American Pyramid

Aftermath

Zak

Some serious shit was an understatement. My phone was constantly going off with text messages, calls, social media notifications, etc. Tori killed her father right in front of me with a fire in her eyes that told me that it needed to happen. Don't get me wrong, it was for the best that he was dead, but I didn't know what was going to happen to her in the aftermath of this. 

Thankfully, she didn't have any critical injuries - just deep cuts and bruises, but nothing more, and she was going to be taken to a nearby hospital until the police could question her. 

Until then, I was left to worry with the outcome of this. Our entire museum was now closed off behind police tape, a mound of crime scene investigators searching every room for potential evidence, police detectives scanning through every bit of surveillance footage from the past two months, all of my employees giving a witness testimony, and eventually me getting questioned before I was dismissed to go to the hospital to pick up Tori. 

A couple of hours after I was allowed to leave, I was met with two doctors at the hospital who told me that I wouldn't be allowed to see her until she had completed being observed. I didn't know what the fuck that meant, but I knew it wasn't the news I was hoping for. 

The only information that they were allowed to give me was the fact that she may have developed a severe case of post traumatic stress disorder. I knew she had already had it, but she always managed to hide it so well, but with this happening, it was likely that it would progress into something as simple as cutting vegetables with a knife could trigger a reaction, but I wouldn't know until after she was completely evaluated. 

Instead of going home like the doctors suggested, I sat in the waiting room and did just that, making the chair my temporary comfort place until I was allowed to see her. I didn't care what was going on in the outside world - what the news was saying, what fans were saying on Twitter, what locals were saying. I didn't give a fuck. 

I only cared about her. 

A few hours later, my mom woke me up by tapping on my shoulder, "Zak? Honey? A nurse is here to get you." 

"W-What?" I groaned, confused. 

"A nurse is going to take you back to speak with Tori's doctor before they let you see her." 

When the realization set in that it wasn't my imagination, I stood up quickly, my strides wide as I followed the nurse into what I now recognized to be Tori's room. I wanted to rush to her side, but  there was no point as she wasn't even awake to greet me... 

And her doctor stood between us, keeping me from getting closer. 

"Mr. Bagans," he nodded, reaching out to shake my hand. "I'm sorry we kept you waiting. We, uh, had some problems upon her arrival." 

"What happened?" 

"This may be a lot to take in, but when she got here, the paramedics told us that they had to physically restrain her in the ambulance, and we had to do the same thing here," he explained. "the paramedics in the ambulance informed us that she had a traumatic stress response, which we typically see in victims of childhood trauma. I must inform you that when she wakes up and gets her bearings, we cannot let you in to see her until the police question her." 

I sighed, "Okay. How long do you think she'll have to stay in here?" 

"I can't give you an exact timeframe at the moment. There are no major injuries, luckily. She did need some stitches, but we would like to keep her for a few days after police question her to observe her mental stability." 

Great, another hospital stay, I thought, hating the fact that she would have to go through this yet again, and I was sure that she was going to be miserable once she came to her senses. She needed a long break, and I was going to make that happen.