The state had tried to press charges several times against the man, but with a witness that refused to cooperate it was all but impossible to make charges stick. Rick despised the man, he wished that he would slip up and leave a mark on the woman. As sad as it was to say, this was the only way that Rick could make a case against him that would stick.
This night was different than the other nights and Rick knew it as soon as he pulled up to the residence. The lights were off and he could not hear the woman crying on the porch. In fact, he did not even see the woman on the porch. The house seemed to be quiet until Rick saw a sudden movement through one of the windows. It was hard to tell what he was looking at but he believed it to be the suspect with the victim in a headlock.
Rick immediately called for backup knowing that he would not be allowed to enter the residence on his own but things quickly intensified. He heard the woman scream and a loud bang. Rick quickly made his way to the front door and knocked loudly. “Police,” Rick yelled out.
Everything went silent once again. The only thing he could hear was the woman sobbing and gasping for breath. He knew that her life could be in danger and did not have time to wait for back up. Rick checked the doorknob to see if it was unlocked. As the door knob turned he quietly opened the door and shined his flashlight into the home.
Rick heard another bang and everything went black. The next thing he remembered there were lights everywhere. Red and blue flashing lights, people talking, yelling, and then black again.
Kimmy had been working that evening at the hospital. It had been a calm night until they received the call that an officer was being brought in. Kimmy quickly raced to prepare a room for him; the call said that he had been shot while on duty and that he was unresponsive.
The hospital called the surgeon and prepared for the arrival of the new patient. Kimmy did everything she could to make sure that he would have a room to himself and that he would be comfortable.
Kimmy’s father had been a police officer when she was growing up. He was an amazing man and Kimmy loved him very much. The day his partner had come to tell Kimmy’s mother that her father had been killed in the line of duty was the worst day of Kimmy’s life.
Kimmy had grown up in a bad part of town, and her father had been one of the few black officers on the force and had been gunned down in cold blood. He had not been out on a call, but had simply been sitting outside of a gas station drinking his coffee as he waited for his partner to join him.
A man had come out of nowhere and shot him. They had found the man just blocks away from the shooting. He was sitting on the curb, drinking and talking to himself. The man did not serve time in prison. He was sentenced to a mental institution for the rest of his life after being found incompetent to face trial.
That was the second worst day of Kimmy’s life. She had hoped that the man that had killed her father would have gotten the punishment that he deserved but she had lost faith in the justice system.
Kimmy refused to let anyone go through what she had went through when her father had been killed. When she was growing up, she remembered how respected her father had been by the rest of the black community, her mother had been the most proud. It was a time when few black men were able to join the force, to make it out of the life that they had gotten stuck in. He was a man that set the standard for all men that came after him.
After her father died, Kimmy’s mother did her best to raise the children on her own. She worked as a hairstylist at a local salon and kept busy. Even though Kimmy hated that she worked long hours she loved that her mother was able to make her hair look beautiful all of the time. The family struggled, but they always knew how much their mother loved them and they looked up to the man that their father had been.
Each of the children had gone to college and had become successful even helping younger inner city blacks find their way back to the right path.
Kimmy heard the sirens as the ambulance arrived with the officer. She with a team of other nurses and doctors met the ambulance team at the door and took over. They told her that the officer had not woken up since they had found him, his blood pressure was dropping and they were afraid that he was bleeding internally.
Kimmy looked at the man, his uniform had been cut away, his pale white skin still covered in blood. He was taken immediately to the operating room where the doctor removed the bullet and stitched him back up.
The bullet had broken into 6 pieces and had caused internal bleeding. It was a miracle that he had been found in time to save his life. He had to have several blood transfusions, but he was moved to the recovery room and Kimmy vowed to keep an eye on him.
After her rounds she would go check on him to see if he was awake. She would check his blood pressure to ensure it was stable as well as his heartbeat. She could not help it as a few tears slipped down her cheeks as she thought about her father.
She imagined the nurses that had worked on him caring as much as she did about Rick and she imagined how traumatizing it had been for them when they were unable to save his life. Kimmy carefully checked Rick’s bandages to ensure that there was no bleeding and she even tried to contact anyone that was close to him.
She began by calling the numbers that were in his cell phone, they were his friends and although they were concerned about him they were not his family. She then called the police station and found that he was not married and that his siblings all moved to different states. The officer that she talked to told her that she would try to contact Rick’s father and would call the hospital if she had any luck.
Kimmy felt bad for him, it was rare that she had someone in her care that did not have anyone there to support them or be there for them when they woke up. That night, Kimmy went home and could not get her mind off of Rick. She wondered if she was the only person worrying about him that night and felt sad that he was alone.
Kimmy looked around her empty house and realized that she was not the only person in the world that spent all of her time alone. It saddened her to think that one of her patients would have to go home to an empty house just like she did each day and that there would be no one there to take care of him.
She was glad that he would have those on the police force to help him, but she also knew that he had a long road ahead of him. Kimmy went about her evening, cooking her dinner, showering and then she went to bed. She had another long 12-hour shift ahead of her the next day and she was actually ready to get back to the hospital. She wanted to check on Rick and woke up several times during the night thinking about him.
Things had not changed in the morning. He was still unconscious. The doctors had little hope that he would wake up. It was several days before there was any change. During this time Kimmy found herself spending most of her shifts with the officer. She would read to him on her breaks, check his bandages, and sit talking to him about her life. By the time he began to wake up, she felt as if she knew him.
One of the nurses called for Kimmy to come to the officer’s room over the intercom. Kimmy feared the worst and moved as quickly as she could to get to the room. Although Kimmy was a nurse and had been taught how unhealthy it was to be overweight, it was something that she had struggled with most of her life.
She had been a very active child, but no matter what she did, she had always been a bit rounder than most of the girls her age. As she got older she had learned to not only accept her curves but to embrace them. The only thing that she hated was that she was unable to move as quickly as the thinner nurses that she worked with.
When Kimmy arrived at Rick’s room, she found that he was sitting up in the bed and that he appeared to be aware of what was going on around him. The other nurses knew how much Kimmy cared about this patient and allowed her to explain to him what had happened.
Kimmy walked up to Rick’s bed and looked down at him. He could see the concern for him in her eyes.
“What am I doing here,” Rick asked, unable to remember what had happened.
Kimmy sat
down in the chair next to his bed so that she was level with him.
“You were on a call for a domestic disturbance and a man shot you. You have been in the hospital for 5 days. The doctor was able to remove all of the bullet fragments and he saved your life,” Kimmy stated, in a calm, almost soothing voice.
Rick began to think back to the last thing he remembered. He remembered that there had been a domestic disturbance call and that he had opened the door of the house in order to ensure that woman was safe. He remembered lights flashing around him, but no matter how hard he tried he could not remember being shot.
“What about the woman,” Rick asked, wanting to ensure that the victim was safe.
“I don’t know anything about her,” Kimmy answered, feeling bad that she did not have the information that he wanted, “She was not brought here, but I am sure some officers will be here soon to speak to you. You need to rest and I will call your Captain and let him know you are awake.”
Rick nodded his head as Kimmy stood and walked toward the door. He was glad that he had a nurse that understood why it was important for him to know what had happened to the woman. Kimmy did not know it, but he had heard a lot of what she had said to him on her daily visits, he had simply been unable to respond to her.
Kimmy quickly called the station and was told that a few officers would come to the hospital and talk with Rick. She went about her rounds, but continued to think about that man.
She had never become so attached to a patient before and wondered why she cared so much about him. She decided that it was simply her emotions running away with her and put it out of her mind, but found herself continuing to worry about him.
The officers came and spoke to Rick while Kimmy was on her rounds. They explained to him that the woman was fine and that the man who had shot him had been taken into custody. Rick was relieved to find out that she was okay, but he was also concerned about his job. He knew that he had put himself in danger by not waiting for backup and that he would be reprimanded for it. He tried to talk to the other officers about it, but they told him that all his Captain was worried about at that moment was that he recovered.
As they left Rick leaned back in his bed and sighed. He knew he would face the consequences of his actions. He had not followed protocol and no matter what happened his Captain had to follow procedure and file a discipline action against him.
Rick groaned as he thought about what he had done. He had put everything at risk, even his own life because he had not waited for backup. He was thankful that the woman was okay, however, he knew that if she had not been found safe he would have never been able to live with himself.
Kimmy had decided to let Rick rest while she was on break and as she found herself wondering more and more about him she decided to do a bit of research. Kimmy began by looking for any information she could find about him online. The first thing that she found was the story that had been in the local newspaper about him getting shot. She had not known the details surrounding it, but smiled as she thought about how brave he was. Then she found the story about how his mother had gone missing and how she had left her children and husband behind.
A tear rolled down Kimmy’s cheek as she thought about what a hard life he must have had. They were two kindred souls, both knowing what it was like to lose a parent at such a young age and both relying on local police to help them in one way or the other.
When Kimmy got home that night she did not go about her normal routine, but instead decided to do more research about Rick, or his mother’s case to be more specific.
She began with the story about his mother that had been in the local paper. It said that she came from a happy home and that there had been no reason for her to leave. Kimmy knew that if a woman was going to leave, she would have at least taken her purse even if she had left her car behind.
Kimmy began looking at other cases around the country that fit the same description and found that during that time several women had disappeared in the same way. She knew that when Rick’s mother had gone missing they did not have the technology available that would allow them to link the cases together and wondered if he had found the same information that she had.
Rick lay in his bed that night watching television and wondering about the nurse that he had quickly become so fond of. The stories that she had told him as he lay in that hospital bed were some of the worst that he had ever heard. It broke his heart that her father had been an officer and had been killed on duty and it made him very thankful that he was given a second chance to live the life that he had always dreamed of.
What bothered him more than anything about Kimmy though was that she had seemed so alone in the world. She had no one to talk to except a man that she thought was in a coma. Rick thought that she was an attractive woman; she was successful, caring and kind. He did not understand how someone like that could be so alone in the world, but then he realized that he was too.
Rick laughed a little as he laid his head back on his pillow before drifting off to sleep. It amazed him how easy it was to see in others what you overlook in yourself.
The next morning Kimmy awoke early. She had not been able to sleep well. It happened to her often, she would fixate her mind on something and find that it was the only thing that she could think about. This time it was Rick.
She took her time getting ready for work, enjoying her shower, putting on makeup and doing her hair. She loved when she was not rushed to get to work, but it did not happen often. Most of the time Kimmy would wake up tired and even depressed that the only thing she had in her life was her job. She imagined that she would be known as the crazy cat lady when she got older, a woman who had never married and hoarded cats simply because they kept her company.
Kimmy could not help but laughing at herself. She knew that she was young and had her entire life ahead of her, but she had always imagined that things would be different. She had imagined that she would be married and raising children by the time she had reached 26, she had a vision in her head and it seemed to be fading as the days past.
Kimmy arrived to work early and went in to check on Rick. The nurse on duty told her that he had a rough night and that he kept waking up from nightmares. She suggested he be given a sleeping aid if it continued.
Kimmy agreed before she walked into Rick’s room she wrote it on his chart. Rick was sitting up in bed watching television. Kimmy could tell by his eyes that he was very tired.
“Rough night, huh,” Kimmy asked, as she sat in the chair next to his bed.
“About normal,” Rick sighed, with a shrug. He had suffered from nightmares ever since his mother had disappeared. He dreamed of her being taken by some strange man and of her being held against her will, there were even times that he would wake up thinking that he heard her screaming for help. He had gotten used to not sleeping well over the years.
“What do you dream about,” Kimmy asked, immediately noticing that his jaw clenched up as she spoke, “It’s your mother isn’t it?”
Rick looked surprised that she knew anything about his mother, but nodded his head. It was obvious that he did not want to talk about it and Kimmy understood. To her he was someone that she had opened up to as he slept and that she had known for well over a week at this point. To him, she knew that she was simply a strange woman that he had just met.
The two talked about what Rick could expect in the next few weeks, Kimmy told him that he really needed someone to come to his home and take care of him once he was released. Rick knew that there was no one in his life that could help him and the look of sadness on his face told Kimmy that.
When she offered to come over on her days off and check on him after work each day he perked up slightly.
“Why are you being so nice to me,” Rick asked her.
“Well,” Kimmy began, “I’m not quite sure.” She was laughing as she teased him. “But really,” she continued, “You are an officer, just like my dad was and what you did was very brave. I want to help you
.”
Rick smiled. He hoped that his Captain would think what he had done was brave. Rick knew he was not brave, he was stupid and he was ashamed of how he had reacted in the situation.
He agreed to allow Kimmy to check on him and help him when he was released simply because Kimmy would not take no for an answer. Rick would have to be off of work for the next several weeks and knew it would be nice to have someone around to keep him company. He also knew it would give him time to work on his mother’s case.
Chapter 2
It was another week before Rick was released from the hospital. During that time he and Kimmy had become very close. The two of them talked about everything from their parents to what it was like growing up and their jobs. They both tried not to get too serious when it came to the conversations that they had with each other but found it difficult.
They both felt very comfortable around the other, and for the first time in a long time, both of them began to open up to someone besides themselves. Kimmy also worked with the hospital to ensure that she could be with Rick a few days each week instead of at the hospital. They concluded that since he would not be able to move about on his own that he would need extra help and that Kimmy could put in her hours at his house instead of in the hospital. It was agreed however that if there was an emergency she would come into the hospital to help.
The day that Rick was released Kimmy accompanied him to his house to help him get settled. He did not want to lay in his bed because he said he was tired of being in bed so she helped him into an oversized recliner that he had in his living room. She gave him the TV remote and then headed to the kitchen. She wanted to cook him a real meal since he had been complaining about hospital food for several days.
Kimmy quickly whipped an omelet together and made him some biscuits and a cup of coffee.
“I could get used to this,” Rick teased, as she handed him his breakfast. Kimmy blushed, but knew that he was not used to getting taken care of. As he ate, she busied herself about the house, cleaning and organizing as well as doing all of his laundry. She was amazed at how unorganized he was, but she understood how single men lived and found it cute.
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