Page 18 of Stalked By Shadows
“Who were the two women with Mr. Gioness?”
“I don’t know. As I said, I started the job today. You’d have to ask Micah. It sounds like they are all tour guides.” I did the best I could to answer everything. But when I got to the flashback it was all a blank.
“You don’t remember falling?”
“No. Not really.”
“But you saw the remains of some sort of ritual.”
“If that’s what you want to call dead animals,” I said. “Who does that?” And people called me crazy. “Is Micah okay? Christ… What’s wrong with people? Did you find Sarah? She seemed like a nice girl.”
He didn’t answer any of my questions. He asked only a handful more before I was escorted in the little paper slippers to the main area of the station. Sky was there holding a bag of something and talking to a police officer. She saw me and rushed over, throwing her arms around me in a hug that surprised me. Didn’t she know I was nuts? Standing in the police station, in nothing but thin scrubs, and someone else’s blood, I never felt more broken, vulnerable, and lost, even after my many psych ward visits.
Her hug was grounding. Real, though I didn’t think I deserved it. But I was afraid to touch her back and get her dirty, both with the blood on my hands and the memories of my messed-up life. She seemed like a good kid. I was thinking that about a lot of people lately.
“Why hasn’t anyone treated his head?” She gave the cops around us a scathing look. “Does anyone at least have a first aid kit?”
The cop she’d been talking too, took one out from under a desk and handed it to her like she was some sort of seven-foot soldier instead of a five-foot nothing princess. She took it, balancing it on top of the bag she was carrying. “I have clothes for you. Lukas asked me to grab them. Said they’d be taking your stuff since it was covered in evidence or something.” She glanced back at the group. “Bathroom?”
They pointed off in one direction. Sky grabbed my hand and dragged me in that direction. I pulled her to a halt when she tried to drag me into the women’s bathroom. She paused, stuck her head inside, then shoved open the door. It was one giant stall instead of multiples. “In,” she said with that no-nonsense tone.
I followed her in and watched her lock the door.
“The ladies room is always cleaner in places like this,” Sky told me as she set down the bag and began digging things out. “You’ll have to kneel for me so I can clean that wound.”
I stared at her for a minute but finally dropped to my knees and sat back on my feet, closing my eyes. I could have fallen asleep right there. The adrenaline vanished, exhausting me instantly. Sky began scrubbing my face. I smelled the tang and felt the burn of alcohol, heard water running, felt paper towels run over my skin. There was a knock on the door which startled me out of a bit of meditation.
“Who is it?” Sky demanded. I looked up to find her standing over me, looking fierce, ready to defend me. She reminded me of one of those little dogs who thought they were a big dog.
“Micah,” Micah’s voice came from the other side of the door. “Lukas says you have clothes for me.”
Sky left my side to open the door and let Micah in. He was dressed much the same as I was in paper-thin scrubs that made us both look like we were going to jail today. Sky wrung her hands. “He’s really quiet. Should he be this quiet? I need to find Lukas.”
“He’ll be fine,” Micah assured her.
“I tried to clean the wound but it keeps bleeding. Should we bring him to the hospital?”
“No,” I said firmly, fears of never being released again filling my head. “No hospital. I’m not crazy,” no matter how much everyone else told me I was.
“No one thinks you are, sweetie,” Sky said.
Micah closed and locked the door. “Are you nauseous or light headed?” he asked me.
“No. Just tired.”
“Probably not a concussion then.” He held his hand up in front of my face and moved his fingers around. I followed them lazily with my gaze. He nodded like I’d confirmed something for him, then picked up the first aid kit, finding a few things and making his way to me, kneeling beside me. “I’m going to clean it again and glue it shut,” Micah said. “It might scar.”
“I don’t care.” Scars didn’t bother me. The idea of being locked in a psych ward again did.
“Clothes for both of you are in the bag,” Sky said. “I’m going to find Lukas.”
“He was talking to the sergeant,” Micah said while he dabbed at my wound. “I hope giving them an earful about aiming weapons at an unarmed, injured man.” He dried my head and probed at the wound a little. It ached, but more like a bruise than anything else. “This will hurt a bit as I have to press it closed and add the glue.”
“Okay,” I allowed, waiting for the pressure.
Sky left the bathroom, and I closed my eyes when the wound began to sting.
“It’s a good thing you’re not black,” Micah said quietly.