Just a Little Bit Crazy

by T A Ford

  “See, that’s your privilege talking. I never gave a fuck about friendship with you past or present. My plan has always been to protect Dina!”

  “Is that why you left the States? Left her behind? Made me her neighbor? Was that for Dina? She isn’t crazy. This isn’t what you think it is.”

  “So Maura’s lying?”

  “Yes, she is,” Cue ran his hand back through his hair. “I’m not fucking her. I’m in love with her.”

  The truce between them snapped the moment the words left his lips. Rodney charged at him. Cue knew what was coming. He’d faced Rodney before. He’d faced many situations like the one charging straight for him. The first punch Rodney threw hit Cue with startling force. Still he recovered in time for the second. And together they went down with fists pounding.

  “DINA? HI!” SAID SHEILA.

  Dina paused. Jack was on a leash and he stood at her side. She stared at Sheila confused by her presence and not sure what to say.

  “Ah, I was looking for you because—”

  “My brother isn’t here.”

  “I know, he’s uhm, well...”

  “Is my brother here?” Dina asked.

  “No, honey, I just thought I would come to see you and—”

  “Liar!” Dina ran for the elevator.

  “Wait! Dina! Wait please!”

  She punched the button for the elevator repeatedly and ignored Sheila.

  “Listen, don’t go upstairs.” Sheila tried to grab her arm. Dina shook her touch off. “They are just talking. I’m sure everything is fine.”

  “Get your hands of me!” she shouted so loud at Sheila that the woman stepped back in fear. The elevator doors opened. Dina went inside. Sheila and those in the lobby of the condo building all stared at Dina with wide eyes with shock. She didn’t care. If Rodney was upstairs with Cue then it meant terrible things were going to happen. Her brother never liked any men she even hinted at dating. And she knew something else. Rodney was kind, he was understanding, he was supportive, but he was dangerous when he was pushed too far.

  “Doc... Doc...Doc... Doc... Doc... Doc...” she said his name repeatedly as the elevator slowly climbed floor to floor. When the doors opened, she ran to her condo. Fumbling with her key, she walked in on a full-fledged fight.

  “Stop it! Stop it!” she shouted at the men. Cue had gained leverage and was on top of Rodney, hitting him. “Stop!” she shouted at her lover. He looked over at her in surprise.

  Rodney escaped, and aimed a powerful kick at Cue’s groin. Instead it connected with Cue’s chest and threw Cue flat to his back.

  “You two stop it!” Dina warned. “I’ll kill myself!”

  “Dina, it’s okay, we’re okay,” Cue said, and tried to rise with his hands up.

  “Stop it!” Dina wept.

  “Tell her! Tell her you bastard!” Rodney said.

  “Rodney, don’t. Pull back bro!” Cue pleaded.

  “I’m not your fucking bro!” Rodney shouted.

  “Doc! Doc! Doc!” Dina started hitting herself in the head.

  “He played you baby-girl! I’m the one that sent him to Panera Bread to meet you,” Rodney said. “Made him take the fucking dance classes. He didn’t want to do it. He did it for money. He’s a fucking alcoholic and gambling snake. A junkie. He’s living next to you for free. On my damn dime!”

  “No. No. No. No,” Dina shook her head fiercely. She shivered all over. “We’re in love.”

  “Shut the fuck up man!” Cue yelled.

  “Dina. Dina listen. He doesn’t love you. He used you. You saw him when you came in. Look at me. He tried to kill me. Look at me!” Rodney said. His face bruised and bloodied just like Cue’s from the busted lip and swollen eye.

  “I said shut your fucking mouth!” Cue shoved Rodney. Dina looked between both men in confused hysteria.

  Rodney refused to stop. “I gave him the address to your dance studio. Told him to watch you, gave him a free penthouse to live next to you! He’s playing you! He’s been fucking with your head! He knew you were too weak to see him for what he was! So he put you on drugs.”

  “Man, what are you saying? Shut up!” Cue shoved Rodney again. Rodney shoved him back. Jack barked and rushed Rodney, but he kicked the dog so hard it yelped and slid back across the floor.

  “Jack!” Dina screamed. Cue lost control after Jack was hurt. He attacked Rodney. The both of them went down to the ground throwing punches.

  “Doc?” she gasped, “Rodney!” her heart exploded in her chest.

  Cue got the upper hand and nearly knocked Rodney out. He got to his hands and knees and looked up at Dina. “It’s okay baby, it’s not true, sweetheart.” He started toward her and she went to him wanting to believe. Her brother recovered and jumped on Cue’s back. He got him in a chokehold that brought Cue down to his knees. Dina froze again in abject horror. Jack growled, threatening to attack as Cue’s face went beet red from lack of oxygen. Rodney kept choking him. Dina ran to the kitchen and got a knife. She raced back to see Cue bucking and kicking his feet and Jack biting Rodney’s arm to force him to let go.

  Dina screamed with all the force she could summon.

  Cue fought Rodney, but the chokehold he had on his neck was like a vice squeezing tighter and tighter. The only defense he had was the help of Jack. Rodney’s hold kept loosening and tightening as his dog bit at him, in a desperate attempt to free his master. Then Jack stopped. The pooch stared at Dina. Cue heard her scream. He knew what kind of distress he was pushing her toward. He couldn’t speak to warn Rodney. And then it was too late. Dina returned with a knife.

  “Rod—” Cue gagged

  “Imma kill you motherfucker!” Rodney snarled.

  “Doc! Doc! Doc! Doc!” Dina screamed, and began to stab herself in the chest repeatedly. The sight of her cutting herself caused Jack to spring into action. His dog leaped and bit down on Dina’s arm to keep her from dealing a death blow to her heart or jugular. But she went down with multiple stabs to her chest and stomach. Cue broke free of Rodney and rushed her. Dina was on the floor with her hands shaking, and blood spewing everywhere. Her eyes were stretched wide with shock.

  “Call an ambulance! Now!” he yelled hoarsely. Rodney scrambled to get his phone out as Cue tried to assess where she was bleeding the worst.

  “Doc?” she gasped, gurgling on blood.

  “Shhh... you’re doing good Dina. You’re doing real good. Hold on baby.”

  “Give her to me!” Rodney wept. “Give her to me!”

  Cue had no choice but to hand her over. He got to his feet, slipping in her blood, and got towels from the kitchen to put pressure on the bleeding.

  “Why?” Rodney wept. “Whhhhyyyyyy Dina?”

  “Put this here, hold it. I’ll get to the... to the... to... uh, uhm.” He felt himself weakening as she lay there bleeding to death all over her brother. He had to snap out of it. She needed them both.

  “Get the paramedics! I called them. Bring them upstairs!” Rodney shouted.

  “Right. Paramedics,” Cue said. He went as fast as he could and he was grateful to see firemen coming in the door and paramedics arriving as well. It was the damn calvary. He brought them all upstairs to her. And that’s when he lost it. Tears he never shed before in his life crumbled him. Rodney was even worse. He wouldn’t let her go. But the firemen pulled him away and let the paramedics get to her.

  “Where? Where are you taking her?” Cue wheezed.

  “Grady Memorial.”

  Cue grabbed Jack, who was now jumping on the medics, biting at them in an attempt to protect Dina. Dina eyes were closed. It was the last he saw of her as they wheeled her out. Rodney went with them, and Cue took Jack to his place, got his shoes, wallet and keys, and was out the door. Covered in her blood, he drove like a madman to Grady Hospital.

  Arriving, he was immediately stopped by security. He looked a sight. Even his hands were stained in dried blood.

  “I’m Dr. Walsh,” he removed his credentials. “I
need to know about patient Dina Erickson.”

  The nurse nodded and returned to her station. The security officer backed away.

  “She’s in surgery. In the trauma unit. Follow me,” she said.

  “Cue!”

  He turned and saw Rodney approaching with his lady friend, Sheila. He too had Dina’s blood soaked through his shirt. But his arm was bandaged from where Jack bit him. “They won’t let me see her man.” Rodney’s eyes were stretched in shock. He’d evidently still been crying. “I don’t know. She cut herself up. She’s bad, man. And she was losing so much blood they said she went into distress in the ambulance.”

  “Dr. Walsh?” the nurse said.

  “I’ll find out,” he said.

  “I did this. I did it. This is my fault. I knew better,” Rodney wept.

  “I’ll find out,” Cue put his hand to Rodney’s shoulder. His friend’s anger and rage had broken.

  He dropped his head in desperation. “I fucked up. I fucked up. Please Cue. I’ll do anything to make it right. I swear. Anything.” The woman with him hugged him and Rodney wept.

  Cue followed the nurse through Marcus Trauma Center, where the best surgeons and neurosurgeons in the state performed miracles. He prayed for one for Dina. He wasn’t able to go through the doors to the surgical rooms. A triage nurse was summoned to meet him.

  “You’re her doctor?”

  “Psychiatrist, yes. What’s happening?”

  “There’s a lot happening. The surgical team performed a diagnostic laparoscopy. It looks like the diaphragm was penetrated. Blood clots on the anterior surface of the stomach and three lacerations. They will need to assess the intra-abdominal injuries to determine how much the surgeons will have to repair.”

  How could she do so much damage to herself in a blink of an eye? “Were you there, doctor? Is there anything I can take to the surgeons? Anything I can use to explain how this happened?”

  “Self-inflicted. She’s on anti-depressants,” he said and gave her the drugs he had her take. “How long before we know more? Her family is waiting in the lobby.”

  “I don’t know. As soon as we do I will send someone out to you.”

  “Thank you,” he said and left. He could do no more. When he walked back through the hospital, there were police and medical staff questioning Rodney and Sheila. He sucked down a deep breath and approached them.

  “He’s her doctor, he’ll tell you what you need to know,” Sheila said as she pointed at Cue.

  “I said I need ID,” the officer repeated. “From the both of you.”

  “Fuck you. I’m here for my sister. I don’t fucking have to be interrogated.” The second officer took a threatening step toward Rodney.

  “What is going on officers?” Cue asked.

  “And you are?”

  “I’m Dr. Clinton Walsh. This patient made a suicide attempt in front of us.” He again presented his credentials. The officers looked at them and then to Rodney and Sheila.

  “He’s her brother and he’s upset. Let’s not make it worse,” Cue said. He didn’t know why Rodney refused to give them identification. It didn’t matter. Dina was all that mattered.

  “We need to know more about how this happened,” the officer said.

  “I have some documents for the family to fill out and sign,” the hospital worker said, handing them the clipboard.

  Cue took them and nodded. “Like I said, I was with her when this happened. I can give you the statement. But please let me talk to the family first.”

  The policemen exchanged looks with Rodney, who continued to glare at the officers, and then decided to not push the last button of control on him. The officers stepped away. They did not go far.

  “Let’s talk,” Cue said, and led Rodney and Sheila to a different area for privacy. “She’s in surgery. She may have punctured her diaphragm and her stomach. There are clots, which is also a bad sign. But this is the best trauma unit in the city, so she’ll be in the hands of a good surgeon. I think she’ll survive it. It’ll be okay.”

  “‘Okay’? You think anything about this is okay bro?” Rodney asked.

  “No. You’re right Rodney. I’m hoping for the best possible outcome.”

  “And the worst?” Sheila asked.

  “I don’t know if I can even think of the worst.”

  “Try,” Rodney demanded.

  “It’s not your fault. It’s mine. I should have told you man. I had plenty of opportunity. But listen to me. You need to know what’s about to go down.”

  Rodney frowned.

  “My statement isn’t going to be enough, they will question you. And for her sake, we need to tell the truth. Or you’ll get shut out of this place. Do you understand?”

  “You don’t fucking know how to tell the truth,” Rodney seethed.

  “Do you know how to tell the truth?” Cue demanded.

  “You can’t be trusted with her,” Rodney said.

  “Maybe not, but Dina needs us both.” Cue scratched his head. “After surgery, she’ll be moved to recovery. They will take her to psych because this is an attempt at suicide. I know Dr. Robinson. I know his approach.”

  “Who the fuck is he?”

  “The doctor I transferred her too. He’s going to push for an investigation. A full one. And typically, he fights for control over the patient in the courts. If he deems her actions to be psychotic, he’ll force you out of her care. That means my relationship with her is going to come out as well.”

  “Oh... I get it, so this is about you. They find out you fucking your patient and you lose your license? Right?”

  “Or go to jail,” Cue said. “Possibly both.”

  Rodney glared at him. “You want me to cover it up?”

  “I want to help Dina. When it’s time for all of it come out, then we tell the truth. But right now man, you cut me lose and none of it will be under your control. I love her. I swear on my life I do. Let me help her.”

  Rodney glanced to Sheila. He then looked to him. “I came back into the country illegally.”

  “What?” Cue said.

  “There’s a bench warrant for my arrest. It’s for failure to appear before a federal court on securities fraud charges.” He stepped close to Cue and lowered his voice. “I got the US Attorney, SEC, and IRS all on my ass right now.”

  “How did you get back in the country?”

  Rodney sighed.

  “How?” Cue demanded.

  “On a fake passport, and I don’t know how long that will hold.”

  Cue shook his head. “How the fuck do you get a fake passport into this country?”

  “Some powerful people. More powerful than you and I ever dealt with in school. And they own me, man.”

  “Then you need to go.”

  “Fuck that. I’m not leaving her. I came here for her,” Rodney said. “I’m taking her back with me. We’ll disappear. I should never have left her. I won’t do it now.”

  Cue looked back at the officers, who kept eyeing Rodney. There was no way in hell he’d let Rodney take Dina and disappear with her. He’d never give her up. He almost considered blowing Rodney’s cover to the officers. But he couldn’t contemplate doing that to his friend. He nodded to Rodney. “Let’s get her through this. Do you have ID you can give them? Something to hold them off?”

  Rodney nodded.

  “Then we roll the dice.”

  “I’m sick of this craziness,” Sheila mumbled and walked away.

  Cue sighed. “Me too. But crazy is where we are.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Dina / Rodney

  “Dr. Walsh?”

  “Yes!” he said and stood. Rodney walked over. The surgeon looked at the two men, perplexed.

  “I’m her brother,” Rodney said, and shook the surgeon’s hand.

  “I’m Dr. Epstein, the attendant on your sister’s case,” he said.

  “How is my sister?” Rodney asked.

  “They tell me she did this to herself?” the su
rgeon asked.

  The men both nodded.

  “She’s a lucky woman. We feared she had intra-abdominal injuries from the stab wounds. It was why we determined that your sister needed surgical exploration. We found no evidence of internal bleeding, contusions, or deeper penetration. We closed up the diaphragmatic perforation... and—”

  “Stop. Stop talking that way man. Is she going to be okay!” Rodney demanded.

  “Yes. Sorry. The stabbing caused lacerations in her stomach and diaphragm. But we were able to address it. She will be fine. She is recovering now in ICU and will be moved once we are certain she is stable.”

  “Can I see her?” Rodney asked.

  “Not yet, but soon. A nurse will advise you both. Excuse me,” the doctor said and stepped away. Cue let go the deep breath he’d been holding for four hours. He felt like he’d drop to the ground with relief. Instead, he found a chair and sat in it.

  “Why did she do this? You said she was on medication. You said she was better. She never hurt herself this way. Yes, she threatened to do it but she never did. Why?” Rodney asked.

  Cue looked up. There were many clinical reasons he could share, but nothing would explain what they’d seen. Dina had been pushed too far. And they were the cause. How could he say that knowing the role he played? If he had never crossed the line with Dina, she wouldn’t be in the ICU. So he lowered his gaze and said nothing.

  “It’s not your fault babe. It’s his. He did this,” Sheila said. She rubbed Rodney’s shoulders. Rodney looked up to his girlfriend and then to Cue. The rage surfaced again over his face.

  “You need to get the fuck out of here man. Every time I see you I want to kill you. I don’t want you here. She doesn’t need you here. If you stay, I don’t know what I might say or do.”

  “I’m not leaving her,” Cue said to them both.

  “Oh yea? You want to push this?” Rodney asked.

  “Do you?” Cue reminded him.

  “Wow? Really?” Sheila said. “Can’t you see he’s hurting,” she said in defense of her boyfriend.