Ding Dong!! Is She Dead? (12 page)

“Helping hold the wall up huh?” Allie queried.

Looking to make sure that she was speaking to him, Justin straightened up. “Oh, yeah it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.”

Justin held out his hand, “Hi, I’m Justin.”

Allie shook his hand and said, “I’m Allie. Have you heard anything about Julie yet?”

Justin shook his head, “They wouldn’t let me know since I’m not a relative. I was hoping that you would be able to find out what was going on.”

“Yeah, it’s been a long week. Let me see what I can find out.” Allie walked over to the nurse’s station and they led her on back to the ER. Since she had security clearance because of Megan, there was no problem with her going behind the locked doors.

Julie was awake although she looked terrible. Her face was pale and she looked exhausted. The attacker hadn’t hit anything major when he slid the knife in so other than blood loss she would recover. They would give her transfusions to make up for the loss. She would be off duty for a while due to the 40 stiches that she had to have to close the knife wound. It was like he had stuck it in and pulled upward, but hadn’t had enough force to move the knife more than an inch or two upward. Her ribs had caught the knife saving her from having her organs cut open.

Allie was so thankful that Julie hadn’t been killed. “I am so glad that you will recover. Do they think that Mike did it? I couldn’t see who was behind me or in the mirror.”

“I was just sitting there when the door was yanked open and the knife was shoved in. I had no to way to defend myself. I think that he was certain that by the time anyone figured out that I was incapacitated, I would be dead. Thankfully, he didn’t do as good a job as he thought that he had. I had slapped at his face when he put the knife in and he hit me with the butt of his gun. I think that he would have continued stabbing me if he hadn’t been distracted.”

“Who was the guy that fixed me up? The nurses said that he was cute.” Even with her injuries, Julie was trying to play match maker again.

“Well, his name is Justin and he was at the bar all night. Stan went to tell him to go home then I got attacked and they both ran to help. I’m not sure what he thinks he will get from being nice now that the danger is past. He is out there waiting for me to tell him that you are all right.” Allie shrugged, frowning at the thought of some stranger just waiting around.

“Girl, you had better get out there and let him know that I am just fine. If for some crazy reason you decide that you don’t want him, tell the nurses that he can come on in and I’ll take him.” Julie grinned at Allie.

“I’ve seen Justin around town and he is really good looking.”

Allie just rolled her eyes at Julie. “I think that the drugs that they’ve got you on have gone to your head girl. He is good looking, but with all that is going on I’m just not looking for any kind of relationship right now. We have so much going on. I’ll go get rid of him and check in on you whenever they will let me. I still have the phone with the new number so you can call me if you need to.” Squeezing Julie’s hand, Allie left and went back to find Justin holding up the same wall.

“I would have thought that the wall would have collapsed by now. You just aren’t putting your back into your work to keep it from falling down.” Allie smiled at him. She always joked when she was uncomfortable so that she could deflect the conversation and the attention away from her.

Justin reached down and handed her the back pack that he had hung on to while she had been looked over by the doctor.

“So is she okay?”

“Oh, sorry. Yes, she is doing fine. You helped by finding her quickly and stopping the bleeding. Thank you for taking good care of her when I wasn’t able to.” Allie was trying to give him a way out so that he didn’t feel obligated to hang around.

“Did I miss something? Are you and Julie together?” Justin was sensing that Allie was trying to put up a wall so that he wouldn’t get closer to her. Justin was really hoping that they weren’t together as a couple because he was really interested to see what other layers were under this very unique lady.

Allie was surprised at the question, “Oh, no. We aren’t a couple we have been involved in a high stress situation and have gotten to be good friends. I like boys, uh, men, but I am not really looking for a relationship right now. There are too many things that are going on that would make that very complicated.” Allie was trying to let him down easy so that he didn’t get the wrong ideas about her life.

Justin couldn’t help but notice that karma was not being nice to him. Helping rescue someone evidently didn’t undo the easy letdown of Stephanie earlier,

“I know that your car is not going to be drivable in the near future. Stan mentioned that he would get a friend to tow it over to their garage until you can get the insurance claim going.” Seeing her start to protest, he interrupted any objections by continuing. “Listen I won’t ask you out on a date in the near future, but I know that we both could use some hot food after all that adrenaline rush. No, strings attached, I can give you a ride to pick up some food and make sure that you get home safely. What do you say?” Justin was just crossing his fingers that she didn’t have another option available since it was now about three in the morning.

“I guess that would be all right.”

Secretly relieved that he had taken her at her word with the dating because she had no idea how in the world she was going to get out of the hospital.

“Food sounds heavenly since I know for a fact that all they serve at this time of day is vending machines. Don’t choose #f5 they have been there for quite a while. So lead on to the hot food and we can be just friends.”

Once Allie made up her mind there wasn’t much point in standing around. Waving her hand in front of her she let him show her the way to the parking lot.

Justin drove a Chevy Truck that wasn’t too old, but had just gotten broken in like a good pair of jeans. He walked around and opened the door for Allie, which got him the look.

“Thanks for being a gentleman by opening the door, but how the hell do you get into this thing? Jump?” Allie was looking for a way to get up into the seat from the ground which was a good two feet off the ground. Evidently his model did not come with steps and there was no way that Allie could get in gracefully. Although, this was the first truck that she had ever ridden in, so Allie couldn’t be sure what accessories normally came with a truck.

“Here, throw your backpack up and then swing up just like you would on get on a horse.” Justin thought that was the best explanation of how to get in without him helping lift her into the truck.

“Dude not everyone has ridden a horse so that is just as foreign to me as how to climb into your truck.” Allie figured a little sass after midnight never hurt anyone. She threw her pack in and started to climb in, but was lifted up so quickly that she didn’t have time to protest.

“Well, in that case I will show how to do it when I get in and you can try next time.” Justin grinned because he had been able to place his hands on her butt without getting slapped in the face. He quickly hid his grin and went around to his side.

“This is how you do it. Place your left foot on the floor board and then bounce up while holding the handles. It should give you the momentum you need to put your other foot on the floorboard and scoot into the seat.”

Justin shut his door and started the truck, heading toward the Whataburger which was the only place open at this time of night. Thankfully they had missed the drunken crowd rush that always comes after last call.

“Just so that you know, Justin, I will manage to get into the truck next time all by myself. There will be no need for your ‘assistance’.” Allie hadn’t even realized that he had taken hold of her butt until she was already in the seat.

“A Lady never scoots somewhere, we simply glide into place.”

Satisfied that she had the last word, Allie was quiet until they arrived and she had to jump out to go inside.

Justin made it around the truck just in time to close the door after Allie had made it out. They walked up to order and Allie managed to pay for both of their orders.

“I can’t let you do that especially since we aren’t on a date. I should be paying for my food at the very least.” Justin protested, he had never had a woman pay for his meal before.

“Let’s just say that you have earned it as my taxi cab. I would have paid a driver for the ride and this way I don’t feel obligated to give you gas money.”

Allie felt less like she was on a date having paid for the food, but knew that as a guy, he would need a good reason or his pride would be hurt.

Holding up his hands in surrender, Justin took his drink over to a booth and sat down. Allie followed putting her backpack on the seat next to her.

“So Allie what is this situation that you have been in all week that is soooo stressful?”

Justin thought that it would be a simple explanation of work or normal girl trouble, but was amazed at what had happened when she told him the highlights of the week.

Their food came and they ate while Allie continued the story that very few people had heard that week. While there were rumors that something crazy had gone down at the hospital that week, the hospital PR group had been able to say that they were implementing changes to the system so that the community would be safer.

The rescue community was the only group that knew what had been going on, but they were trying not to incite a panic among the town folk. Justin was simply flabbergasted that the town rumor mill had not gotten ahold of the story. The local ladies were better at spreading the current news than the paper was.

“So what happened tonight was not just some random event, huh?” Justin couldn’t imagine what she had been going through all week.

“Well, from what we can tell happened, he (we are assuming Mike), was responsible for attacking Julie and then trying to strangle me. He tried it with Megan earlier this week and that seems to be more his M.O. than stabbing. He likes to make you as defenseless as possible. We just aren’t sure what he is trying to accomplish at this point.”

“After trying to kill Megan and then these attacks tonight, he should know that there is simply no way that he will get Sally back or be able to reunite with his family. I mean, he has been a cop for a long time and knows how this works. This could be the reason that it has taken him so long to be caught. He does have a lot of friends here that would be willing to take him in. It is just a matter of time, but with the way he has been accelerating the attacks I’m not sure that there is much time left.”

Allie suddenly realized that all she had talked about with this extremely hot guy was being attacked.

“I’m sorry, I’m sure that you are not interested in hearing all of this. It has just been so consuming this week and now that I have helped them; I feel that Megan and Sally have become the family that I have never had before.”

Justin leaned across and grabbed one of Allie’s hands, “Never take what you have been through as something to be ignored or pushed aside. While this has been happening, you have been a huge part of making sure that Sally was safe while Megan was recovering. Most people would have dropped Megan off at the hospital and left to go back to their daily life. Very few would have gone back to see how they were doing. Not only are you concerned, you have put your life in danger for them without asking them for anything in return. That is amazing and if you need anything I wouldn’t mind helping out at all.”

Seeing Allie’s embarrassed look, he let go of her hand. “So what is it that you do for a day that job that allows you to take the week off?” Justin tried to steer the conversation onto a different topic.

“Don’t laugh, I’m a Nova lady.” Allie crinkled her nose at him. “For real’ ding dong Nova calling’ and when you open the door it should be me or one of my girls standing on the other side waiting to take care of your beauty needs.”

Putting up her hand in the stop motion, she continued, “Do you really make money at that? The answer is yes, I do. When you work and follow up with your customers, they tend to become loyal customers returning for all of their beauty, clothes and household needs; or as is the case of this week, protection from an abusive husband. What do you do for a living?” Allie was more than curious what a great guy like Justin actually did for a living.

“I work for my parents out on their property, kind of a handy man. I’m sort of always around so I think I’m kind of handy.”

Justin wasn’t prepared for the snort of laughter from Allie. Most people found his sense of humor kind of corny. Glad that he could make her smile.

“Ah, I do have my own place so that they don’t have me hanging around all the time.”

“Speaking of which, don’t we need to get home so you can get some sleep at your place?”

Justin looked at his watch and realized that if they didn’t leave soon they would meet the early risers coming in for breakfast.

“Oh, no. I didn’t mean for you to be out all night. I’ll just let you drive me to the hospital and drop me off.”

Allie took her tray toward the trash assuming that Justin was following her flight from the booth. Justin threw his trash out and followed in her wake barely unlocking the door of the truck just before Allie tried to open it. Allie must have gotten a second wind because she just hopped into the truck without any assistance from Justin this time. Justin closed her door and went around to his side. Listening to Allie apologize for keeping him out all night, she was surprised when he pulled up at a set of condos instead of the hospital.