Неизвестный - 6. Justice For All

“Right here, babe.”

“’Bout time.” Sandy closed her eyes and let herself drift. Safe now.

• 224 •

Justice for All

ChAPTER TwENTy-TwO

I can walk,” Sandy said, sounding irritated.

“Well, that’s very good news.” Catherine ducked lower to reach into the back of the car and brushed a few strands of blond hair off Sandy’s cheek. She could only see the part of her face that wasn’t cradled against Dell’s chest, but even in the poor light, she could see that her mouth was swollen and a streak of blood trailed down her neck. Anger welled within her and she struggled to find the calm that Sandy needed. That Dell needed. “We have rules, you know, even if they don’t always make sense. So rather than get me into trouble, why don’t you just stay here a few more minutes and then let us give you a ride inside.”

“Don’t fight it, babe.” Dell cradled Sandy in her arms. In the dim light, Dell’s pale face looked bloodless, her eyes dark pits of fathomless sorrow. Stroking Sandy’s back, she said, “You won’t win this one.”

“’Kay,” Sandy muttered.

Catherine smiled, nodded to Watts, who emerged out of the passenger side like a dark behemoth out of the sea, and squeezed Dell’s shoulder. “Just another minute.”

When she straightened and turned, she saw Rebecca emerging from the emergency room pushing a stretcher. Her emotions warred in the familiar battle between relief that Rebecca was unhurt and guilt over her happiness, because someone else was injured. Sandy. God, Sandy. Barely more than a child and already with a lifetime of pain, and now possibly more. Why was life so unfair? She knew better than most not to ask those questions, but sometimes in the dark hours of the night when she was weary, she couldn’t help but ask herself.

• 225 •

RADclY fFe

She hurried forward. “Let me do that. Are you all right?”

Rebecca stopped the gurney with one hand and cupped Catherine’s jaw with the other. She kissed her fleetingly. “I’m okay. This is a mess, though.”

“We’ll take care of it. Can you see about getting her inside? I’ll find Ali.” Catherine wanted to tell Rebecca to go inside and sit down.

She looked exhausted. But she knew that would be pointless. Rebecca would not rest until Sandy was cared for, and probably not even then.

Whatever had happened tonight would demand her attention. They would not, none of them, stand for one of their own being hurt this way.

As Catherine hurried away, she heard Rebecca tell Watts to get Darla’s statement. Darla, she assumed, was the frightened young African-American she’d seen getting out of the car. She blinked as the harsh lights assaulted her eyes, and she blamed the sudden tears on that rather than the ache in her heart at the thought of yet more young victims.

Dell couldn’t seem to move. She feared once Sandy was inside the hospital she would lose her, even though rationally she knew that wasn’t true. Still, how could she protect her if she let her go?

Rebecca leaned into the vehicle and held out her arms. “Give her to me, Mitchell. It’s okay.”

“I can’t,” Dell whispered, sheltering Sandy in the curve of her body.

“Yes, you can. You’ll be right beside her. You know I won’t let anyone hurt her.” Rebecca slid her arms around Sandy’s shoulders and under her knees, alongside Dell’s. “Trust me.”

Rebecca’s eyes held hers steadily, utterly sure, unwaveringly strong. Dell eased her grip on Sandy, who murmured something she couldn’t understand.

“What?” Dell asked hoarsely. “Babe?”

“Everything is all right, baby,” Sandy whispered. She opened her eyes and tried to smile. “Stop stressing.”

Dell clamped her lower lip between her teeth so tightly she tasted blood. Desperate to believe, she let Rebecca take Sandy from her and settle her onto the stretcher. She felt dizzy as she climbed out of the car, and grabbed the metal railing on the stretcher as much to steady herself as to stay connected to Sandy. “Don’t worry. I’m solid.”

• 226 •

Justice for All

Sandy closed her eyes. “I know.”

Rebecca pulled the stretcher toward the double ER doors. A willowy brunette nurse in navy blue scrubs and a stethoscope dancing around her neck hurried outside and grasped the stretcher opposite Rebecca.

“Dr. Rawlings said you had a patient for us. Trauma two is open.

Right down the hall on the left.”

“Thanks,” Rebecca said. The nurse smiled at her.

“You’re Dr. Rawlings’s detective.”

Rebecca smiled back. “I am.”

v

“This light might bother your eyes, honey. I’m sorry.” Ali flicked her penlight quickly between Sandy’s left and right eyes, watching the pupils constrict. “Everything looks good here.” She clipped the light to the pocket of her scrub shirt and put her hands on her hips. “You didn’t lose consciousness?”

“No.” Sandy glanced toward the end of the stretcher where Dell stood, her hands still clenched around the metal railing. “I wasn’t out. I know what that feels like.”

Ali shifted her gaze to Dell. “You might want to wait outside, Dell.”

“No. I’m staying.”

“Go ahead, baby,” Sandy murmured. “This is just routine.”

“No.”

“Sandy, do you want Dr. Rawlings to come in?”

“No, just go ahead, Doc.”

Ali covered Sandy’s hand with hers. “Were you sexually assaulted?”

“No one touched me.” Sandy’s eyes flickered to Dell again. “No one.”“I only care about you being okay,” Dell said gruffly.

“You’re sure nothing else hurts?” Ali asked.

Sandy started to laugh, but then caught her breath when her ribs screamed in protest. “That’s it.”

“Once we finish the x-rays, we’ll move you upstairs—”

“I want to go home,” Sandy said immediately.

• 227 •

RADclY fFe

Ali blew out an exasperated breath. “Now why doesn’t that surprise me?”

“You should stay here, San, if that’s what the doctor wants,” Dell said.

Sandy frowned. “Oh. Look who’s talking. Macho cop who doesn’t want to stay in the hospital even after she’s been stabbed.”

“Ah, Jesus. Save me from the whole bunch of you.” Ali pointed at Dell. “See that she stays in bed.” She fixed Sandy with a lethal stare.

“You take the medications I prescribe and get your butt back here if you develop any problems. All of which I will write down for you.” She started toward the curtain that enclosed the cubicle, then looked over her shoulder. “And I really don’t want to see any of your team back here again. I’m sick of you all.”

Sandy smiled as much as her swollen lip would allow her. “We all love you too.”

“Yeah yeah,” Ali muttered as the curtain swung closed behind her.

“How is she?” Rebecca asked as soon as she came through the door.

“She’s stable, and all things considered, lucky.” Ali shook her head. “Scrapes and contusions, probably several cracked ribs. Her face is bruised, but the abrasion on her lip doesn’t require sutures. If she weren’t eighteen, I’d say she’d be too sore to get out of bed for a few days. But, knowing her, anything is possible.” Ali grinned ruefully.

“She wants to go home, and there’s nothing more we’re going to do for her here. I’m inclined to let her go.” She glanced at Rebecca. “She needs to stay off the streets for a few days. Until she can move enough to protect herself.”

“I’ll see to it.”

“Isn’t there some way you can get these pricks?” Ali gestured toward the hall and the cubicles beyond. “These girls, the streets are eating them alive.”

“If I could take her place in there right now, I would.”