Katie

            “How did you know I was here?”  I look over at Hayley, as she is sitting solemnly at the foot of my hospital bed.

            Hayley takes my hand, her eyes welling up with tears.  “I received a call from my supervisor that you were here.  She said you were brought in by ambulance after a 9-1-1 call.  I am so sorry.  If I hadn’t let Rick upset me, if I hadn’t left with him, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.”

            “Stop.” I give her a weak smile.  “This is not your fault.”  She nods at me, but I can clearly see the guilt on her face.  

            “If I hadn’t forced you into coming out and celebrating with me….” Her eyes are glazed over, then she turns and walks out of the room, leaving me to deal with my emotions alone.  A while later she reenters the room, beaming, obviously momentarily over her feelings of guilt.  “Well, I spoke with the doctor and he is releasing you now.  Rick is waiting in the lobby, once we get all the paperwork done, he will drive us to my car, and I will take you home.  I have already made arrangements with my supervisor, and she has given me a few days off so I can stay with you.”

            “Thank you.” I whisper, emotions overwhelming me.  I had not thought about what things would be like for me once I left the safety of the hospital.  While being here, I have worked through the disorientation and disbelief of what happened to me, but the feeling that best describes my current state is numb.  I have been visited by a victim advocate, who discussed with me the different phases of feelings I will encounter because of my ordeal.  The denial, possible depression or guilt, the fear and anxiety, and anger.  How I needed to work on reaccepting myself, learn not to blame myself, not live in fear and to take control of my life again.  It was also suggested that I find a support group to attend, or a counselor to help me through the process.  They made it sound so easy, while giving me a tight-lipped look of sympathy.  Loaded down with the pamphlets on rape, victim advocacy, and recovery, Hayley wheels me out of the hospital to Rick’s awaiting vehicle.  I had protested this ridiculous requirement of being wheeled out, but I was informed of it being hospital policy, but more than that, I could tell Hayley really wants to take care of me.  At least, in this way, I was helping her with that.  Although I am the one who endured this trauma, I can tell I am not the only one it has affected.  Hayley has been so attentive, taking seriously her role of caregiver, and I can’t help but smile at that thought.  

            Rick is standing beside his car, a concerned look on his face.  He seems different today, less arrogant than he usually appears.  His tall stature never really made him appear intimidating, but today he just seems frail.  His dark complexion and dark eyes give him an air of mystery, which is why I figure so many women are interested in him.  He comes over to help me into the back seat of his car, then he opens the passenger front door for Hayley, who steals a kiss before lowering herself in.  Rick drives us back to the club, so Hayley can get her car.  As we pull into the parking lot, I am struck by overwhelming anxiety, fear seems to take over.  I can feel my heart pound in my chest, but then I see Avery.   He looks up and gets out of his patrol car, heading over toward us.  I take in the sight of him, for the first time really noticing him.  He appears to be about six feet tall, his auburn hair catching the sunlight, making it appear redder than it probably is.  He looks intimidating in his uniform, which he wears very well.  He seems to have a confidence about him, or maybe it is arrogance, I haven’t decided yet.  I suddenly feel very self-conscience of how I look, why?

            “Katie,” Avery smiles over at me, then nods at Hayley, turning his attention toward Rick.  “You must be Rick, if you have a moment, I would like to ask you a few questions.”  Avery motions toward his patrol car.

Avery

            Rick reaches out to shake my hand, as he joins me over by the patrol car.  “For the fo record, could I have your last name?”

            “Sure, my last name is Manning”, he spells it out for me.

            “It is my understanding that you left the club with Hayley, do you remember approximately what time that was?”

            “I know it was before midnight, probably around eleven p.m., yea, pretty sure that’s right.” Rick nods to himself.

            “Do you remember anyone acting suspicious out in the parking lot when you were leaving?”  As, I await his answer, I look over at Katie.  She is sitting on the hood of a car, lying back on the windshield.  She looks so exhausted.  I suddenly feel like I should hurry this along so that she can get home and rest.  

            “Nah, sorry, Hayley had me preoccupied.” He gives me a sheepish grin, as he scratches the back of his neck.  

            “Did you stay with Hayley all night?”  I am watching him closely, weighing his reaction to the question.

            “Yeah, we had a busy night, making up, you know?” He chuckles and winks at me.

            I couldn’t help but smile at him, “Well, if you think of anything that may be helpful to my investigation, please give me a call.”  I hand him one of my cards.

            “Will do man.” Rick then turns and jogs back over to Hayley, who greets him with open arms.  He lifts her up and swings her around before planting a kiss on her mouth.  I wave to them as I get back into my patrol car.  I really want to go back over and speak to Katie, but I can’t think of anything to say at the moment, everything I go over in my mind sounds so cliché.  I wait until Hayley and Katie pull out of the parking lot, then I leave to head back to the station.

            My cell phone rings, which immediately brings a smile to my face.  I downloaded a new ring tone to match my being a law enforcement officer, and it is the first time I have gotten a call to hear it.  I look at the caller ID, and see it is my best friend, Wayne.  I have known him all my life, we grew up together, and were best friends all through high school.  I went off to the police academy, Wayne had gone to culinary school.  I always pick on Wayne, implying he is a loser because he likes to cook, but I certainly don’t pick on him now, now that he has landed the head chef position at one of the fanciest restaurants in Arizona.  Now he is making the big bucks, definitely not a loser.  “Officer Maulden”, I answer, grinning, waiting on what I am sure will be a sarcastic response.

            “Oh, now it is Officer Maulden, moving up to the big leagues, I see”, he teases, “What happened to you last night?”  We had gone out the night before to celebrate my finishing training with the police department, along with our friend Troy, another friend from high school.  Troy didn’t join our group until we started high school.  We all played baseball together and have remained friends.  Troy was sucked into the family business after high school, his father owns a casino, and Troy helps manage it.  That is where we had been the night before, at Troy’s family casino, where we ran into Vanessa.  She was a friend to each of us during high school, but her definition of friendship included benefits, which is why she has so many male friends.  She was out celebrating getting hired on at a tabloid magazine in California, and it was her last night in Arizona.  We had sort of hooked up for one last fling, I mean, I was out celebrating after all.

            “You know, playing out one last fantasy with Vanessa,” I joke.  I had regretted hooking up with her last night as soon as it happened, and I am really hoping Wayne doesn’t want all the details, which I know is wishful thinking.  Vanessa was popular because she likes to act out sexual fantasies, and it is always something the guys like to hear about, because it is always something different with each of us.  I know Wayne wants to hear about it, but I am not proud of it at all, and will avoid the conversation for as long as I can.

            “Yeah buddy, give me all the naughty details!”  I can hear the excitement in Wayne’s voice, he clearly wants to hear all about it.

            “You know, I am on duty right now,” I am taking clear advantage of my position, “I can’t discuss things like that now.”  

            “Well, you better plan on sharing soon,” he jokes, “You know I live vicariously through you.”  He begins to laugh, and I laugh with him.  Wayne is no stranger to women; they all seem to love the fact that he can cook. He is always showing off for them, making them fancy dinners, which always guarantees his landing them in the sack.  Another perk of being a chef, again, definitely not a loser.

            “So, what did you and Troy do after I left?” Hoping they would have had such a crazy night that discussing it would keep Wayne’s mind off me and Vanessa.

            “Well, Troy’s dad showed up, and that was the end of our fun.”  I can’t help but notice the annoyed tone of his voice.  Troy’s dad is always giving Troy hell, he never does anything right in his father’s eyes.  Although it was expected of Troy to take on the family business, his father takes every opportunity to put Troy down, implying that he is mooching off the family.  “This time he tried to talk me into coming to work for him.  Claimed he wanted to open a five-star restaurant in his casino and that I would come to work for him.  Can you believe that shit?  He didn’t ask, he ordered.  That man’s audacity is something else.” 

            “Well, did you break it to him gently?” I joked, knowing Wayne didn’t have the temperament to be nice to the old coot, grinning widely imagining how this whole scene went down.

            “Oh, you know me, I politely told him that he couldn’t afford me,” he is chuckling, I am sure it was anything but polite.  “I told the old man that I wasn’t Troy, that I didn’t have to bend over and take it up the ass, and I wasn’t going to come work for him.”

            There it is!  “I bet he loved that.” I couldn’t help but laugh a little.

            “Actually, he did.” Wayne takes on a more serious tone.  “He told me I had balls, and that is what it takes to make it in this world.  He offered to double my current salary if I will come work for him.  He will allow me to run the restaurant any way I want, I can set it up and design it any way I want, that money is no option.  Do you know how long I have wanted to be able to do something like that?”

            “Yeah.” I answer solemnly.  Wayne has always wanted to open his own restaurant, and although he wouldn’t own it, it would certainly be his.  But I also understand that Wayne’s newfound success isn’t what is concerning him, it is Troy.  “How did Troy react?”  I know all too well that all Troy has ever wanted is his father’s approval.  To be accepted into the family business and to make his father proud.  I can only imagine how hard of a blow this has to be to him.

            “Well he left.” Wayne’s voice is full of concern.  “He gave us both that go to hell look and stormed off.  The worst part is that his father didn’t act like he even noticed.  He wanted to get all the details worked out with me and call his lawyer to have the paperwork drawn up.  It was sad, I felt like total shit.”

            “So, you are going to do it?”  I know this is the opportunity of a lifetime for Wayne, we just both worry about Troy.  He has had a hard life.  Right after graduation, he was accused of a crime he didn’t commit.  His father never believed that he was innocent; he just spent the resources necessary to clear the family name and has taken every opportunity to throw it up in Troy’s face.  The false accusations against him is what inspired me to want to become a cop.  I know it had to have been hard for him to hear the offer to Wayne, knowing his father would never do something like that for him.

            “Am I a total douche if I do?”  I can her the pain in his voice.

            “No” I pause for a moment.  I don’t have the time right now to offer him the reassurances that he needs.  “I do need to run; I am working my first case and have a few things I need to follow up on before my shift ends.”

            “No problem, if you hear from Troy -” He doesn’t finish the sentence.  I know what he needs, he needs to be sure that things are cool between them.  Although we know that Troy understands it is the opportunity of a lifetime for him, his friendship to Troy means more.

            “I’ll talk to him.” I try to sound reassuring, “Later.”  

            I pull up Troy’s number in my contacts, the anxiety eating away at me.  I wait as the phone rings on his end, but he doesn’t answer.  I leave a voicemail, “Hey Troy, it’s Avery.  Just calling to see how things went after I left last night.  Give me a buzz when you get the chance.  Later man.”  I get an uneasy feeling because he didn’t answer, I hope he is okay.