Chapter 7

A second patrol car arrived and soon they were taking statements from the three older women. Ken and Donny were loaded into the ambulance. Drake had not recovered consciousness yet and the EMT had to put in an IV with a saline drip.

Consuela was adamant that she was going in with Ken, so Marcia agreed to take her. Marta was trying to convince the officers that they had no reason to take her pistol. She had not fired it and it was a legal weapon for defense. She was on the phone with her law firm as the ambulance and Marcia's Chrysler left.

Ken rode in the ambulance sitting in the jump seat while the EMTs tried to revive Drake. After a few minutes they were successful and Donny woke up. He was more than a touch disoriented though and had no idea what had happened. Ken was in no hurry to bring the asshole up to date and kept his peace.

When they got to the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula Marcia and Consuela were reunited with Ken. They sat in the crowded waiting room and talked. They were constrained from letting the conversation get too intimate because of the police officer who was standing guard over Ken. Apparently when you have put your fourth man into the hospital you are considered dangerous.

"So tell us Connie, what happened with this guy tonight?" Marcia asked, "What caused him to go ballistic?"

"I don't know what happened." Consuela replied, "He has been at the same clubs I have the last 3 weeks, and I danced with him a couple of times. I tried not to do it too often because his hands get too frisky. He asked me out last week and I turned him down. I had enough trouble with his hands on the dance floor; I didn't want to get into a car with him.

"Tonight he wanted to dance again, and I told him that I would, but only if he kept his hands where they belong. He said okay, but as soon as we were dancing he grabbed my behind. I pushed him away and told him not to ask me to dance again. I said that I would not give him another chance. I put him out of my mind and went back to my table. A little later I began to wonder why no one was asking me to dance anymore. Usually when I was there it was normal for me to get several requests and hour, and now there were none."

"Wait a minute," Ken said, "You have been going out to the clubs alone? I thought you were with some friends or something."

"No Ken, I don't have any friends that would go out with me to a club. Mama went along the first couple of times, but she was not comfortable there, so I have left her at home with Stefan since then."

"That is just asking for trouble Connie, from now on I will go along with you, I intend to keep this from happening again."

"Thank you Ken, I accept. Back to tonight. I noticed that suddenly I was not being approached, when I saw Donny intercept a man heading my way. They talked for a moment, then the man moved away and went back to his seat. He was determined to ruin my evening. I got up to leave and decided that from now on I would not go to a club if Donny was there. I got into my car and drove home. He must have followed me, because when I slowed down to turn into the drive, he bumped into my car and started yelling things at me out the window. All I could think of to do was to honk the horn and hope that you would be able to help me."

Marcia spoke up then, "You did good girl, cause help you he did."

An attractive blonde nurse came in then to get Ken. It was time for an X-ray of his arm.

"Hold up there Barb, I need to go along and keep and eye on this guy."

"If you have to Billy, but I thought that he was the good guy. He sure did a number on that other man; Doc says that he has a concussion and that the elbow is shattered. There is going to be a lot of reconstructive surgery needed on it."

"That's what I mean Barb; the Sheriff said that he was a dangerous man and for me to keep him in my sight."

"Wait just a damn minute here Billy," Marcia stood up and grabbed the officer's arm. "You let the man who assaulted our friend run loose and keep a watch on the man who saved her?"

"Just doin' what I'm told to ma'am."

"That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. I can guarantee that Ken is not going anywhere. All of his stuff is back at the lodge, and he has to ride back with me. If you aren't going to do anything useful young man, sit down."

The nurse was laughing at the officer's discomfort as she led Ken around the corner and down the hall to a treatment room.

"Poor Billy, he is loyal to a fault, but not the sharpest tack in the box. Just step in here Mr. Jacobs and we'll see how bad that arm is. Can you take your shirt off?"

"No, I can't lift my arm, so I'm afraid that you are going to have to cut the shirt off. Good thing it's just a cheap T-shirt."

"I can do that," Nurse Barb said as she reached into her pocket and extracted a pair of scissors. She pulled the shirt out of the waist band of Ken's jeans on his left side and started cutting up and on into the sleeve.

"Whooee, someone has been working out. My old boyfriend was into body building and he only got this kind of definition when he was preparing for a show. I'll bet your girlfriend likes it a lot. Do you lift weights Mr. Jacobs?" Barb asked as she finished cutting the shirt and pulled it off to hang from the belt on the right side.

"No to both miss. No weights and no girlfriend. All I do is swim and do exercises in the morning. Selena cooks up an excellent diet, and then there is hard work all day. I have a lot of flab to lose."

"Have you looked in a mirror lately? I don't see any flab at all..."

The door suddenly slammed open and hit the nurse in the back, knocking her to the floor.

"There you are asshole!" Cried Donny Drake as he stepped into the room waving a scalpel, "I got a score to settle with you. You, nursie, just stay over there, I'll get to you later. Right now I'm going to cut hero boy here till he cries like a little girl."

Ken grabbed the first thing to hand, a steel bedpan, and spun around with it at arms length. He struck Drake in the temple again, on the same side as before. This time Drake got more that a concussion as his already weakened skull crushed under the impact and the force drove him to the floor behind the door.

Ken dropped the bedpan and held up his arm to look at the scalpel hanging out of it. "Damn, that hurts. I should have crippled the bastard the first time, then I wouldn't have had to deal with him again. Could you help me with this nurse?"

Barb scrambled to her feet and ran over to Ken. "Yes I can, and the man who saved my life can call me Barb, especially when he asks me out. Now hold still while I take this nasty little thing out of you."

As she was pulling the blade out of his arm, there was a loud crash and some screams from the area of the waiting room.

"Just wrap a bandage around it, I need to see what is going on, and you need to call the police for some reinforcements."

Barb slapped a big band aid on the bleeding cut as Ken stepped toward the door. He was almost there when a man holding a pistol stepped into it.