HOW THINGS UNFOLD
By; Gerald A. Polley
Officer Bill Murray was totally terrified! He could not believe
that things had gone so bad. He was supposed to testify at a
child abuse hearing that the charges brought against an individual were
groundless. Though he didn't like the person his investigation
had shown that there really was no molestation. He had taken his
eight year old daughter along with him so they could go out the rest of
the day. Suddenly that simple hearing had turned into a roaring
gun battle with a local drug gang, and he now found himself rushing
across town in an ambulance with one of the girls that he had
interrogated holding her hand to his daughter's abdomen and keeping her
from bleeding to death.
"Isn't there anything you can do?" he asked the ambulance attendant.
"This is beyond me!" the man answered. "She should be bleeding to
death. I don't know how this young lady is keeping it from
happening! But every time she removes her hand the bleeding
starts. It's way beyond me! The only thing we can do is
pray that we can get her to a surgeon in time to do something, and
they'll cooperate."
"They'll cooperate!" Murray answered, "God damn right they'll cooperate!"
His daughter looked up at the young woman and smiled. "Don't let
go, mother, please? I want to stay."
"I won't!" the young woman answered, "But I'm not your mother, dear."
Murray's daughter looked at him and smiled. "Yes you are!" she
answered. "You will be! And we're going to have so much fun
together."
Murray looked at the girl helping his
daughter and smiled. She smiled back. The ambulance came to
a halt and the back doors flew open. Two other men joined them,
and in moments they were whooshing the gurney through the hall. "Right
into emergency surgery!" one of them screamed.
They quickly came into an area where there were gowned nurses and
doctors. "Get her anestatized!" one of the doctors screamed. "Get
that girl out of here!"
"No!" Murray screamed.
"If she lets go my daughter will die! You have to work around
her! Do whatever's necessary but you can't remove her hand."
"I said get her out of here!" the doctor snapped again.
A male nurse reached for the girl. Her free hand came up, slammed
into his chest, sent him flying to land sprawling on the floor in the
hallway. "Enough!" Murray screamed.
Two uniformed officers appeared at the door. "You need help Murray?' one of them snapped.
"No," Murray answered.
The doctor looked totally bewildered but finally snapped "Get a mask on
her, a hairnet! Cover her as best you can. Sterilize her
hand and arm. Come on! We've got to get to work! Get
another i.v. going, we need plasma!"
Incredible minutes ensued. Finally the doctor held up something in a
pair of tweezers. "Nine millimeter," he moaned, "I'm beginning to
hate the site of these things!" He quickly went to work.
Finally he looked up at the girl helping Murray's daughter. "You
can let go now," he sighed. "I've closed the arteries. I'd
like to know how you do that! This young lady should be dead!"
"Could someone please help me?" the girl
asked. "I think my arm has become paralyzed and I will probably faint
when I break contact."
The doctor nodded to a
nurse and Murray moved behind the girl. As the nurse removed her
hand she did buckle and start to go down. Murray whisked her
up. "Where?" he asked.
"Gurney out
in the hall!" the doctor answered. He looked to a nurse.
"Check her out!" he snapped. The nurse nodded.
After a few minutes she looked up at Murray. "She'll be all
right. Pulse is coming back. Respiration is good. Her
arm is ice cold! I'll get a warm blanket."
Murray became aware of a presence beside him and looked up to see the
man he was supposed to testify for, his shoulder in a bandage and his
arm in a sling. A couple of other young women were behind
him. "Are you all right father?" Murray's helper asked in a weak
voice.
"Just a scratch," the man answered. "Bullet barely penetrated. You?"
"I have a problem," the girl answered. The older man shook his
head, then wished he hadn't. "What you're feeling," he answered,
"isn't a problem. We'll take care of it." He looked to
Murray. "Your daughter?" he asked.
"She's going to be all right," Murray answered. "Thanks!"
"Part of my job," the man answered, "but a part I enjoy."
For the next few weeks things quieted down. It was decided to skip the
hearing entirely. One day Murray found himself being called into
the chief's office. "What'd I do now?" he muttered.
The chief motioned him to a chair. "It seems your friend's
presidential campaign is taking off!" he remarked. "The feds are
asking that we give him some official security. They want
legality around. I'd like you to take charge of the afternoon and
evening shift. Hutchinson will have the morning and day.
Any objections?"
Murray sat bewildered. "Well, no
sir!" he finally managed, "I guess not! Probably most people
would say it's a very honored assignment."
"Good!" the chief remarked. "Get on over there!"
A couple of hours later Murray found himself in a modest but
interesting office. The young lady who had saved his daughter sat
at a computer by the main desk. The man behind the desk looked at
Murray mischieviously. "Shouldn't she be in school?" Murray asked.
"She's the duty girl," the man answered. "She's actually at
school on the computer. Glad you accepted the assignment
lieutenant! My daughter has a special request. She'd like
to spend some private time with you and your daughter as well as having
you with us on our official duties. There is an apartment
available in our complex across the street. It's
yours! If you need people to help you move just give the
word."
Murray looked at the young woman. "How old is she, 15, 16?"
"Actually," the man answered, "she's one of the younger ones. She's
only 14. Sir, there's absolutely nothing we can do about what is
happening. If we try to fight it we could do irreparable harm. I
never interfere with who my daughters bond with, who they choose to be
their partners in life. I think you knew from the moment you
first spoke with her. The incident with your daughter just made
that bond stronger. Take as long as you like. But we both
know what the conclusion of this is going to be. I don't think
you are a prejudice individual and the color of her skin or her
religious beliefs will make the slightest bit of difference. And I'm
sure you'll be able to deal with the reaction that is going to come
from others."
Murray was aware the girl was
staring at him with an expression that was saying "Please?" very
loudly. "I see no reason," he answered, "that her and my daughter
can't share each other's company and I can escort her on some
functions. In time we will see if there's anything permanent, if
the relationship should go further."
"Good!" the older man answered. "We'll set the marriage date for her 17th birthday."
Everyone roared with laughter. "If you'll excuse me," the older
man continued, "never enough hours. Trying to deal with this mess
in Asia. You wonder how these petty tyrants gain power and it is
so hard to get rid of them!"
"You've done a
pretty good job of it so far!" Murray remarked. "I'm sure this
one will last just about as long as the others did. I'll go start
integrating with your staff. If you don't mind I'd like to be
close at hand when you travel."
"Insisted upon!" the man answered, waving Murray out of the room, "Insisted upon!"
THE END