Once again, Scott expressed his confidence in himself. “I just took the hook out of a shark’s mouth. I think can handle Beth.”
Michelle stood up to leave as they gave each other a kiss. “Maybe, but an adorable one hundred and ten pound two legged girl can be far more dangerous than a shark. Why don’t you concentrate on catching us some dinner for tomorrow night?”
“If you are depending on me to catch dinner, you need to be prepared to go hungry.”
Scott watched as she walked toward Beth’s house. It was only a moment before Beth walked down the steps and across the beach. She stopped to talk to Michelle for a few moments before she continued her trek towards his less than private sanctuary.
The cooler was sitting between the two chairs and once she sat down, she placed her drink on the cooler. Scott felt he had to tease her a little. “I see you are having a female drink tonight. I can see the fruit but I don’t see the little umbrella? What is it?”
“It’s called a Passion Fruit Mojitos. It’s made with rum. Now shut up about my girl drink and quit making fun of me. Have you caught any more fish since I left?”
“No. I think the shark ate all the fish and there is nothing left to catch.”
Beth took a sip of her drink. “Why do you keep fishing if you aren’t catching anything? Why don’t you watch a ballgame or something?”
“I like watching the surf. It’s peaceful out here.”
She looked back at the house. “I don’t know why they turn up the music so loud.”
“Maybe they don’t want to hear each other talk.”
She hit him on the arm. “You think a girl’s night party is silly, don’t you?”
Scott looked at her as she challenged him. “I don’t think they’re silly, but from the way you described the party, I think I would rather go to the dentist.”
“I’ll bet you would change your mind if you were in the pool with about eighteen very attractive girls, several of whom have been drinking too much and are ready for a little fun. I am positive you would change your mind.” She replied with confidence.
He pointed out his situation. “Like everything today, it doesn’t matter because it’s all hypothetical. I was not invited.”
There was a long period of silence before Beth’s apparent concerns drifted out. “My friend Amie is up there tonight. She is drop-dead gorgeous. In another hour, she will be drunk and out of control to the point she could have sex with you on the dinning room table while everyone is standing around eating. She has been pregnant once already.”
“You sound like you are worried about her. Will she be alright tonight?” Scott asked
Beth shrugged her shoulders. “I used to be worried about her, but that hasn’t helped. I’ve tried to talk to her, but she isn’t going to listen to anybody. I don’t know if she is addicted to sex or alcohol, but the combination is deadly for her. She is going to get hurt one of these nights being with guys she doesn’t even know. I wish someone could help her. Nobody wants to step up to the plate because they think they would be betraying her if they told her family she needed help. They will let her die in some alley, shake their head and say my, my, what a waste. That was depressing, wasn’t it?”
He replied, not knowing what else to say. “It is a sad story, but until we find a way to get inside a person’s mind, people will be exploited by other people before they die in a lonely alley.”
Beth continued to look at him as she made a confession. “I told her she should come down to the beach and talk to you. I told her you could help her.”
Scott shook his head emphatically hoping she would get his point. “Beth, your friend needs professional help that I can’t give her.”
“Does that mean you aren’t willing to help her?”
His reply was swift. “It means I don’t know how to help her. You just told me she’s your friend and she won’t listen to you or anybody else. Someone like that is not going to listen to me even if I knew what to say to her. I don’t have the skills, training, or knowledge to help your friend.”
“She most likely won’t come down here anyway.” Beth replied.
Scott decided he might have one of those teachable moments his professor had discussed. “How much have you had to drink tonight?”
She became slightly uneasy with his question, but chose to answer. “I had two or three glasses of champagne with you in the hot tub. I had a glass of wine with dinner, two beers while we were fishing, and now this drink. Why do you ask?”
“I asked because I don’t want you to end up in the same mess as your friend Amie. I’m surprised you aren’t feeling the effects of the alcohol.”
She smiled at him as she reached for her glass. “I was feeling the effects even before I started on this drink. By the time this drink is gone, I will be gone too. Don’t worry about me because I don’t drink this much very often.”
After giving an idea some very serious consideration, Scott made her an offer. “I won’t worry about you if you take your drink and pour it in the sand.”
She was completely surprised at his suggestion. “Are you serious?”
“I’m very serious.”
“Are you afraid I drink too much and can’t control it?” She asked
He decided to appeal to her logic. “Let me ask you this. Would Amie pour her drink in the sand or find an excuse not to?”
Beth was definite with her answer. “There is no way she would dump her drink unless she knew she had another one close by. I’m not Amie and I can pour it out, if I want to.”
Scott responded with two simple words. “Prove it.”
Her stare at Scott was relentless as he assumed she was making some mental calculation or was very confused. She picked up her drink, took a sip, held it in her outstretched arm, and slowly poured it in the sand. “When I told you that story about Amie, you thought I was talking about me, didn’t you?”
He was noncommittal. “I wasn’t sure because people have funny ways of asking for help. If you are not Amie now, then I don’t want you to become Amie. I don’t want you to become another statistic.”
“Are you religious or something?” She asked, still trying to understand his motives.
Scott looked down the beach at the fishing pier. “I suppose in my own way I am. I look out at the ocean and see the Universal Mind, but that doesn’t have anything to do with you pouring out your drink. I told you a little while ago I would like to have the benefit of having sex with you, if you were going to accuse me of it. Those are not the confessions of the evangelical. I want you to find your dream and not live a nightmare like your friend Amie.”
She continued to look at him as he watched her. “I really don’t understand you at all. You really are concerned about what happens to me.”
As Scott looked in her eyes, he could see a genuine look of surprise she was feeling. “The world is full of people who lost a battle. I want you to win the war. Did you ever doubt that I was concerned about you?”
She looked at him and then at the ocean. “I just wasn’t sure you concern was real.”
His cell phone went off with a tone that let him know he had a message from Michelle. The message read, “She has knife - standing in corner - come now.”
After telling Beth they had an emergency, Scott grabbed her hand almost jerking her up as they started running for the house. Michelle and Jenifer were waiting for them on the boardwalk at the top of the stairs. Jenifer spoke as they came closer to her. “She is standing in the corner with her back to the wall and she has a knife. She said if we call the police or an ambulance, she would kill herself. She already has a cut on her arm.”
Scott was speaking quickly. “If you haven’t called the police don’t call yet. What’s her name and what set her off?”
“Her name is Amie and she got angry because we wouldn’t let her call some guy to come over here. She said he could get several of his friends to come over and party with us.”
“Who is her best friend?�
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Jenifer looked at Beth. “That would have to be Beth. Most of us are tired of fooling with her.”
“Who did she come with?”
Beth replied, “She drove herself.”
Scott started detailing his plan. “Beth, why don’t you come with me a let’s try to talk to her.”
Michelle came with Scott to the door and put her hand on his back. “I thought you always told me your mother didn’t raise a fool.”
Scott smiled at her reference. “I’m ninety percent sure she isn’t going to do anything. I think she is trying to either get her way or get some attention. There is always that other ten percent chance she could be crazy as hell. Therefore, if Amie stabs me, then you were right and I was wrong. See if you can find a first aid kit, please.”
Beth came and stood beside him as they entered the great room. When he was three or four feet away, Amie told him to stop, which he did. In a slurred but determined voice, she asked if Scott was a cop.
Scott deliberately made her wait for his answer. “No, I’m not a cop. I just came over to fix your arm.”
Beth moved slightly closer to Amie before speaking to Scott. “Scott, this is my best friend Amie.”
“Oh, you’re Beth’s friend. Beth said you were going to come down to the beach with us. She has told me a lot about you.”
Beth was trying to encourage her to come with them. “Scott and I have been waiting for you on the beach. There’s nothing going on up here so why don’t you go swimming with us?”
Amie was hesitant to accept Beth’s suggestion. “You haven’t been waiting for me.”
Beth countered Amie’s denial. “Scott and I caught a shark while we were waiting for you. Would you like to see a picture of it?”
Beth took out her cell phone and held up the picture for Amie to see. Amie squinted to see the image because Beth was standing too far away from her. “You caught a real shark?”
Beth’s idea was a spark of genius. “Scott, you were a medic in the National Guard. You can fix her arm.”
Amie maintained her stance. “I’m not putting down my knife.”
Scott moved much closer to Amie. “You can keep your knife while I work on your arm. But you have to agree to come with me if I take the time to fix it.”
Amie looked at him with her head clearly unstable. You can fix my arm, but I am not putting down my knife.”
That was not news he wanted to hear, but it was a start. Scott took the first aid kit and set it on the table next to Amie. He kept eye contact with her while he was speaking. “I’m going to take your arm so that I can look at the cut. I want you to be very careful with the knife so you and I don’t get hurt. Is that okay?”
She extended her arm and nodded. Scott then asked Michelle to get a washcloth and some warm water. While he was waiting, he kept talking to Amie and paying very careful attention to her right arm holding the knife at shoulder height. Scott had no idea if she had been at the beach during the day, but used that idea as a way to keep her attention. “Was that you I saw you lying on the beach today?”
“I had on my pink bathing suit today.” She replied with a softer tone of voice.
Scott assumed he was on the right track, but she still had the knife at shoulder height and could jab it in his side if she decided to. He was still convinced she was not going to hurt him, but he couldn’t ignore the fact she had cut her own arm. “I was watching you and thinking I really would like to hook up with you.”
“You should have said something if you wanted to see me.” She replied, with her words still slurred.
Michelle placed the water on the table and backed away as Scott picked up the wet cloth. “I’m going to clean this up and take a look. This might hurt just a little so tell me if I start to hurt you too much.”
Scott held her arm at the elbow as he started to clean away the dried blood. The cut was deeper than he expected, but the wound had already started to clot. Scott wanted to keep her mind focused on him. “Amie, there are several other things I want to check. I am going to touch your face with my hand. Is that okay with you?”
He put his hand on the side of her face and then on her forehead. “You feel a little hot, do you feel okay?”
“I feel okay. I’m sleepy.” She replied.
Scott kept trying to keep her distracted. “Did you go swimming today?”
“I went in the pool.” She replied.
Scott extended her arm and gave her one more warning. “I am going to put something on your wound now and it is going to sting. Do you think you can handle it?”
She nodded her head as he put the iodine on the open cut. Her arm flinched but he held it tight. Scott leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “You did fine. All I have to do now is put a bandage on you. I have a few other things I need to do after that. Is that okay?”
She agreed and he began to apply the bandage while he continued to talk to her. “I’ll bet your arm is getting tired after holding that knife. Why do you need the knife anyway?”
She was still unable to focus her eyes and her head was swaying slightly. “I wanted some fun with somebody and we only had girls.”
“Maybe you and I can have some fun. What would you like to do?”
She replied with a hint of a smile. “I can’t tell you. You’re my doctor.”
Scott noticed her eyes were not working together. “Now this is very important. Use your beautiful green eyes and look at my eyes. I need to know if you have taken any pills today or if you have used any drugs. This will be a secret between you and your doctor.”
“I took a little green pill after dinner. Does that count?”
“What is the little pill for” he asked being somewhat skeptical she would know.
Her body swayed slightly before she spoke, as though she might lose her balance. “It makes me want to fuck my doctor.”
Scott realized she was not just drunk but also that she likely needed medical help. “Your doctor is going to do two more things and I am going to ask my nurse to help me. I am going to do a few more tests. I will get my nurse to hold your knife while we do the test and then you can have it back. Then I am going to take you to the bedroom. Is that okay?”
“We don’t have to go to the bedroom, we can do it right here.” She said as she staggered.
“Let me have the knife now so I can take you to my bedroom and check you out.” Scott said thinking she would connect his ideas to her thoughts.
“I need to keep my knife.”
Seeing that Amie was beginning to stagger and was still holding the knife in a way that could hurt both of them, Scott chose a different approach. “I need to pull off your shirt to check you heart. I can’t take your shirt off while you are holding the knife.”
“You can try, can’t you?”
Scott took his hands and put them on both shoulders trying to massage her neck and distract her. He let his hands go further down to her elbows until he knew he could control the arm holding the knife. With more force than needed, Scott held her arm so she could not move. “This is the arm test. I need to see if you can move your arms. Is that okay”.
He could feel her fighting against him, but she had little strength. “I can’t move it.”
The knife slipped from her hand before he pulled her close to prevent her from trying to pick it up. He kept his arms around her as Scott looked at Beth. “Help me get her in the bedroom. Michelle, call EMS and tell them we need them now and that she has ingested an unknown drugs with alcohol.”
One of the women at the party who had been watching came up to Scott. “She doesn’t need the ambulance. Put her to bed if you want to, have a little fun and she’ll be fine in the morning. She took a little rope. It’s obvious you have never lived in a girl’s dorm before.”
No one in the room was making an effort to place the call nor did they seem concerned. Scott finally looked at Jenifer. “Do you want me to just throw her in the corner or dump her on the beach? What works best for you?”
Scott was still holding on to Amie and mostly supporting her weight as she showed little inclination to stand up. He started to smile at Heather. “You’re right. I have never lived in a girl’s dorm. If it’s full of people like you, then I’m glad I haven’t. What the fuck are you people waiting for? Does she have to slash her throat to get your attention? Her arm needs stitches. I’ll take care of her. Party on.”
As he started for the door dragging Amie along, he heard Heather laugh and make a remark. “I’ll bet he takes real good care of her.”
Michelle and Beth followed him out of the door before Michelle spoke, “What are you going to with her?”
“I’m going to take her to the emergency room in Morehead City.”
Michelle put her hand on his shoulder. “Take her to our place if you want to and we can stay up with her until she is better. She doesn’t need an emergency room.”
Beth echoed Michelle’s comments. “I’ll stay and help you guys look after her. The emergency room is not going to help her. They will keep her overnight and release her in the morning, if not before. She’s been down that road more times than I can count.”
Scott continued walking toward his car. “I am taking her to the ER and get stitches in this wound. She cut it fairly deep.”
“Let’s have some fun Doc.” Amie said as she continued to stagger before almost falling.”
Scott kept his arm around her waist as he replied. “I understand what both of you are saying, but tonight is going to be different. If you don’t want to come with me, I completely understand.”
They took her to the car and arrived at the hospital after a thirty-minute drive. After an hour and forty-five minute wait, a doctor came to talk to them. She took them into a small consolation room to have a conversation. The doctor began with her questions. “Which one of you is a member of her family?”
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