My police escort parked the car in front
of the hospital and led me into the building.
He stopped and asked a nurse that was
sitting at a desk for Carmina’s
location. After she told him, I followed
him to intensive care.
It didn’t take us very long to find Nick
and Carmina. Nick looked tense; sitting
there next to Carmina…and Carmina was hooked up to an IV and a couple of
machines.
Nick looked up as soon as I
walked over.
The expression on his face made me very
glad that the cop was still with me. I
knew that Nick would hold back as long as the officer was there.
I averted my eyes from him long enough to
get a real good look at Carmina. She
appeared so sweet and innocent that for just one moment, I could see how
everyone could be so charmed and obsessed with her. It reminded me of what I felt when I first
saw her in the hospital seven years ago…
My thoughts were interrupted when the cop
cleared his throat behind me, “Um, I guess I’ll be heading back to the
station. Your daughter seems to be in
good hands…she’s in my prayers.”
I didn’t want the cop to leave…in fact, I
briefly thought about starting a commotion just so he’d have a reason to stay
longer.
But there was no sense in prolonging the
inevitable.
Nick and I stayed right
where we were; staring at Carmina…until
the sound of the cop’s footfalls disappeared completely down the hallway.
Nick didn’t miss a beat…as soon as he was
sure the cop was gone he jumped up and was standing close to me before I even
realized that he had moved. “What the
hell Diane?”
“It wasn’t my fault Nick…I
swear!”
Nick wasn’t trying to hear it, “So whose fault is it…a seven year-old
child’s? Of course it’s your fault!”
“Nick…she just jumped into the street
before I-”
Nick
grabbed my elbow in a firm hand and squeezed… “Why were you at the police
station?”
“Nick, you’re hurting me.” I snatched my arm away…which gave me
time to try and formulate an answer that he’d accept.
There was no possible answer…and I had no
idea what he’d do if I told him the truth.
“I can’t tell you,” I replied.
“I
can’t tell you…” Nick said in a mocking, high pitched tone. “Woman, you’d better tell me something,” he
followed in his normal voice.
“Or what Nick? What are you going to do…hit me? Because
you’ve already done worse.” Already
being pushed into an emotional corner, I had no choice but to fight back for
once.
Thrown
off by my words, Nick held his arms out in anger…but he didn’t say anything
right away.
“Done worse? What are you talking about…are you trying to
turn this on me? Our daughter is laid up
in a freaking hospital because her mother couldn’t keep her safe…but you wanna
talk
bad about me!?”
“I just-”
“Go home Diane…just…go
home,”
Nick appeared to be holding back. I
couldn’t tell if it was physical or mental, but I knew that if I didn’t leave,
whatever would come next would hurt…a lot.
I was terrified of
his
anger…Nick had never threatened me in such a way before. “Okay,
okay,” I said backing away a step. “I’ll
go.”
Hearing me say that I’d leave helped him
to calm some, but he still had a long way to go. He’d probably never talk to me amicably
again...not for a long time anyway.
Nick stood where he was and watched me
leave; as the bridge between us began to crumble into disrepair. This was what Carmina meant when she said
that I’d suffer for what I tried to do at the police station.
There was nothing I could do about it…she
was still in control. I decided that the
best place for me to be was home.
My car was still at the police station,
so I was forced to take a taxi home.
As we neared my house, in the distance, I
could see a lady and little girl walking down the street. “Keep straight,” I ordered the driver. For some reason, I felt the need to get a
better view of them.
As we got closer, although I could only
see the back of the girl, I felt something strange in my heart. There was something awkwardly familiar about
the girl’s thick ponytails. They reminded me of mine when I was a little
girl.
My
heart skipped half a beat. “Let me out
here!” I ordered; startling the taxi
driver with my urgent tone.
Labels: I Stole Evil
