Tested by Fire - He sought revenge ... He found forgiveness (Medic 7 Series - Book 1)

by Pat Patterson

  “Could’ve what?”

  Jim clinched his teeth. He felt his cheeks flush. Blood continued to seep down the side of his face. He placed his hands against his temples and squeezed as if to wring his mind of the memory.

  “Jim, you listen to me.” Valerie grabbed him by the shoulders. Gazed into his eyes. “Sid should never have gone there alone. You know that. I know that. Okay? But he did, and there’s nothing anybody can do about it now. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but Sid was a grown man, it was his decision.”

  “So what am I supposed to do, Val, just sit here?”

  “Nope.” Valerie grabbed a wad of fresh dressings from the stainless-steel cart beside the gurney. “Put this on your knee before you bleed to death.”

  Jim pushed the dressings into the laceration. Valerie placed another wad against his cheek.

  “Here,” she said, “hold this. I ‘m gonna have to do some sewing.” Jim held the dressings in place and watched Valerie collect the suturing supplies. “I saw your victims, you know. Thank goodness nobody was killed.”

  “Part of me wishes I’d gone ahead and done it.”

  “Jim, have you completely lost your mind?”

  “He killed Sid, Valerie!”

  “Then let the police handle it. It’s their job, not yours.”

  “The police? They were going to arrest me!” Jim moaned and leaned forward holding his head. “I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know…all I know right now is that my head feels like it’s going to split open.”

  “Calm down.” Valerie pulled a small silver scope from her pocket. “Lean back.”

  Jim leaned his head back. Valerie leaned over him and focused the tiny beam in each of his eyes. He smelled her cinnamon breath. Looked at her lips. Wanted to kiss her. Valerie pulled away, apparently satisfied.

  “Open you mouth and say ‘Ahhhh.’”

  Jim obeyed.

  “You’ve been drinking today.”

  It was a statement. Cold and harsh. An observation completely devoid of emotion, but Jim knew what she was thinking.

  “Smart move, buddy. Alcohol and antidepressants? Not to mention work.”

  “Val—”

  “Quiet.”

  Valerie took a look in his mouth and then moved to his side. He felt the cone push deep into one ear. Then the other. Then each nostril. He felt her fingers examine his Adam’s apple, then the bony processes on the back of his neck. Valerie stood back up and pulled the trauma dressing away from his cheek.

  “Ooo, this is deep.”

  “Val, you’ve got to understand. I’ve been trying, really hard, but—”

  Valerie stopped her examination and stared at him. “But what?”

  Jim shook his head.

  “Jim, you’re going to get yourself killed.”

  “Sharon said the same thing.”

  “Sharon’s smart. Hold still.”

  Valerie continued her exam, probing the wound, checking its depth.

  “It scares me to think about what I almost did.”

  “Jim, please don’t talk.”

  “I mean, I had a knife at a man’s throat a few minutes ago.”

  “Ssshh.”

  “I was so close. If it weren’t for the cops I think I might have—”

  “Hush! You can tell me all about it later.” Valerie stepped back. “It looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me.”

  Jim could tell by her grimace that she didn’t like what she saw. “Not good, huh?”

  “It looks like someone tried to open your face with a scalpel.”

  “Wait ‘til you see my back.”

  Jim watched Valerie take a syringe, jab the needle into a small bottle of anesthetic, and then turn the bottle over and pull on the plunger. Once full, she cleared the syringe of air bubbles and positioned the tip of the needle over his injured cheek.

  “Take a deep breath.”

  Jim winced as the needle entered his flesh. His eyes welled. He watched her inject a small amount of the drug. She held the needle in place for a moment, and then began working her way around the periphery of the laceration and into the walls of the injured tissue. Within seconds the pain began to diminish. His cheek slowly numbed. Without stopping, she proceeded to his back.

  “Your back’s not as bad as you thought.”

  Jim felt the needle enter the skin beneath his right scapula. Sharp bites. Again and again as Valerie worked her way along the cut. She paused once to refill the syringe then moved to his knee, and then to the middle knuckle of his right hand.

  “I’m going to start charging you if you don’t start taking better care of yourself.” Valerie tore open a small package and removed a tiny hook-like needle bearing a long black thread. She returned to his side and probed the cheek wound. “Is it numb yet?”

  Jim nodded and watched with fascination as she worked the needle in and out of his injured flesh, pulling the severed edges of his cheek back together and tying off each stitch with a tiny knot. She worked quietly, weaving a total of twelve stitches into his face. Jim counted another dozen or so beneath his shoulder blade and five in his leg. She sewed a single stitch into his middle knuckle, dabbed all four areas with antiseptic solution, and then covered the wounds with sterile dressings and gave him an antibiotic shot.

  “That’s it.” Valerie dropped the suturing needles into a sharps container and peeled off her exam gloves. “You’ll live, Rambo, but you’re going to have two beauties to add to your scar collection.” She gave him a gentle hug. Jim could feel her breath against his neck and smell the soft fragrance of her perfume. He felt her body jerk slightly. She sniffed several times and then pulled away. “Are you going to be okay?”

  “I don’t know, are you?”

  “I don’t know. Come on,” she said wiping her eyes. “We need to get you home.”

  “But I’m not going home, Val, I’m going downtown with Rico, and with a little luck I might get out of jail sometime next year.”

  “Relax, bud. You’re not going anywhere.”

  Jim looked up and saw Rico standing just inside the door. “I thought you said I had to go downtown for questioning.”

  “You will.” Rico nodded and stepped into the room. “But I got it worked out for now. My Chief understands crimes of—”

  Rico jumped and stepped to one side. A pretty young nurse in purple scrubs pushed past him and walked into the room with a syringe in her hand. Jim had seen the girl several times from a distance, but until that moment he’d never realized what an attractive looking young woman she truly was. She reminded him of a fashion model, tall and well proportioned, with jet-black hair pulled back into a ponytail, and a ruddy face that screamed for adventure. He glanced at her lips. She seemed to like that. Her sapphire eyes opened slightly, her grin widened.

  Jim felt his eyebrows rise. He glanced awkwardly at Valerie. She, too, was staring, checking the girl out as if sizing up a competitor for an athletic event. Her eyes shifted to Jim. Her brow furrowed. Jim looked away and bit his lower lip.

  “Which arm?” the nurse said, holding up the syringe.

  “Uh…” Jim held out his left arm and glanced at Valerie. Valerie rolled her eyes and looked away. He smelled alcohol. Felt a cold swab across his upper arm. A sharp jab followed, and then a deep burning ache as a cold, noxious chemical entered his muscle. He gritted his teeth and glanced at the nurse. “Jeez, what’d you have in that thing, hydrochloric acid?”

  The nurse grinned and withdrew the syringe. “It’s a tetanus vaccine.” She touched him lightly on the shoulder and walked out. Jim felt his eyebrows rise again. He glanced at Valerie, and then turned quickly back to Rico.

  “So, anyway, Rico, are you, um…are you’re saying, I’m not in any trouble?”

  “What was that?”

  “Hmm?” Jim glanced at Valerie. “Wh-what was what?”

  “Don’t give me that, Jim. That,” she said pointing toward the door. “That suggestive little smile Linda Newton just g
ave you. That touch.”

  Jim felt his face flush. “I don’t know, Val. I don’t even know the girl.”

  “You practically ate her up with your eyes.”

  Jim glanced at Rico for support.

  “Don’t look at me,” Rico said with a chuckle. “That chick can flirt with me any time she wants.”

  Jim bit his tongue. Valerie’s face said it all. He’d blown it. He always blew it when it came to other women. He liked them. What could he say? He suddenly felt stupid. Rico started to say something, but Jim cut him off.

  “Val?” He reached out and tried to take her hand. “I was just looking at the girl. I look at everybody.”

  “Not like that you don’t.”

  “Val, I’m sorry. It didn’t mean anything.”

  “It meant a lot, Jim.”

  Valerie frowned and pulled away. Jim watched her leave the room and then turned back to Rico. “What just happened?”

  Rico just shrugged. “We can’t win, bud. We’re guys.”

  Jim felt like running after her, trying to explain…I was just looking, Val…it didn’t mean anything. He flopped back down on the gurney, hung his head for a moment, and then gingerly probed the freshly sutured wound on his cheek and looked at Rico. “Anyway…”

  “Anyway,” Rico said. “I worked it out with my Chief. Crime of passion and all that. You’re not being arrested. Yet.”

  “Yet?”

  “I don’t know if you saw him or not, bud, but that nosey newspaper photographer was there.”

  “Julius?”

  “Motor drive firing six frames a second. Ten bucks you’re on the front page of the Times tomorrow morning.”

  Jim picked up an empty syringe and pulled the plunger back. “Well what about J-Rock? What are you going to do with him?”

  “You smashed his nose in, bud. As far as the press is concerned, he’s the victim.”

  “You mean you’re going to let him go?”

  “I have to. Ain’t got nothing on him. We’re lucky if he doesn’t press charges on you.”

  “Me? Rico, he killed Sid!”

  “We don’t know that.”

  “Yes we do.” Jim wanted to hit something. Anything! He paced across the room, kicked a trashcan, and then held up both hands. “This is nuts!”

  “Excuse me,” Valerie said reentering the room. “You two knock it off. Jim, I want you home. Now. Get out of this ER, you understand? And Rico?”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  “No funny business. Take him straight home. He needs to rest.”

  “Yes ma’am.” Rico nodded sheepishly and glanced at Jim. “Your girlfriend, dude. She’s tougher than she looks.”

  Valerie wasn’t smiling. She gave Rico a friendly hug and turned to leave. Jim reached out and grabbed her arm.

  “Hey.”

  Valerie stopped and crossed her arms.

  “You’re coming out later, right?” Jim waited, watched her face ice up and then just as quickly thaw again. He touched her hand. Tried to take it. “I need you tonight, Val. And tomorrow…tomorrow’s a big day.”

  Valerie sighed, rolled her eyes and cocked her head. “I’ll be there, Jim. We have a lot to talk about.”

  Chapter 5

  Jim passed through the ER doors so deep in thought that he didn’t even notice the buzzing sensation on his right side until Rico tapped him on the shoulder and pointed at his hip. “Oh…thanks.” He unclipped the phone and glanced at the screen. “Well it’s about time.”

  “Who is it?”

  “Bagwell.” Jim pushed the SEND button and coughed up his most sarcastic voice. “Howdy.”

  “Where are you, Stockbridge?”

  EMS Supervisor Bill Bagwell sounded annoyed, as if someone had gotten him away from a poker game in the middle of a winning hand. Jim couldn’t resist returning the sarcasm. “Uh, well, jeez, Bill, let’s see. I’m at the hospital. Same place I’ve been for the last two hours getting my face sewed up.”

  “Stockbridge—” Bagwell paused as if trying to compose himself. “I wanted you to know I’m sorry about Sid. Terrible thing, shot in the head and…well, look let’s not—”

  “Bill, what do you want?”

  Bagwell suddenly changed course, cutting loose in a mad tirade of mixed adjectives and expletives that left Jim speechless. He couldn’t believe it. The man had no soul. He let Bagwell go on for a moment before cutting him short. Enough was enough.

  “Hang on a minute.”

  “No, you hang on,” Bagwell shouted. “You just beat the living daylights out of three innocent boys.”

  “Innocent?”

  “When you’re on duty, pal, you work for me. And I will not have you—”

  “Hey! Those innocent boys just killed my best friend!”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “I do know that!”

  “Did you see them do it? No? I didn’t think so.”

  “It was them, Bill.”

  “So now we have three kids in hospital, and soon we’ll have lawyers crawling all over this office.”

  “Good!”

  “Boy, do you realize how much trouble you’re in?”

  “Again, good!”

  “And this department? Do you have any idea how bad you’ve made us look?”

  “The department? Bill, Sid was murdered tonight!”

  “Boy, you better rein it in.”

  “Or what, you’re going to fire me? After all that’s just happened?”

  “Stockbridge, you really do like living on the edge, don’t you? I’m warning you.”

  “Warning me? Bill, what kind of man are you?”

  “That’s it, Stockbridge. You wanna dance? I’ll dance. You’re off the truck!”

  “What?”

  “Suspended! You just bought yourself three days!”

  Click.

  “What the—” Jim pulled the phone away from his ear and gazed at Rico. “He just suspended me.”

  “Yeah? You’re surprised?”

  “I can’t believe this.”

  “Good thing he doesn’t know you been drinking. Come on,” Rico said grabbing Jim by the arm. “You’re going home before you do kill someone.”

  “But, what am I going to do?”

  “First—” Rico opened the passenger door. “You’re gonna get in this car. Then I’m driving you out to that little island of yours and you’re gonna sit on it until you cool off.”

  “But—” Jim kicked the rear tire and looked around for something to hit.

  Jim felt Rico’s hand tighten around his bicep, urging him…no, pushing him inside the car.

  “Get in.”

  Jim climbed into the passenger seat. Rico slammed the door, walked around the car, and climbed behind the wheel. A moment later they were moving. Jim gave up and leaned back in his seat, cursing beneath his breath, staring out the window as if the sky held some kind of answer.

  What just happened? Sid? Valerie? My job? I’m losing everything.

  The radio chirped and started talking. Police chatter. Jim sat and listened, not really comprehending, just listening as Rico drove away from town and headed for the Beaufort high-rise. A thin strip of magenta clung to the western sky as they started up the western end of the bridge. As if to match his mood, the color faded, disappearing into the deep blues and grays of night, pushing the last traces of daylight over the horizon. Jim noticed a stinging sensation in his back. His head began to ache, his cheek burned, but it was Sid’s image that dominated his thoughts. How, he wondered? How could this have happened?

  A multitude of tiny lights appeared as they crested the Beaufort high-rise and started down the other side. The Sand Dollar Bar looked as inviting as ever in the distance, it’s old blue neon sign glowing like a beacon against the dark backdrop of the waterway. Jim could almost hear the music and laughter inside…feel the excitement. He wanted a drink. He could taste the freedom it would bring—the peace, the separation from reality he desperately wanted to find—bu
t he also sensed danger. He tried to push the idea from his mind, but he knew it was a losing battle. He would drink again soon. Tonight, if Val didn’t show.

  Rico pulled his Crown Victoria into the right-hand lane of the Town Creek ferry landing and turned off the engine. Jim rolled down his window. The night seemed unusually quiet. A steady breeze blew through the car. Crickets sang in the nearby reeds and grass. The cool aromas of salt air and diesel converged to create a familiar mixture of smells.

  “Ahhh,” Rico moaned leaning back in his seat. “Mama’s boy sure needed this.”

  Jim stared straight ahead without responding, watching the approaching ferry and gingerly massaging the bandage taped across his left cheek. The numbness had been replaced by a sharp stinging sensation. The dull ache situated stubbornly between his temples only served to compound the problem. He popped two white pills into his mouth, chased them down with a swig of bottled water he found on Rico’s console, and then leaned back to await the onset of narcosis.

  “At least I’ll get a good night’s sleep tonight.” He pressed his tongue against his injured cheek and tasted blood. “It sure is going to be good to get home.”

  “Yeah, well you’ll be there soon enough.” Rico pointed toward the channel. “Here comes your ride.”

  The merchant vessel (M/V) Mary Elizabeth chugged across the sound. Jim watched her slide smoothly through the narrowest portion of the Town Creek channel and then make her final turn toward the landing. From a distance she looked more like a cabaret than a ferryboat. Her decks glistened under a wash of halogen floods. The sharp halogen beam of her spotlight split the night. It reached from atop the pilothouse to the dark waters before the ship, turning the black water green.

  Jim watched with admiration as the pilot made his final approach. The big ship turned, slowed to a crawl, and then stopped in a brew of boiling water between the gigantic grouped pylons at the foot of the landing. Arrival time: 7:59. The deckhands lowered the chains and three vehicles drove off. Rico pulled aboard and parked in the designated spot. Jim got out and walked to the port rail. Five minutes later they departed for the two-mile journey home.

  Core Creek Island, situated in the middle of the sound beside the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), was nothing more than a postage stamp compared to the new communities springing up everywhere on the once barren beaches of the sound. With only forty permanent residents, and over two-thirds of the entire landmass a protected wildlife reserve, it was about as quiet a place as there was on earth. Jim watched the details of the island grow sharper as the ferry grew closer to shore. The once small points of light enlarged slowly, flooding the island with pockets of detail. The ferry landing, the General Store, Pair-A-Docks Marina, they all came into view. He spotted his sailboat floating at the end of the fuel dock, her navy blue hull opaque against the dark brackish water of the harbor.