CHAPTER TWELVE

 

He didn’t bother going into the living room to sit down. Instead he sat on the stairs and I watched as he gingerly touched the back of his head. His fingertips came away bloody and he scrunched his nose at them before dropping his hand and leaning one shoulder against the wall. I knew he had more than just a headache.

By the time the police arrived McCoy’s back was against the wall and his eyes were closed. Carly and I greeted the officers at the door and explained the whole mess. One was a male officer, the other a petite female who helped my case more than I could have anticipated. The male officer was a tall, thin man with thinning hair. He scanned the entrance to my home with scrutinous eyes, and when his stare settled on McCoy I found myself growing defensive.

“McCoy is…” what was the right word? “McCoy is my boyfriend. Jason is my ex,” I pointed to Jason on the ground. “He broke in, assaulted McCoy, and then came after me and Carly. If McCoy hadn’t been here I don’t know what would have happened.”

The female officer nodded and took over the conversation from there. She flipped open a notepad and frantically scribbled down every detail I told her. I paused when I was halfway through the story. “Are paramedics coming?”

She nodded. “Yes dear, not too long now. Carl, will you check on him?”

Carl, the balding officer, nodded and stepped into my home. He made for Jason on the floor. “Not that one,” the female cop stated, then she pointed her chin to McCoy.

“Thank you,” I said to her.

She turned her attention back to me and her stern expression softened. “Of course. Now, what happened after he smashed the table?”

I continued to tell her everything and tried my best not to leave anything out. As I spoke I watched Carl stand in front of McCoy and prod his leg. McCoy didn’t stir.

“I’m sorry,” I told the female officer, “I need to be with him. I can’t do this right now.”

Carly took over for me as I went to McCoy. Carl was bent down in front of him and was reaching out to shake his shoulder. He looked over his shoulder and called for the other officer. “Jenna, how far away are those medics?”

“Not far, a couple minutes at most.”

“These boys are in bad shape.”

I sat on the stair beside McCoy. The officer tried to shake him awake. “Jason hit him with that bat,” I said, pointing at the bat on the ground. “On the back of the head. He was out for at least a full five minutes. Maybe more.”

Carl nodded. “Don’t worry miss. I’m sure it’s just a concussion. When the medics arrive they will take good care of him. We should, at the very least, try to keep him awake. If it’s a serious concussion they won’t want him sleeping just yet.”

“Okay,” I said, turning my attention to McCoy. He looked the same way he had when he spent his first night at my house. All the lines of tension around his eyes were gone. He was relaxed in sleep. I called his name and tapped his cheeks.

His eyes fluttered open and it took him a while to focus on me. “I’m sorry,” I said, trying to offer him my best reassuring smile. “You have to try to stay awake. The paramedics are coming. Everything will be okay. But you were hit pretty hard.”

“I’m alright,” he said, more for my benefit than his own, I knew. I put my hand on his knee and we sat together and waited while Carly finished explaining all that she could of the incident. When she came to the point in the story where she ran to get help, Jenna, the cop, came to stand before me and McCoy to get the rest of the details.

I ran through them quickly, all the while casting worried glances in McCoy’s direction. He was awake, at least, but he wasn’t himself. It unsettled me. His motor functions seemed slower, and the grip he had on my hand was weaker than I was used to.

Jenna tucked her notebook and pen back into her front pocket of her shirt. She smiled down at us. “Well, I think this is all I should need for now. If I need anything else, I will call. Are you pressing charges?”

I looked at McCoy. His head was back against the wall again, but his eyes were still open, watching me. I nodded. “Yes I am.”

“Good,” Jenna sounded satisfied. “Jerks like this get away with this kind of thing too often. You are willing to testify in court?”

“Yes.”

✤

When the paramedics arrived they went to Jason first. I had expected as much, he was in worse shape. They loaded him on to a stretcher and then into the ambulance. Jenna went with them, telling me that an officer would be with him until he was healed, at which point he would be placed under arrest.

Carl brought the paramedics over to McCoy next. One of them, an older gentleman with a well groomed goatee, clicked on a small flashlight and shone it in both of McCoy’s eyes. “Best you come with us,” he said. “Can you stand?”

McCoy didn’t answer. Instead he rose to his feet, using the wall behind him for support. I offered him my shoulder. I was surprised when he took it. He didn’t put any of his weight on me as we started walking, but he left his arm draped over my shoulder, as if to orient himself. He climbed into the back of the ambulance and they instructed him to sit on the bed adjacent to Jason’s. There wasn’t any room for me. This caused another outburst of panic.

McCoy called my name. “I’ll meet you there, alright?”

I nodded, not looking away from him until the medics closed both doors on the back of the ambulance and he disappeared behind them. Carl gave me his card and wrote the extension to call to speak with Jenna, if I wanted to. I thanked him and stared after the ambulance as it drove away.

Carl got into his car and followed them. Carly and I stood at the end of my lawn and watched until both vehicles disappeared around the corner. I heard the ambulance sirens come to life. Then I sank to my knees and started to cry.