Dance Moms - Chlobird

Chapter 43 : Collateral

Chloe stood outside her classroom, happily returning her young students to their parents, knowing soon they would be home, enjoying a lovely family dinner. She smiled watching them leave, glad that they didn't have to dance till midnight for some stupid show.

She picked up her bag and checked her phone, there was a long list of missed calls from Ms. Abby, Detective Kelly and Doctor Arroway.

What's going on??

Puzzled, she dialed the most informative of the three.

"Chloe! We've been trying to reach you!" the Detective said urgently.

"I was in a class. What's going on?" Chloe bewildered.

"Your friend was attacked. I'm with her at the hospital right now!"

* * *

She was instructed to park at the back of the hospital, where the Detective arranged a parking space closest to the emergency room, and immediately briefed her as soon as she got out the car. Chloe's heart filled with dread, following closely as Detective Kelly led her through the busy corridor.

They arrived at a horrific scene. She saw three patients on stretchers, all suffering severe injuries. The two boys were treated with bandages on their arms and faces, and the medical staffs were busy tending to the third. Even with nurses blocking the view, she recognized those torn jeans and her old sneakers, which was enough to send her heart shivering.

Based on the Detective's briefing, the police responded to a disturbance, and witnesses saw men jump out of a van and attack a group of skateboarders. They never had gang activities at the skatepark before, and the attackers seemed intentional, as if targeting Brooke specifically. The boys tried to fight back, and two were injured in the process.

"Brooke!" Chloe rushed forward, but was immediately held by a staff in white coat.

"Ma'am. I need you to step back."

"How is she??" Chloe demanded.

"Are you a family member?"

"She's my roommate! We live together!" Chloe heard herself saying.

"It's okay. Doc. She's a very close friend. You can tell her." Detective Kelly said.

The doctor took a moment to study the girl before him, gathered his words and spoke.

Brooke was suffering multiple bone fractures. Her face was badly wounded, bleeding so much they had to feed oxygen through a tube, so she wouldn't choke on her own blood.

The world spun in Chloe's head, losing her balance and dropped to the floor. Detective Kelly and a nurse quickly carried her to a nearby wheelchair.

"Chloe! Stay with me!" the Detective shook her.

"Brooke..." Chloe sobbed.

"Chloe. Tell me what you know!"

"Brooke! I'm so sorry! This is all my fault!"

Chloe burst into tears again, her lips quivering, her hands shaking out of control. Her mind kept going back to that morning at Brooke's apartment. If only she didn't go back to that basement, or if she simply ignored them and walked away, then she wouldn't upset the landlord, then none of this would have happened.

"Chloe!" Detective Kelly shook her again. "I need to know what you know! So I can find out who did this!"

Kelly has seen that face before, the look after a traumatic impact - a mix of helplessness, grief, and silent rage. That very same look she carried at her family's funeral.

"I'm all right." Chloe pulled herself together, forcing a smile at the Detective. "I need to be alone for a moment... Would you please get me some water?"

It was as if looking at her on the day they met, Kelly saw a fragile little girl who'd just experienced her first attack. She quickly went to the nurse station to grab a cup, filling it with water, then her heart froze, recalling those exact same words she heard many years ago.

I need to be alone for a moment... and then Chloe disappeared from the face of the earth.

She quickly ran back to where she left the girl, but there was nothing but an empty wheelchair.