She looks down, away from the flashing lights.
No one is talking to her, but everyone is talking about her. They’re muttering under their breath, trying to keep information confidential. She catches the nurses sending her quick glances, but they look away when they see her stare back.
A few other people have come up to talk to her, but she ignored them. She doesn’t want to talk about it. She just wants it all to go away, so she looks past them.
At least the officer next to her understands. He probably had a long day and wants to go home too. He doesn’t want to talk and only asks the questions he has to.
The officer doesn’t like to ask questions. He probably sees too much of this stuff. Maybe he has a teenage daughter at home, just like her. Maybe he’s disappointed in the future generation.
“Now, don’t tell anyone,” the officer whispers, putting trust in her, “but I’m going to go to the bathroom. Don’t do anything bad.” He stands up and walks out of the waiting room toward the washrooms. He probably just needs a break from her.
She looks down at her hands. Her knuckles feel itchy under the dry blood. She tries to scrape it off with her nail, but quickly gives up. She can handle it.
She looks up again. There is another police car outside, so now there are three. One is talking to another one, asking questions. She can see one point in her direction through the glass doors. The man asking the questions makes eye contact at her and shakes his head in disappointment.
She smiles back.
Her officer returns and sits on the old, cushioned chair next to her and sighs.
“How’s your head feeling?” he asks. She tries to put one hand to the bandage on her forehead, but the other one is dragged with it. She hates these handcuffs.
“Meh,” she answers. “It’s been better, but not too bad.” By that she meant that she doesn’t notice the pain. She has better things to think about.
“You know… there are better ways to spend a Friday night.” It sounded like a fatherly-type speech was coming up.
“I have to say I disagree.”
“Well then… “ He had been caught off guard. “Maybe you should find a better hobby.”
“Or maybe people should mind their own business and stay out of other people’s god d*mn lives!” She stands up, frustrated again. She starts to pace. Several nurses, a doctor, and the officer are watching her every move now. They all had been told to keep her calm.
“I’m sorry I upset you,” he tells her, gently touching her arm. She spins around.
“D*mn right, you’re sorry! I’ve heard that one before. And you know what? He was sorry too! But that doesn’t do me any good now, does it?” She turns to pull away from him, but the officer grabs her arm. She would have hit him if she could, but she elbows him instead. Or tries to, anyway. He grabs her torso and pulls her close to him to prevent her from hurting anyone. She swings her body back and forth, fighting to get free from him.
Another officer runs in from outside to see what is going on. A nurse who had watched the whole thing pulls the new cop to the side.
Through the fighting and yelling, she can hear the nurse’s words shooting through the air. She can only make out parts of sentences like “…he said something… really upset her… ready to see her now… has to calm down first…”
Something clicks in her mind at that point. She has to calm down to see him. She has to see him. She has to talk to him. She has something to say.
She stops fighting. She stops yelling. She gives up. There are better things to fight for now.
The two officers sit her down. They watch her as the one who talked to her nurse explains everything to the first one. They watch her for a few minutes then ask her how she is feeling. Her only response is a quick nod.
“Do you want to come with me, then?” he asks cautiously. Again, she nods. She is afraid to say anything that might make her mad again. She doesn’t want to wait anymore to see him.
The officer holds her by one arm and follows a nurse into a room not far away. Anyone else would have felt their heart quickening with every step, but not her. She feels nothing. Her mind is blank.
The nurse holds the door open and lets the two of them in before shutting it. The nurse stands at the corner of the room, probably only because she has to. The officer still holds her arm as she walks to his bedside.
Half his face is bandaged up, along with his chest. There is an IV in his arm where the cast for his broken wrist ended. It was enough to make anyone else break down in tears, just like his parents had, but not her.
He looks at her with his broken heart streaming through his eyes.
She just smiles back.
She is proud of what she has done. In her mind, it is worth it and he deserved it. He deserved everything she did, and everything he would get. She just kept smiling.
“Anything you want to say?” he asks her.
“Nope.” She looks down at her pocket. She can see the corner of a piece of paper sticking out.
“Okay then.” He just stares at her. “Can I ask why?” His voice cracked.
“Mmmm…” She looks around the room, at the officer, at him, and at her pocket. She reaches down and pulls out the paper. She reads it over once, flips it over in her hand, and reads it again. Only the size of her palm, it had been easy enough to hide before. Now, she wants everyone to see it. She doesn’t care.
She drops it onto his chest without a word and turns to walk to the door. Before leaving, she twists her neck to look at him.
“Go to H*ll,” she says, sounding satisfied. She laughs cruelly and walks out, followed by the police officer. The nurse remains in the room, and looks at him with an empathetic look in her eyes. He glances down.
He picks the note off his chest with his good hand and reads it over. He remembered writing it and meaning everything it said when he had given it to her earlier that evening.
He had only asked for her opinion. He had never expected her to react the way she did.
It read:


I love you.