Puppy Love

Chapter 12

Owen.

Amelia doesn't tell me which downtown station they've taken her to, so I end up going to two different stations looking for her. I park up at the third station, close to out of town, and I am relieved to see her BMW in the parking lot; I finally found her.

I walk into the station and I'm instantly bombarded with the smell of cigarettes and perspiration. It's one of the most run down police stations in Seattle, so I can only imagine the conditions under which they're holding her.

"Hi," I say to the man at the desk of the station, "I'm here for Amelia Shepherd."

The man looks at me with disinterest before typing something into his computer. "Visiting hours are over, sir."

"I'm here to bail her out," I say, taking out my wallet. The man sighs again, typing away at his computer.

After a minute, he says, "Amelia Shepherd has been charged with possession of drugs for recreational use. Her bail is $10,000. You can pay a bond of $1,000. If not, she will be required to go to prison for 180 days to fulfil her sentence."

"I'll pay all," I say, handing him my credit card. He eyes me suspiciously but swipes my card anyways.

After signing through some paperwork, an officer guides me to the back of the station and to their holding cells. When I get there, I almost don't recognise Amelia huddled in the corner of the cell, head down.

"Shepherd," the officer says harshly as he opens the cell, "You're free to go." Slowly, Amelia looks up. Her eyes are bloodshot red and her hair is a mess. It hurts me to see her like that. Wordlessly, she gets up and comes out of the cell. I try to make eye contact with her, to convey some sort of sympathy, but she just walks straight past me. She collects her possessions at the desk and we both exit the station. It's only when we reach her car that I've had enough of her silence.

"Amelia," I call her name, placing my hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay? What happened in there?"

At first, she doesn't turn around, but then she slowly faces me. "Ryan was using my prescription pad to write oxy scrips."

"What?" I say, my blood beginning to boil.

She shrugs. "He must've dropped the baggie or something, because Riley ended up eating it. I took him to the vet and they found it in his stomach." She looks down at the floor now. "He stole my scrips, killed my dog, and made me a felon." She looks up at me again, fresh tears in her eyes. "So no, Owen, I am not okay."

I look at her in pity. "I'm sorry." She rolls her eyes, clearly not in the mood, and unlocks her car but I stop her retreat momentarily by asking, "Where's Ryan?"

"We broke up," she answers, opening the car door, "He found out."

"So, what does this mean?" I ask, trying to figure out what her next move is. Unfortunately, she completely misinterprets my question.

"Really?" she begins angrily, "I just got arrested, I have a criminal record now, I could lose my job, and all you're concerned with is if we can screw now that Ryan's out of the picture?"

"That's not what I meant," I try but she cuts me off.

"No, fuck you, Owen," she spits at me, "You have just as much blame to take as Ryan does for the reason my life is ruined right now." She steps into the car and slams the door shut.

"Amelia, don't go," I beg knocking on the glass door, trying to get her attention. Knowing her, her next move is probably going to be anything but productive, maybe even life threatening. The thought alone scares me.