Loverboy (25 page)

She gives her head a feeble shake. “I can’t move.”

“It’s okay,” I say, “I have an ambulance on the way.”

“Just don’t leave me,” she mumbles softly.

“I won’t,” I tell her. “You have my word.”

She pushes all of her weight into me, as she can barely hold her head up. Her breathing begins to slow, but her
body trembles slightly as I rub up and down her back. I let out a breath as I can hardly open my mouth to speak. Instead, I find myself just holding her as I trace along the lines of the Phoenix on her back. Now, this bird had a deeper meaning…Charlie is the Phoenix, and not only did she rise from hell once, I have every faith that she’ll do it again. Soon, the dark old mill is filled with bright blue and red flashing lights. Uniforms flood the old mill. “It’s all over,” I tell her. “You’re safe now. But, we have to get you to a hospital.”

I feel her nod slightly as I’m sure that’s all she can manage.

“Andrews,” I hear Wilson’s voice just behind me.

I look down at Charlie, who gives me an understanding nod to greet him. Instead of standing, I keep my arms around her, letting her continue to rest against me. His eyes fall on the hole in my tee shirt. “I’m fine,” I say, tapping the flak vest underneath. “I’m not sure how many girls they have.”

A female officer steps in silently and finally drapes a wool blanket around Charlie’s body. “She’s alive,” I say again, “but, not in good shape.”

Wilson manages a nod.

“I’m sure the other girls are in the same, if not worse, state,” I say, wiping my face.

He only nods again. “Some congratulations are in order. You single handedly did what everyone in the city wanted to do.”

“I guess it’s true when they say love makes you do crazy things,” I tell him.

“Not to mention stupid,” he adds. “I should have your ass for this.”

I nod
,
“I understand.”

“But,” he begins, “I’m not going to.”

I stare up at him in disbelief.

“I would be the most hated man in New York City if I got the cop fired who took out
Loverboy,” he tells me. “You do need to get her to the hospital,” he tells me. “Squads are here.”

I nod and watch as he heads in another direction. I kneel again in front of Charlie. “We need to get you to the hospital,” I tell her.

She nods. “Will you go with me?”

I nod. “Of course,” I tell her, now listening briefly to the back ground. It had been confirmed that three other girls had made it out alive, but the body of their 10
th
victim had also been recovered. “The sooner we get you to the hospital, the sooner you’ll feel a little better.”

She gives me another slight nod as I begin to help her from the ground. But, we quickly find that she has been so beaten she just cannot move, no matter how hard she tries. I lift her gingerly in my arms and place her lightly on the stretcher as two paramedics mumble their thanks. I give them a nod, and I suck back my own tears as she cries out every so often in pain.

“Are you riding along, officer?” One young paramedic asks as they begin to gingerly load the stretcher in the back of the ambulance.              

Charlie’s eyes immediately shift to me. “Yes,” I say, following them into the back of the ambulance where they
go to work on Charlie. Her body seems to sink comfortably into the fresh blankets and sheets that are on the stretcher, and I realize that I can’t imagine the relief they must be from the cold and wet cement floor. I hear her sigh deeply; if anything, out of relief. She looks over at me and smiles slightly.

“Thank you,” she says, softly.

“For what?” I ask, taking her hand in mine.

“You saved my life, Nick,” she tells me. “On more than one occasion.”

I smile. “You don’t have to thank me for that.”

She nods as I move back to give the paramedics room, as they are now beginning to take her blood pressure, run IV’s, and a variety of other things. She grimaces out in pain every so often as they begin checking each of the deep abrasions and bruises that are lining her body. I watch closely as they carefully check her black and blue ribs by far the worst and most tender. Charlie slams her eyes shut and fights a round of tears. I take one long breath in and exhale slowly. This time, it really does feel as though it is my fault and seeing her like this is killing
me slowly. I don’t take my eyes off the paramedics, however, whom seem to run down an entire list of tasks as we ride the distance to the hospital.

I can tell we’ve reached the hospital as I feel the squad’s direction change as we begin pulling into the spot backward. I can see that Charlie’s hands are beginning to shake, and she seems to appear even more fragile. One of the paramedics unlocks and pushes the back double doors opening, giving me the go ahead to step down. I obey and stand to the side as they begin wheeling Charlie through the set of emergency doors.

A nurse immediately allows the paramedics and Charlie to pass through. She sticks her hand out in front of me. “I’m sorry, officer, I’ll have to ask you to wait in the lobby.”

I nod as she points to my right, and I head down the long, sterile hallway. It’s now that I see just how weak and tired my own body feels. I take another long breath and find an uncomfortable chair to sink into. I rest my elbows on my knees as I drop my head and place my face in my hands. I find myself starting to cry. Not just a few tears; really crying, sobbing uncontrollably, for the first
time in years. I think of Charlie and how happy I am that I found her. But, I think back to those horrible bruises, the deeps cuts, and blood all over her body. I sink further into the chair and I let it all go. I feel my body shake as my cries turn into much heavier sobs as I suck in a gulp of air, and for once I don’t care if anyone is there to witness. I just cry. I cry for Charlie.

*  *  *  *  *  *

It’s funny how crying can wear down an already tired and weak person. I wake in a most uncomfortable position, to a hand coming down on my shoulder.

The nurse smiles. “You can see her now.”

I nod and stand as she heads back to the nurse’s station. I take a minute to stretch and walk to the bathroom to splash my face with cool water before looking at myself in the mirror. I look at the hole in the front of my shirt, and run my finger over the mark where the bullet entered the flak vest. I can feel the bullet firmly lodged into the material. I let out a breath and shake my head before putting my back to the wall and sliding down it to sit on the bathroom floor. I pull out my phone, and, without looking at the time, I call Anna.

“Nick, it's almost one in the morning. Is everything okay? I told you, you don't need to check up on me,” her normal happy voice rings through the phone.

“I don’t know what to do, Anna,” I say, beginning to cry again.

“Nick, what’s going on?” She asks.

“Anna, I was on the Loverboy case,” I wipe at my face. “The girl who managed to get away.”

She takes a breath. “Charlotte Murphy,” she says softly.

“I was watching her, I did something,” I pause. “I got so close to her, I…”

She stops me, “Nick,” I can hear a little smile, “you fell for her.”

“I did.” I take a breath. “I told her I love her.”

“Nick, that’s great,” she says. “That’s a good a thing.”

“I know,” I say, trying to breathe through my own tears. “But, she was taken again. She was taken from the police station. The things they’ve done to her. I’m terrified of walking into her hospital room, Anna; I can’t see her hurting.”

I hear a soft rustling noise on the other end of the phone. “Nick, she needs you right now. Probably more than ever.

“I know,” I admit. “But, I’m so afraid to look at her, let alone touch her. If you could see her, Anna; her body, she looks…”

She stops me. “Nick, do you remember the weeks after I was attacked?”

I think for a moment. I didn’t like to remember it, but I could, quite vividly. “Yeah,” I reply.

“Do you remember how afraid you were to even come near me?” She asks.

I could remember it clearly. “You told me that all you needed was for me to be your brother again. To stop being afraid and worrying, and then you hugged me.”

I hear a big smile in her voice. “You need to find the courage to not be afraid anymore. If you love her like it sounds like you do, then you should be with her. If anyone can do that, it's you, Nick. You're one of a kind, Nick; you can handle anything.”

“It feels so different with her Anna,” I say. “I don’t know why.”

“It feels different, because the love you have for your sister is different from the love that you feel for her,” she tells me. “Nick, go to her, be there with her, she needs you now more than she probably ever has.”

I nod, even though she can’t see it, and rub my face and eyes. “Thank you, Anna.”

“Anytime,” she says. “You be safe, and send my good thoughts to her, please.”

I smile. “I will.”

“Love you, Nick,” she says. “Bye.”

“Love you, too,” I say as the phone line clicks dead. I take another long breath and lean my head back, looking at the ceiling before picking myself up off the floor. I splash my face once more before heading out of the bathroom and make my way toward the hospital rooms. The sterile smell wafts to my nose as the nurse at the nurse’s station uses her pen to point toward Charlie’s room, as she continues a conversation on the telephone. I knock lightly a few times on the door before stepping inside. Charlie is now lying in a slightly more comfortable hospital bed, and has been changed from her underwear and blankets to the sensible hospital gown. Blankets are piled on top of her, and I can see the IV is now running up the length of a metal pole and several bags of clear fluids are hanging from it. All the blood and cuts have been cleaned and fresh bandages have been placed on the worst ones. Stepping closer, I can see her eyes are shut, but she’s relaxed as her head falls slightly toward me. It’s also easy to tell that she’s gotten something for the pain, as now she really looks peaceful.

“Nick,” she sighs my name in such a perfect way that I feel myself nearly melt as it takes me one more step to get to her bed.

“I’m here,” I tell her as I reach for one of her hands.

She smiles slightly, and I take a seat just on the edge of the bed.

“How do you feel?” I ask.

“They gave me something for pain,” she mumbles. “They said it would take the edge off. And, aside from a few broke ribs,” she pauses. “They said all my tests came back great.”

I smile. “That’s great, so you’ll recover in no time.”

She lets out a faint laugh. “I think it may take a while,” she says softly.

“Well, first you rest,” I say. “Rest is important. Let your body heal.”

She gives me a feeble nod. “Nick, he came in the office. He said that Edmunds had you, and if I cooperated, you wouldn’t be hurt.”

I lick my lips and look down. “I know.”

“I was dumb enough to believe them,” she says, closing her eyes again. “But, I didn’t want to see you get
hurt.”

I look down and feel a few questions weighing on my mind. I finally look up at her and see she’s opened her eyes once more. “They beat you?” I ask.

She gives me a nod and raises the hospital gown to expose her ribs that have been taped tightly. “Both of them; every time they came in the room.”

“Did they,” I stop. “They didn’t…” I stop again, unable to finish.

She shakes her head slightly. “No. They just touched me. Edmunds kept saying that he wanted to go slow with me. He wanted to piss you off more.”

I pull the blankets up around her body more. “I am so sorry, Charlie.”

“Did they,” she pauses to swallow. “Did they save the other girls?”

I nod. “They sure did. They’re resting, I’m sure,” I tell her.

“Nick, let’s go to Central Park,” She says, softly.

“What?” I ask. “Right now?”

She nods. “Right now. I have to make a better memory there.”

I can only assume it’s the pain medication speaking on her behalf. “We will, I promise,” I tell her. “But, first you have to rest; you need to heal.”

“But, I need to go,” she tells me.

“I know,” I say. “But, I need you to get some rest for me. Can you do that?”

She nods sleepily as her eyes close again. “Stay here with me, Nick.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” I tell her. “I’ll be right here all night and all day.”

“Just don’t leave me,” she says. I can tell that she’s trailing slowly off to sleep.

“I won’t,” I say, touching her cheek as she finally dozes off.

I rub my face for a moment and glance up at the clock. It’s now nearing two in the morning. Even though my body feels exhausted, I’m not quite sure that I can sleep. I pull the only spare chair in the room next to her bed and sink into its uncomfortable, plastic feeling fabric. I stick my legs straight out, crossing my ankles as I rub my temples for a moment. I watch her as her breathing begins to slow and steady out as she falls into a deep sleep. I tilt my head back against the hardest part of the chair and close my own eyes.