Chapter 42

"Sara? Are you all right?" What an incredibly stupid thing to say. "What's wrong?"

She just rolled over a bit, still clutching her stomach and moaned. Then, "Jack." Almost a cry.

I tried picking her up but she was just so much dead weight.

"Hang on. I'll be right back."

I went into the house and pushed through Mary's door. She didn't even have a chance to cringe before I'd pulled her off the bed by her arm. Dino followed us down the hall and out the side door.

"Give me a hand. We need to get her into the house."

Mary dove to the task, grabbing one bicep while I took the other. We half led, half dragged Sara into the house. When we got through the kitchen, I started toward the living room.

"No. My room. She'll be more comfortable on the bed."

We got her on the bed. She was still bent over, still clutching her stomach. Her face was puffy, her right eye was starting to blacken. There was some blood that had come from her nose. That nose didn't look quite right.

Mary was sitting on the edge of the bed. She'd worked Sara's head into her lap and was gently stroking her hair. Dino had jumped on the bed and was lying on the other side of Sara. He had his eyes on her, his chin resting on his paws, his ears alert.

"I'll be right back."

I went into the kitchen and dialed 911. After the woman who answered calmed me down, I was able to give her a passably coherent description of Sara's condition. She told me she was going to dispatch both paramedics and police.

I went back in Mary's room. No change, Sara was still coiled up, holding her stomach. I lifted up her shirt and could see both bruises and welts. I gently touched her side and she pulled back, sucking in her breath as she did so.

The doorbell rang three times and I went out to answer it. There were two police persons on the doorstep.

"She's in here. It looks like somebody beat her up. I found her when I got home."

It occurred to me I was talking way too much. I wondered it they would think I had done this.

They were very professional. They checked her over. The female said it looked like a couple of ribs were broken but they'd let the paramedics check it out. As soon as the words were out of her mouth the doorbell rang again.

I led the paramedics in and they eased Mary off the bed. Dino growled quietly when they did until Mary said "Good Boy." He jumped off the bed and walked over to her, sitting at her side. One of the cops took her by the arm and led her out into the living room. I followed along with Dino.

The woman officer said "You look a lot better than the last time I saw you." It took a second for me to realize she was talking to Mary and another couple to recognize her from the hospital. Mary looked puzzled.

"We found you that night at the gas station. Are you feeling better?"

"Better. Not well."

"Give it time." She led Mary over to the couch. I heard her telling Mary how she had been assaulted in high school and how it took time to trust people. It was evidently the reason she joined the police force.

While this was going on, the other cop was trying to get as much information from me as he could. I told him that I'd come home and found her there and that she hadn't told us anything. When he asked if I had any idea who could have done it, I told him how Sara's mother had acted the day I picked up Dino and what Sara had said on the way to school the day she talked with Mom. He assured me they would check it out. "Parents are the first ones we suspect in these cases, anyway. Of course, since you been involved in two incidents in the past few weeks..."

I shot my head around to look at him and saw the grin on his face. "That's not funny."

"No, I guess it's not. I apologize. When you see some of the things we do, your sense of humor turns a little sour."

"I know. My Mom works up in Maternity and she comes up with some pretty gross stuff every once in a while. But it's different when the joke's about you."

One of the paramedics had gone out to the ambulance and brought back a gurney. They took her out the door as we were finishing our conversation.

"Where are they taking her?"

"To the hospital."

"Yeah, I know. Which one?"

"The same one we took your sister to. Would you like a ride there?"

"Yes, I would."

"Me, too."

"Mary. You can't take Dino with you. You're going to have to leave him here if you go."

She walked over to me and held on to my arm. "Dino. You be good."

He sat down and was thumping his tail as he watched us go out the front door.

Entering the emergency room brought back bad memories. I was worried how Mary would react until I realized she'd been out of it when they wheeled her in her three weeks ago. Was that all it was? Three weeks? Sometimes it seemed like yesterday, sometimes it seemed like years.

Nurse Clipboard wasn't at the desk. I wondered if fallout over our last visit had anything to do with it. The male officer went to the desk with us and told the nurse on duty what the story was. He didn't want her parents called just yet; there was a good chance one or both of them was involved. He assured her that he and his partner were going over to their house immediately.