The Brute

by Tarrah Anders

  “—we need to know what your plan was with striking the other vehicle as you did.” The voice of the officer facing the suspect says with a stern tone through the speaker.

  The man's head stays down and he says nothing. His demeanor isn't of one of is fear or defiance. His posture just portrays him as unaffected, as though he's there but not.

  “Can the officer ask him to lift his head?” I request.

  “Since we got here, he's been like this. He shut down upon stepping foot in the station it seems. We had to have someone hold his head up for his mug shot.”

  “Can I see the mug shot? I don't want to be here any longer than I need to, in case Bella wakes up. I want to be by her side.”

  “Understood. Give me a minute, and I'll go grab that for you.”

  While Officer Simon is gone, I continue listening to the officer in the other room try to get the guy to talk. Nothing is working; the guy is silent and unmoving.

  I observe what I can of him to try to place him. His shoulders, his neck, his hands. He's familiar and it's pissing me off that I cannot place him. I'm gritting my teeth, angry at myself and at the man in the other room. When the officer comes back in, he hands me the tablet with a photo on it and I look down.

  I feel light-headed and feel my knees give out on me before I hit the ground.

  My vision goes dark.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Bella

  I'm stuck in a haze. Nothing here seems permanent and I’m not coming into contact with any fixtures as I slowly walk through the haze. I can't make out any smells or sounds, aside from the faint beeping off in the distance.

  I don't know where I am, and I feel nothing.

  Should I be feeling something?

  What happened?

  Where am I?

  I close my eyes and stop walking. I take a deep breath, hoping for the smells of the city, the sounds of people to fill my senses.

  But nothing.

  Just haze.

  How did I get here?

  Chapter Twenty

  Benjamin

  My eyes open slowly and I'm surrounded by people in uniforms. Immediately, I try to sit up, but a strong arm is on my chest and a voice tells me to take it slow. A face comes into view, an EMT with shaggy brown hair and two-days of scruff is kneeling beside me on the ground. He smiles when my eyes focus on him and he holds up his tiny flashlight and shines it into my eyes. He looks up and nods to someone who then also kneels down and comes into my view.

  “Mr. Adams, you gave me quite the scare. How are you feeling?” he asks me.

  “How… How long was I out?” I stutter.

  “A few minutes. You basically buckled once I handed you the tablet.”

  The tablet. Yes, the tablet with his face. His Face.

  “Where is he?” I say, my voice a little louder than before. Suddenly all I feel is rage as I get to my feet and wobble a bit.

  “Whoa, take it easy there, buddy,” the EMT says as he grasps my shoulders. “You need to move slowly right now, until your equilibrium catches up to you.”

  I grimace at him and he backs away.

  “The tablet?” I ask Officer Simon who comes up beside me. He turns to one of the other officers and holds out his hand. The tablet is placed in his hands and he unlocks it, then enters into their database.

  “Let me pull up the file. Ah, there it is. I take it you know him?” He hands me the tablet again with the mug shot on the screen.

  “His name,” I say slowly, my anger boiling, “is Elliot Hunter.”

  “And you are sure about that?” Officer Simon asks.

  “As sure about his name as I am about my own. We were college roommates, best friends at the time. He was involved in a car accident with my fiancée ten years ago, a car accident that killed her,” I say with conviction.

  Officer Simon nods and leaves the room. He returns a moment later and holds his hand out to me. I take his hand in mine and grasp it as we shake.

  “I'm deeply sorry that you are having to deal with this. With your identification, we'll make sure we hold him. We need your company to file a loss report, and take down any information that we can.”

  “I will have someone from my office call you to do the report. I would like to get back to the hospital now, if I can.”

  He nods in understanding.

  “I'll be in touch. Here's my card, call me and I'll give you any updates I can. I'll be in contact with the hospital too, and well, we'll need to get Ms. Dubois's statement when she is able.”

  I take a cab back to the hospital and hope, just hope that she wakes when I get there. Her being asleep is killing me and now the fact that I know that Elliot Hunter, of all people, caused this to happen has my blood boiling again.

  Why would he purposely cause this accident? What does he have to gain from this?

  I walk into the hospital and make my way to the ICU and find her room empty. In a panic, I rush to the nurses' station.

  “Her lungs collapsed. She was rushed into surgery about five minutes ago.”

  “Why didn't anyone call me?” I yell.

  “Sir. Please calm down. We only just now received an update on her status. We cannot give incomplete information. This is me telling you right now. I'm sorry, but that’s protocol.”

  I simmer down and take a deep breath. “I'm sorry. This hasn't been the greatest of days.

  “I know, sir, and for that I'm greatly sorry. Unfortunately, since she's not in her room, you'll have to wait in the waiting room just outside those doors. The doctor or one of the surgery nurses will come out and update you soon. I'll inform them you’re here.”

  “I can't lose her,” I mumble.

  “The doctors and nurses on her team are some of the best. She's in good hands.” The nurse rounds the station and guides me to the waiting room. She squeezes my shoulder and then turns to leave.

  After a few moments of sitting in the uncomfortable chair sorting through feelings of anger and helplessness, I pull out my phone.

  “Mrs. Rosemary,” I croak into the phone.

  I tell her everything. I pour out my heart as if she were my mother. She listens and adds in encouraging words when I break for a breath. She confirms that she will make sure the company vehicle loss report is completed by calling the office. I ask her to get me contact information for Bella's parents and then we hang up. Minutes later, my cell phone chimes with a message that includes a phone number. I place the call to her family and relay all the information to her mother over the phone. With her mother's tears and words of encouragement weighing heavy on my heart, I sit in the waiting room, unsure of what will happen to my Bella, pissed off and questioning the reasons why all this has happened.

  I'm not sure how long I wait for someone to come and update me. It could have been minutes or hours. Time has become lost to me.

  My shoulder is nudged and someone sits beside me.

  Mrs. Rosemary. There’s worry in her eyes, and silent questions.

  “Is she… Is she okay?” she asks, her chin quivering.

  “I'm still waiting,” I reply as a doctor walks up to us.

  “The family for Ms. Dubois?” he asks.

  I stand and prepare myself for the worst.

  “Thankfully, we caught the problem right away and Ms. Dubois is back in her room. She suffered from a traumatic pneumothorax, her lungs were collapsed in the accident and we went in and sealed any of the leaks of her lung closed. It appears that she had the collapsed lungs at the onset of her arriving, but somehow the first operation didn’t seal all the punctures. She will have a chest tube in for a few days, until her chest expands. But from what I can see, she’s out of the woods.”

  “And her other injuries?” I ask.

  “According to her chart, she will heal normally. She had some initial internal bleeding when she was first brought in by the Aid Car. She has, as you've seen several contusions and some fractures. There was a nurse checking her bags at the moment her heart rate acce
lerated and she started coding, so immediate action was taken. She was very lucky. We are going to admit her to one of the regular rooms in twenty four hours, should she continue to progress and once she’s breathing on her own. The nurses in the ICU will continue to observe her and then we'll set her up on the fourth floor,” he replied.

  “Thank God,” Mrs. Rosemary says from beside me.

  “Do you have any other questions?” the doctor asks me.

  “Can I see her?”

  “Give her until she gets upstairs. Grab something to eat. I'll make sure the nurses come to get when she's moved.”

  “Thank you, doctor,” I say, extending my hand.

  While a commotion at the front door distracts me, the doctor turns on his heel and leaves. Mrs. Rosemary and I observe a rumpled couple rush into the room looking frantic. Upon closer observation, the woman looks like a shorter and older Bella and I clue in that they must be her parents.

  I stand to my full height, brush flat my shirt, and take a deep breath.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Dubois?” I ask as their eyes meet mine.

  With a sigh of relief, they come to stand before me. Introductions are made and I give them the good news that the doctor just gave us as well as introduce them to Mrs. Rosemary.

  Mrs. Rosemary. She's here, not as my employee, but as a concerned friend. She was concerned over me as well as Bella and came to be by my side when I didn't even ask. I am grateful for her presence.

  I look over at her, talking with Bella's mom and smile. She's the closest thing I have to a parent. She's known me since forever. She takes care of me, even though I think I’ve tried to fire her several times, saying I could take care of myself. She's here, talking to my girlfriend's parents and boasting about Bella.

  I smile for the first time today and feel so relieved that I sit back down in the chair and pass out.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Bella

  The haze is gone, and all I feel is pain.

  Excruciating pain.

  Every part of me is in pain and I just want to cry out. I slowly open my eyes to a ceiling that doesn't look familiar.

  My eyes burn, and I feel like my skin is crawling from the inside out. I open my mouth, but no sounds come out.

  Beeping. The beeps sound like the beeps from the haze, but louder and more frequent.

  I hear a series of beeps and slowly voices separate out of the din. I gingerly turn my head and see Ben standing there pressing a button. He then leans over me carefully and brushes hair off of my forehead.

  “Hi, my beauty. I can't tell you how happy I am to see those beautiful blue eyes look up at me,” he says, his eyes moist.

  I open my mouth and he shakes his head.

  “Wait for the doctors to check you over. It may hurt to talk,” he tells me softly. I nod, a tear forming at the corner of my eye, as another man comes into view. He’s a stranger, but I assume is a doctor based upon his white coat.

  He checks all my vitals. He motions for the nurse standing at the door to come in and they begin to pull the tube from my throat. I cough at the sudden burn as the doctor pulls his chair up to me. He continues to check on me, my fluids and whatever he’s looking at on his tablet.

  Ben is standing behind him, and he smiles at me. I can see his smile is strained but he's trying.

  “Isabella. You were in a head-on collision. When you came in you had a TBI, which meant we had to go in and relieve the pressure around your brain. You had internal bleeding, a broken arm and several broken ribs. You spent the majority of your morning in the ICU until your lungs collapsed, likely from damage due to one of your broken ribs. Your serious injuries have been repaired, but for a few days, you'll have this chest tube in to equalize everything.” The doctor finishes as he hands me a whiteboard. “It will hurt to speak because we had to intubate you, but these ice chips should help build up the moisture and the soreness of your throat. Take your time with speaking; I imagine that you're in a lot of pain right now from all of this. The button right here” —He points to the remote beside my head.— “this is for pain. It's regulated, so you can't overdose on the medication, of course, this is a controlled release system. Now, I know that’s a lot of information, but do you have any questions for me?”

  “I have a question,” a booming voice says from the other side of the room. I slowly turn my head and see my dad stand up and come to my bedside. He smiles down at me and takes my hand. “Hi, pumpkin,” he says, his tone softening for me.

  “Yes, sir. What can I answer for you?” The doctor turns to my dad.

  “Why didn't the doctors notice her lungs were affected by the broken ribs during the first surgery? Ben tells me she had two surgeries,” he scolds.

  “At the time of the first surgery, just after she was first brought in, there were minor signs of lung deflation, the punctures were sealed but either a new puncture formed or the doctor missed one in his tests. We will be having someone look into the situation. The lungs re-collapsed several hours later while a nurse was in her room completing some of her routine checks when she noticed the indications of her condition. She was rushed into emergency surgery immediately.”

  “Honey, relax. Isabella is here, she's awake. She's okay.” My mom comes into view and wraps her arm around Dad, then peers down at me with a warm smile. Her other hand rubs along my hairline.

  The doctor’s voice interrupts. “If that will be all, we will need to notify the police that Isabella has woken up. They want to interview her about the accident.”

  “Thank you, doctor,” Mom says.

  The room is quiet except for the machines humming and the monitoring of my heartbeat. Ben comes back into my view.

  “So, this wasn't the way I was expecting to meet your parents.” He smiles.

  I return his smile, or at least I think I do.

  “Once you get better, we'll need to speak about your communication skills. We didn't even know you were dating someone, especially someone like Ben,” Mom gushes.

  I want to crawl under the blanket but moving isn't pleasant. I slowly point to the ice chips and my mother rushes to give them to me. After I've slowly chewed several, I attempt to speak. The doctor was right, it does hurt, but I power through.

  “What the hell happened?” I rasp out, looking to Ben.

  I see a swirl of fury in his eyes.

  “Elliot Hunter,” he simply states.

  “Your old friend? The one who…?” I let my question trail off purposely as Ben nods.

  “I went down to the police station not too long after I first came to the hospital and it was him.”

  I want to cry, I can't imagine the amount of pain that he's feeling right now. I've never had any additional contact with that man aside from the time where Ben kicked him out of his office.

  Why would he target me?

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Benjamin

  Officer Simon came and spoke with Bella an hour after she started talking. She was clearly in pain with every movement she attempted to make. It pained me to see her like that.

  He also shared the latest developments regarding Elliot. Seem once he knew the cops had identified him, he began talking. He blamed me for ruining his life. Because of my parents’ deaths and being forced to start a new life, he wasn't able to come up with the capital to start the business we were planning on his own, so he never really had a stable career. He had schemes and dreams, or whatever he would call them, and sought out heavy hitters to invest, but nothing ever came to fruition. He believed I’d black-balled him to other companies, which was not the case. I didn't think about him. He also felt that, since his great love died all those years ago, I didn't deserve to have one, and that's the reason behind the car accident.

  Somewhere in his messed-up head, that made sense to him.

  It makes no sense to me.

  The general consensus of the room, among Bella, her parents, and me was to press charges for attempted manslaughter. But since the charge is so hefty,
I couldn’t make the decision, the district attorney would. As the officer was leaving, he asked to speak to me.

  “Mr. Hunter has lawyered up,” he warns. “Between you and me, he doesn’t show a modicum of remorse,” Officer Simon says.

  “Not surprised.”

  “I'm sorry this all happened to you. I can't even imagine the day you've had,” he says.

  “It feels like today has been several.” I palm the back of my neck.

  “Take it easy, and I'll be in touch.”

  We shake hands and go our separate ways.

  A few weeks after the accident, her room had become full of flowers, balloons, and stuffed animals, and I had a pile of paperwork about after care instructions, follow up appointments, and insurance forms. About that same time, Bella was allowed to leave the hospital. Rather than having her go to her home, I made sure she was set up at the penthouse, just in case.

  Her chest tube was removed since she vastly improved two days later and she participated in a few days of breathing exercises and routine checks for the remainder of the time she was hospitalized.

  Once her parents were assured I would take good care of her, they left. Meeting the parents wasn't bad under the circumstances, but we promised a proper introduction once Bella was better.

  We've spoken with the detective over the weeks and he keeps us abreast of what’s going on with Elliot and his attorney. The district attorney’s office is going for everything Elliot has, for attempted murder. based upon the evidence that they had as well as his police statements.

  It took Bella three months to fully recover from all her injuries. I refused to allow her to come back to the office, and as a result I was all over the place when I was there. I realized in the time she was on medical leave that I am a totally unorganized person. I'm grateful for her in so many ways that I doubt I could ever properly communicate it to her. While Bella was on leave, I kept to myself. I became a recluse and focused solely on work and making sure Bella was okay. Mrs. Rosemary took care of Bella while I was at work during the day and sometimes late into the night if I had to be at the office.