Painful Lullaby

I could hear Jag yell again, but I didn't dare open the bathroom door. He'd told me not to, but yet...

The sirens came, first far away and now louder. They got louder and louder, and now I was pretty sure that they were here now. But I could still hear footsteps up the stairs.

"Roxie, come out, come out wherever you are," Eva taunted. I heard her laugh softly and open the bedroom door. That's when I heard the door downstairs burst open.

"Eva Clark, come down here with your hands up!" A man's deep voice yelled. I heard them running up the stairs. I heard Eva gasp. I heard another gunshot, and I heard someone drop to the floor. I heard the click of handcuffs, the struggle of Eva, and then a knock at the bathroom door.

"We've taken Eva into custody. You can come out now," an officer commanded. I stood up and fumbled with the lock, but eventually got it open. I looked at the officer in thanks, then ran down the stairs to find Jag. He was lying on the floor of the kitchen, another police officer crouching next to him. I ran over to him, crying the entire time.

"Jag. Oh, Jag..." I mumbled. He was clutching his stomach, blood seeping between his fingers. He smiled weakly at me. "Don't you fucking die on me," I threatened him.

"Ma'am, the ambulance is here," someone said. I backed away from Jag as the paramedics brought in a stretcher. They picked him up and set him on it and then led him to the ambulance. I stood up, not knowing where to go. They were already closing the ambulance doors, and I couldn't drive. I started crying harder. Someone put their hand on my back.

"I'll drive you to the hospital," one of the police officer's said. He had short blonde hair and brown eyes. He was a heck of a lot taller than me.

"O-Okay," I agreed. I followed him to his patrol car and he let me in the front seat. He shut the door and walked over to the driver's side. One patrol car left first, I could see the long black hair in the backseat. I shivered at the thought of her shooting Jag. Then I remembered the second shot.

"She shot a police officer. It grazed his arm, nothin' terrible. He's a tough one," the officer said, as if he'd read my thoughts. I nodded as I wrapped my arms around my legs.

"What's going to happen?" I asked quietly.

"Well, the girl is probably going to a mental hospital. The boy is going to the hospital," he replied.

"Will he be okay?" I whispered.

"I'm sorry, but I ain't a doctor, hun. We're just gonna have to wait until we get to the hospital," he said. I don't know why, but I was hoping that he'd lie to me and tell me that everything would be okay. Jag would live and get all better real soon and we'd live happily ever after. But he didn't lie. I started sobbing.

"Hey, hey now! Things'll turn out one way or another," he rubbed my back. "How about some music. What station would you like?"

"Rock," I whispered. He changed it, and the music flowed through me. It calmed me. Until a Broken Heart Remedy song came on. I started bawling again, and the police officer looked over at me.

"What is is, sweety?" He asked me.

"This is his band," I choked out between sobs. The police officer shut off the car and unbuckled.

"Well, we're at the hospital," he said. I couldn't unbuckle my seat belt fast enough. I got out and followed the officer into the hospital. He led me down hallway after hallway until we reached a waiting room. He told me to sit down, so I sat in a chair. He walked off, to where, I had no idea. The only thing I could do now was wait in this God awful place.

My senses started to come back. I could smell now, and the hospital smelled of sickness, rubbing alcohol, and gauze. I choked on the smell, it was overwhelming. I despised the smell of hospitals. I watched as someone was wheeled down the hallway in a wheelchair. I shivered. I hoped that Jag wouldn't need a wheelchair.

The police officer came back then. He plopped down next to me and handed me a bag of chips and a pop.

"You need to eat. And drink. Don't need you going into shock or anything. Jag's in the ER, you can't see him yet. They'll tell us when they got news. I'm staying with you for a while," he said. I nodded and started to eat. I couldn't finish all of the food, so I handed it back to the officer.

"I'm Officer Timothy, by the way," he said.

"Roxie," I whispered.

"Well, Roxie. Why don'tcha get some sleep?" He stated. I layed my head down on the chair and drifted to sleep quickly.

__________

I woke up and found that Officer Timothy was still sitting next to me. He wasn't asleep, but he had his eyes closed. As soon as I stirred, his eyes flew open. He smiled at me.

"I've got good news Roxie. The bullet went right through Jag, so they don't have to do surgery to get it out. He's expected to make a full recovery. Except for the scar on his stomach, of course. The girl didnt' hit any vital organs, so that was a good thing," he whispered. I didn't know if I should smile, so I just nodded. I couldn't really smile anyway. Officer Timothy stood up and stretched. I did the same, it felt nice after being curled uncomfortably in that chair. He motioned for me to follow him, and we started walking around the hospital.

"So what was that girl to you, anyway?" he asked.

"Jag and I had a fight, and I ran away from him. Eva found me and-" I started.

"Wait, wait, wait! You were living with him?" He asked me in disbelief. I nodded. "Then I think you should start at the beginning. You can trust me with a secret."

I hesitated, but poured my whole story out to him. I told him everything, leaving out the bloody fight with Brandy, though. I finished, and we walked in silence for a little while.

"You know...my sister had similar problems. She was pregnant and the guy left her. She didn't handle it as well as you...she... She killed herself," he told me. His eyes were misty and his voice had cracked.

"I...I'm sorry," I whispered.

"Just know that I'll be keeping an eye out for you in the streets," he winked at me. I think I'd rather come across him than some of the other cops.

"Well, I guess that's good then," I said. I smiled up at him.

"Oh, that girl. She's been put in a mental hospital. She'll be locked up for a while," he said. I nodded. I felt bad about it, but I guess she did have some problems...

"Don't worry about her. She's gonna get better," he reassured me, squeezing my shoulders. We were back to the waiting room by now. We ran into a nurse on the way there.

"Roxie. Jag is awake and requesting your company," she said.