Page 2 of Loving Wild

The police are the first to arrive, and I give my statement while holding on to Lauren. She refuses to speak to them, to even look at them, and when the ambulance arrives, she refuses to let go of me so they can examine her.

I end up carrying her to the back while a blood pressure cuff is fitted to her arm, little white pads are stuck on her chest, and a peg is clipped to her finger.

I watch and answer the questions that I can because Lauren refuses to respond to anything the paramedic asks.

“I think she’s cut her head,” I tell them. “There’s blood in her hair, but I can’t work out where it’s coming from.”

The female paramedic runs her fingers over Lauren’s head, attempting to put her at ease by explaining aloud what she’s doing.

“Can you tell me where it hurts?” she asks, but Lauren ignores her.

The medic frowns, her eyes slice to me, and she shakes her head before stepping back and pulling off her gloves.

“She’s got some bumps, but I don’t think she’s bleeding,” she tells me.

I open my mouth to explain I felt blood in her hair when a policeman appears at the open doors of the ambulance.

“It looks like he climbed the wall from next door. We’ve knocked, but there’s no one in.”

“It’s a holiday home. They’re only there on the weekend or during summer.”

He nods. “Well, there’s no sign of him now. Are you riding in the ambulance with her?”

I feel Lauren shift beneath me and squeeze her a little tighter as I nod at the cop.

“Yeah, I’m not leaving her.”

“No worries. You want us to lock up for you? We’ll probably stay for a bit, just to make sure he’s not still hanging around or doesn’t come back.”

“Yeah, just close the front door, and it’ll lock. I’ll send one of my brothers over to check on the place, thanks.”

“No worries, I’ll let whoever stays here know. We’ll follow you to the hospital.” Shaking his head as he looks at Lauren, he continues, “You said he’s done this to her before.”

“Yeah, but she’s never reported it. I want it reported this fucking time. I want him charged with every fucking thing he can be charged with.”

Red hot anger boils inside me, and I have no fucking clue what to do with it. I can’t leave, I can’t go out looking for Jason East because I can’t leave Lauren. I’ve let her down once tonight. I’m not going to do it again.

“Can I have a quick word?” the paramedic asks the policeman, and my eyes dart between them.

I’m getting the vibe from the medic that she’s keeping something back, and I feel sick at the thought that he’s done more than physically assault her.

My scalp, my lips, the tips of my fingers, they all tingle for some strange reason as I attempt to keep a lid on my anger.

I didn’t do it last time, I stayed out of it and let Lauren deal with things the way she wanted, but this time, I will kill the fucker.

The other paramedic puts a cannula into the back of Lauren’s hand and pushes drugs into her. He says they’re to help with any pain she’s feeling, but they’ll also make her feel a little sleepy. I nod, my eyes still on the other paramedic and policeman talking outside the open ambulance doors.

The seat belt is put around both Lauren and me as I hold her, and we’re driven to the hospital.

* * *

A policewoman is waitingin the emergency room bay we’re put in. She asks Lauren to confirm it was Jay who attacked her, and then she leaves us alone.

Lauren clings to me when the doctors examine her. It’s only when they send her for x-rays, I manage to pry her arms from around me.

Despite the bruises to her head and body, her swollen fingers, which the doctor thinks were stamped on, nothing is broken, and we’re allowed to go home.

I used the time Lauren was being x-rayed to call my brother and Ryder.