strong smell of anti-bacterial cleaner burnt my nostrils. My mouth was so dry. It was the first time in my life that I actually understood what the term, “cotton mouth” meant. I tried to swallow, but my neck hurt. It was just as well, there wasn’t enough spit to coat the back of my throat and force down the knot I felt there. Something was beeping….was it my phone? I suddenly remembered that I’d been on the floor before. I was trying to get to my phone…I needed to call for help. I bent my knees, or at least I tried to and I tried to get my feet to meet the floor so I could get some leverage. The floor was soft now…that didn’t make any sense.
I gave up on moving for a second and concentrated on pulling open my eyelids. It took a ridiculous amount of effort, but I finally got the right one open a slit. That beeping noise was beginning to become annoying. I had to get to my phone. My half open eye was being assaulted by the light. Why was the light so bright? My eye was watering and it wanted to close again. I refused to let it though…my heart was slamming against the inside of my chest. I needed help. I turned my head and that was when I realized I wasn’t at home any longer. I was in a big, glass room. I could see people in brightly colored clothes…uniforms, maybe? They were scurrying back and forth. God! My head was beginning to pound to the rhythm of that beeping noise. What the hell was that?
The glass door on my gilded cage slid open and one of the people from outside…this one a plump lady in a bright pink outfit came in. She acted like she didn’t see me. Oh Jesus! Am I dead? I don’t think so. Everything hurts, even my fingertips. If I was dead, I wouldn’t be able to feel that pain, would I?
The plump lady somehow put a stop to the beeping. She finally looked at me then and when she saw that one of my eyes was half open, she smiled. “Well, hello there. You decided to wake up, finally?” I opened my mouth to answer her but my lips were so dry. It felt like they had cracked from the lack of moisture…It’s okay, honey. Just relax,” the pink lady told me. “I’m going to get the doctor, okay? I’ll be right back.”
The doctor? I must have made it to the hospital somehow. I didn’t even remember making it to the phone. I waited in silence and a lot of pain until at last the pink lady came back, this time with a well-dressed man with a white lab jacket over the top of his dress shirt and pants.
“Hello there Miss Cooper, I’m Dr. Yancey.” I hoped that this man knew I couldn’t answer him. I felt like my mouth was hanging open, but still no sound was coming out of it. Maybe if I had something to drink…that would help. “Do you know where you’re at?”
I struggled to answer him, finally producing something that sounded a lot more like an animal sound than it did, “hospital.” The doctor must speak animal, however because he said, “That’s right you’re in the hospital. Do you remember what happened to you?”
I grunted out a “Yes.” I would have liked it to be followed with “unfortunately,” but that was asking too much. “Water?” I managed to ask.
“You can have a sip,” he said, nodding towards the nurse. Suddenly there was a straw pressed against my sore lips. I somehow managed to get then around it and sucked in a mouthful. The nurse pulled it away quickly. I guess I was abusing my sipping privileges. I held the water in my parched mouth for as long as I could before letting the cool liquid slide down my throat. It felt better than sex. “Better?” he asked. Was it good for you?
“Better,” I said. My words still didn’t sound right, even with a layer of moisture. My lips were sore, maybe they were swollen.
“Do you remember what happened to you?”
“I got the shit kicked out of me,” I said. It sounded like, “I ought the it icked out of me.” The doctor smiled, I can’t be sure if it was at my discomfort, my grammar or the simple fact that I got my ass kicked.
“I’m going to examine you, okay? As I do, I will go over with you what injuries you have. If there is anything you don’t understand, or you need explained, let me know.” I said a strange sounding okay and he got started with the poking and prodding. When all was said and done he told me that I’d been in the hospital for almost twelve hours. I had two broken ribs, a punctured lung which was now sporting a tube to keep it inflated, a severe concussion, a few broken teeth…in back, thank God. My right arm was broken and my left had been dislocated when I came in. I had bruises and contusions from head to toe…but the good news is there were no signs of sexual assault.
The only question I had was, “Is there anything that’s not broken or damaged?”
He smiled again and said, “Well, your sense of humor seems to still be intact. I have one more unpleasant task to ask of you. The police have been waiting to speak to you.” I nodded…that was the biggest mistake I made all day.
“Shit!”
“I’m sorry. I know you must be in a lot of pain. We’ll give you something else for it as soon as you speak to the officers, okay?” I was smart enough not to nod again. I said, “Yes,” but it sounded like “Ess.”
The police officers were two older gentlemen. They seemed concerned about me, which was nice but when I told them it was one of them who had beat me up, they seemed skeptical, which pissed me off.
“You’re saying that Detective Mitch Slocum did this to you?”
“Yes.”
“Are you involved in a relationship with Detective Slocum?”
“No.”
“Okay, so this was a random assault?”
“No.”
“I’m confused,” the detective said. I could understand that, but I don’t think he understood that the effort I was having to put forth to talk to him was tantamount to climbing Mt. Everest at the moment. Full sentences were practically out of the question.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I will try to explain.” I started with Mitch’s attack of Paul in the gym. I did my best from there to describe the terror that he’d been dishing out on Paul, Marie, Victor and myself. When I finished talking the detectives looked at each other and one of them said, “Do you know where we can find Mr. Delport or his sister?”
“No. I can give you his phone number, but I don’t know where he is now.”
They took his number and asked me if I had any questions. I only had one: “Who called the ambulance?”
The detective flipped through his pad and said, “Greg Madison.” I had no idea how Greg knew I needed an ambulance, but I was very grateful that he did. Everyone should have a boss like him. The detectives thanked me and said they would be in touch. They left and I finally got my pain shot in the IV. As I closed my good eye once again and let sleep take over my aching body I tried not to think about the fact that Mitch was still out there, somewhere.
*****
The next time I woke up Greg and Sam and Debbie were in the room. “Hey beautiful,” Sam said. “How are you feeling?”
I tried to smile. If it looked as bad as it felt it’s a wonder I didn’t scare them. “I’m doing alright,” I lied. I felt like warm shit.
“You poor thing,” Debbie said. I didn’t need a mirror. The horror that was my face was apparent on Debbie’s. “Are you in pain? Do you want me to call the nurse?”
“Not yet. Sam, have you heard from Paul?”
“No honey. But we did get some good news from the police officers who were here earlier. They arrested Mitch.” That was good, the best I’d heard all day.
“Good,” I said.
“Do you need anything sweetie? I can go by your apartment and get anything you need…”
“Um…I don’t think so, thanks.” I was really worried about Paul…and Marie. If Mitch would do…this to a complete stranger, I can only imagine what he did to them when he found them. “Greg, they told me you called 911? How did you know?”
“You called me.”
“I did? I remember trying to reach the phone, but I don’t remember actually making it there.”
“You called me earlier about the appointment. Maybe my number was the last one on there. Anyways, all I could hear was you crying and moaning. Scared the shit out of me so I called 911 before I went over.”
“Thanks,” I told him with another half-assed, painful smile.
“I’m just glad…I’m glad you’re gonna be okay.”
They visited for a few more minutes before the nurse came in and told them only one visitor at a time. They all kissed me on my forehead. I hadn’t seen my face yet, but that was the only place that didn’t hurt. They were gone about five minutes and I had just closed my eye again when I heard another familiar voice. I opened my eye and saw Justin…the good one.
“Hi gorgeous.”
I laughed. “Yeah right. I’ll bet I look like something out of Tales from the Crypt.”
He came close to the bed and kissed my forehead like the rest of them had done. “You’re beautiful, as always. I’m so damned sorry this happened to you.”
“Thanks, me too.” I tried to smile again. I really needed to stop doing that.
“Did you know this guy? This isn’t the one that you were seeing, was it?”
“No,” I said, licking my lips. He immediately picked up the water off the bedside table and brought the straw to my lips. I drank and swished because everything was just so damned dry. “Thank you,” I said, grateful for his kindness. “It wasn’t Paul. It’s a really disturbed man who thinks Paul’s wronged him in some way.”
“Can I ask you a personal question? I don’t want to upset you…”
“It’s okay, as you can see I’m kind of tough-skinned.”
“I just wonder why this Paul guy isn’t here. Obviously this wouldn’t have happened to you if you weren’t seeing him. Shouldn’t he be standing vigil?” I was instantly ready to defend him, even to Justin who I knew wasn’t a malicious guy.
“He has bigger worries right now, I’m afraid. He’s a good guy, honest.”
“Okay. If you say so I will believe you.” I felt my eyelids getting heavy again and Justin must have noticed because he said, “I’m going to go and let you get some sleep. I’ll be back to see you.”
“Thank you, Justin.”
“My pleasure,” he said, kissing my forehead again. “By the way since you’re in ICU they won’t let you have flowers and balloons and all of that, but don’t let them jip you when you leave. There’s a whole room full of them out there.” That made my heart warm. One thing some creep who likes to beat on women could never take from me was my amazing friends. I drifted off then for a while, I’m not sure how long before I had more visitors. Mark came to see me and he was sweet and kind and a perfect gentleman. My other gym buddies all showed up one at a time too. I was exhausted, but I was touched and so blessed to have so many good people in my life. The best news I got came at the end of the day when the detective came back to see me. He told me that Mitch was being charged with assault and he was locked up tight at the L.A. County jail. His knuckles were scuffed from beating on me and he still had blood on his clothes. Stupid fuck. He really didn’t deserve to be a cop…or a human being. The next time I closed my eyes I was actually able to sleep peacefully for a while. The only thing still bothering me was not knowing if Paul and his family were safe.