LAUREL
The bed shuffles, and her hand moves, jolting me awake from a power nap. My eyes open to find her awake.
I push her hair out of her face, and caress her cheek. “You’re at the hospital. Everything’s okay.”
She can’t speak, but she tries to, and I hit the nurse button for someone to come remove the tube from her throat. The gagging noise is revolting, and she gestures to it.
“Give them a minute and it’ll be out. Calm down, sis. I’m right here.”
The nurse comes in and asks me to step aside while she removes it, and Lacey tries to talk, but her voice is barely audible.
“Do you need anything? A drink? Food?”
Her voice is raspy. “No, I’m fine right now. How long have I been here?”
“A couple of days. What happened? The police have been waiting for you to wake up,” I say, sitting back at her side with her hand in mine.
“We? Who is we?” Lacey asks, sitting up in her bed.
“Only Hudson.”
“Who else?”
“If you’re referring to your boyfriend, I’m not sure. I don’t know what he looks like, but I haven’t moved from your side besides going to the bathroom and grabbing coffee, so I don’t believe so.” I struggle to settle her down. She is working herself up, which is creating her blood pressure to soar, and the machine beeps.
The nurse pops her head back in. The police will ask you questions. I tried to have them wait, but they insisted.”
A police officer steps inside, and the atmosphere shifts in the room. They should give her some time before bombarding her with questions about the attack. She just woke up for god’s sake.
“You’ve been out of it, but we need to ask some questions. Won’t take long.”
“Go ahead,” Lacey says.
“What caused your injuries? Do you remember who did this?” The police officer stands there with a pad and pen.
“Drew. He discovered that I went out for drinks with friends. When I got home, he was waiting for me. Initially, I thought he was just furious, but then he flung me to the ground and started kicking and striking me. That’s all I remember. I’m sorry,” she declares, tears cascading down her face.
“Do you have his last name? I need to get this report written up so we can take action against him.”
“Clayton. He lives here in Dallas, just around the corner from the new Italian restaurant on Cleveland Avenue,” Lacey responds.
The officer completes his notes. “Thank you. I’ll get started on tracking him down.”
The miserable asshole beats her senseless and then brings her to the hospital? Why would anyone do that? How do they not have him on camera dropping her off?
“I can’t believe he did this to you. They’ll find that bastard and make him rot in jail. They don’t take to women beaters in there. So he’ll get some payback.”
“Where’s mom and dad?”
“I knew you wouldn’t want me to call them unless things got serious. And if they wouldn’t have gotten any worse, I had them on speed dial. Good thing you woke up, because I planned on giving in and calling them tomorrow.”
She leans back into her bed and relaxes a bit. “I never would have heard the end. How dangerous it is to be a young woman in the city, blah blah blah.”
My phone rings, and the number for the office scrolls across. “I have to get this. I’ll be right back.” The hallway has a door. “Hello?”
“Laurel, where are you? You have missed two days of work,” Betty inquires.
“My sister was attacked in Texas and in a coma. I’ve been tending to her. Sorry, I forgot to call.”