Heathens

(Bonus) Aidan

Noah Emin was not cut out to be a cop. 

Much less a detective. He was quick with a smile, and fast on the uptake, but physically? It looked like I could break him in half. As I drove away from the dinner empty streets passed my view. I tried to remember what I knew about him. 

Name: Noah James Emin, Born: June 18th 2001, Age: 22 Nationality(s): Spanish, German. Family: Jonas Emin: Glass Artist (Father) Deceased, Maria Sanchez/Emin: Housewife (Mother) Deceased, Adelaide Emin: Restaurant owner (Aunt) Missing presumed dead. There wasn't much to go on. He graduated from the police academy around the same time as I did, and tried multiple times to re-open his fathers case.

He would sometimes sit in the passenger seat of our patrol car with the file, thinking I never noticed. Its very hard not to when he radiated so much focus and nervous energy. So one day I got curious and looked it over. There was nothing wrong with it, open flame hits carpet, whole house is torched. From that it seemed to go downhill. Aunt dropped off the face of the Earth, mom spiraled into depression and committed suicide.

I tapped on the steering wheel of the car, how'd this idiot of a kid get me so nervous. "This son of a gun-" I growled as I reversed back to the parking lot. I walked in as the door didn't even bother to make a sound. "Look, Emin," I started as I walked towards him. " Get in the car."

He didn't even bother to make a sound, instead he just stood there staring at an empty wall. "Emin!" I called again, this time louder. He still didn't move. His chest heaved rhythmically, like waves on a beach on a clam day. His light brown hair moved slightly, like wind had brushed it from his face. 

I walked in front of him, "Emin, I swear to God, if you don't answer me-" my breath hitched as I saw him. His eyes were open, but...

How do I say this? 

He had no eyes. 

The were rolled to the back of his head, as his chest slowly heaved. I shook his shoulders lightly (and before you criticize  me, you have to understand that I was a cop, not a medical professional) and his body went limp in my hands.

I fumbled a little, mostly in shock. I take it back, he looked scrawny but his arms were stiff, his eyelids closed, and before I could gather my thoughts, I screamed, "Noah!"

Good job Aidan, surely an unconscious person would reply to you calling their name. I picked him up and tossed him over my shoulder as I ran to the car. His arms flopped on my back like a rag-doll as I threw him into the backseat and drove towards the hospital. I gave the sleeping man a look of disdain, and a quick glare for good measure. If anyone knew how to drive me to the brink of insanity, you can bet your life it was Detective Emin.

When we arrived at the hospital I threw him to the nurses, who scurried him to a room. I waited outside, staring at the resting body of my partner. "Are you family?" A woman in a doctors suit asked me. "No." I replied.

She looked as if she wanted me to further explain, but I had enough on my mind to worry about than some nosy lady's questions. "Are you in contact with his family?" She asked again. Why the heck did doctors have to be so dam nosy? "No."

"Do you know any relative he has who can identify him?" she tried, I noticed how disheveled her black hair was and the dark circles that formed under her eyes. "His family is dead, his name is Noah James Emin, he's a detective and I'm his partner." I grunted it and gave her a scowl before turning to face the wall  again. She sighed and dropped the polite tone. "Listen here mister, I'm not supposed to treat people like this, but I've had three days on nothing but caffeine and cream doughnuts so you'd better pay attention when I'm speaking."

Her glare pierced through my eyes, I was surprised this attitude was coming from someone this...short. "I'm Dr Krishavi Jayasuriya, and I need to know everything you do related to Mr, what was it? Erin right? Mr Erin's condition." She stopped for a quick breathe before continuing. "I'm talking, medical records, therapist session, PTSD triggers, what he ate this morning, what he didn't eat this morning, his liquid intake-" I stopped her.

"Never had anything major, just a checkup every month, went to therapy after his family died, I don't know what he ate  but I saw him drink a latte in the patrol car." She looked stunned, "What about PTSD triggers?"

"We went to a dinner his Aunt owned, but it was his idea. I left for a bit, but came back, and saw him pass out." She jotted everything down on a clipboard. "Looks like he was dehydrated, he'll need  to stay here till he gets up and he's likely to wake up in about an hour or two. Maybe three." I thanked Doctor Jayasuriya as she walked back to the room. An hour or two, right? I had some time to kill, so I drove back to Addy's Chicken.

I jumped behind the counter and saw glass animals, I'd be lying if I said they weren't beautiful. I picked one up, a butterfly, purple wings with swirls of indigo and blue, then I saw the hen. It had fiery designs and was made in orange, it looked similar to the drawing on the paper Emin had. If only I'd remembered to take it...

I looked through it as the world seemed bathed in flame-like light, before gasping and pulling the figure in my pocket. When that stupid kid woke up, I was going to show him what a real lead looked like.

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