California Dreaming

Chapter Sixteen

   My feet moved slowly, sluggishly, as I forced my muscles to contract. I was aching all over, every inch of my skin stinging as if I had been sitting out in the sun all day. My hair was tied back, but strands were hanging down, sticking to my forehead, clammy with anticipation. I felt like I hand’t slept for weeks, despite the fact it had only been one night, one entirely horrific, tragic night; the worst of all my life. I felt drained with it, like all my energy, all my reason for living, had been snatched away from me. If I could no longer have him then I did not feel like existing, not at all. 

   The halls of this building were too white, the floor too clean. The powerful disinfectant they used left a bitter taste in your mouth as you tried to think about anything else but the person you were here to visit. I had had more than enough time to avoid the truth last night. 

   Someone was shaking me, trying to wake me up from what had seemed like an endless sleep. I tried to resist but then I heard them calling my name, the speaker becoming increasingly more persistent. 

   “Jia?” It was a man, a voice I didn’t recognize. “Jia, honey, I need you to wake up for me.” 

   My eyes flickered open and I saw the man let out a sigh of relief before he picked me up in his strong arms and started to carry me through my living room. He was tall and broad and was wearing an industrial, navy blue uniform. From the flashing blue lights outside, I knew that he was a paramedic. Once I could feel the cold air biting at my bare legs, the paramedic put me down on the concrete sidewalk and held me by the shoulders. 

   “You think you can walk, Jia?” He asked me and I nodded numbly. 

   My house was surrounded, two police cars, an ambulance, and all of my neighbors, gathered to see what had happened. I could not tell if they looked worried, appalled or simply irritated that I had forced them from their beds in the middle of the night. 

   “Jia?” The paramedic helped me into the back of the ambulance and sat besides me. I rubbed my eyes with my hand and felt immediately more awake, everything seemed clearer, especially the figure lying on the gurney in front of me. 

   “Oh my God,” I gasped, putting my hand to my mouth and beginning to cry desperately. The paramedic put his arm around me and tried to calm me down but I was too hysterical. Gabriel looked so peaceful, like a sleeping child having a good dream. My chest heaved and I felt as though I was going to vomit. “I-i-is, h-he,” I stuttered, sobbing, “is h-he, d-d-d, d-dead?” 

   “No, no, that’s just the painkillers,” the paramedic explained, “came pretty damn close though. We had to does him up pretty bad, he was in a lot of pain when we found him and got him onto the gurney.” 

   “But he’s going to be okay, right?” I gasped for air, tucking my hair behind my ears and trying to stop my hands from shaking. 

   “It’s early days at the moment,” he said regretfully, “he’s going to need a lot of aftercare and he’ll have to take care of himself but there’s no reason to think that he’s not going to pull through,” he assured me. I wiped some tears from my cheeks and hugged my knees up to my chest. 

   “Did they catch him?” I asked. 

   “Catch who?” He frowned and I suddenly became very conscious of how heavy my hands felt. 

   “The, the guy,” my mouth fell open and I tried to think why I would be handcuffed. “Harry.” 

   “We found you lying next to the victim, you were both covered in blood, you were both unconscious, we assumed you’d got into an argument,” he explained, and I looked at his uniform more closely, starting to become panicked. He wasn’t a paramedic, he was a police officer. “You said Harry?” He asked, jotting down something down in his notepad, I just nodded. 

   “I didn’t do it,” I said, looking up at the officer with wide, bloodshot eyes. 

   “We had to do it, Jia, as a precaution. I’m officer Crawford,” I didn’t say anything, just puled at my handcuffs, feeling cold against my wrists. “I don’t think you did it, Jia, you’re just so small.” 

   “Good, because I didn’t,” I reached out to touch Gabriel but the officer held my hand back. 

   “I’m sorry.” 

   We arrived at the hospital and numerous officers tried to get me into a squad car after I had been examined by a doctor. They said that I was in shock, but had no physical wounds. I refused to leave Gabriel’s side, worried that when he woke up he would find himself alone. The police officers finally agreed that they would let me stay with him as long as I remained handcuffed and under their supervision. 

   My wrists had started to ache and I pulled at my handcuffs uncomfortably. I walked into Gabes’ hospital room and sat down besides him, stroking my fingers across his arm as he slept. He had just come out of surgery, they’d checked his vitals and stitched up the stab wound, giving him a blood transfusion to makeup for all that he had lost. I lent over and kissed him softly on the cheek, feeling him move slightly beneath me. 

   “Jia?” He let out a soft groan and I stroked back his hair, his voice was hoarse. 

   “Yeah, I’m here,” I smiled, but I knew that as soon as we had had a real chance to talk, I was going to be taken to the police station and asked questions about what had happened last night. I didn’t want to go to jail, I wouldn’t survive. 

   “What’s happening, where am I?” He asked, slowly opening his eyes and squinting as they adjusted to the electric lights of the hospital room. 

   “In the hospital,” I said softly, “you’ll find that you have some nice, fresh stitches and a hell of a lot of morphine.” 

   “Nice and high then,” he chuckled and then winced as he realized how much of an effect that hand on his stomach wound. He saw the handcuffs on my wrists and his smile faded. “Jia, what’s going on?” 

   “They think maybe I did it,” I whispered, leaning close to him and kissing him quickly, “they think that I stabbed you.” I tried not to look scared, tried to hold myself together for him. 

   “But you were with me when the paramedics came,” he said, frowning. 

   “Shhh,” I cooed, “it’s okay, my darling,” I brushed my fingers over his forehead and felt his body relax. 

   “What are we going to do?” 

   “You,” I touched his chest gently, “are going to tell the truth and then they’ll have nothing on me.” 

   “Why is this all happening to us?” He sighed and I just smiled, shrugging hopelessly. 

   “Because Harry’s a bastard,” I said simply, “and the world is unfair.” A tear fell across his cheek and I brushed it away with my thumb. “It’s okay, it will be okay, my dad will come and sort everything out, I promise.” A nurse walked in an, on seeing that Gabriel was awake, left immediately to fetch a police officer. 

   “I’ll see you soon, okay?” I kissed him again, for longer this time, because I really wasn’t sure how soon I would be seeing him. “I love you, Gabriel,” I whispered. 

   “Love you too, Jia,” he kissed me again, and I had to use all of my strength to walk away. I reached the door and blew him a kiss with my cuffed hands and he caught it in his hand and held it to his heard, just like he would do when things were normal. I had to leave before I started crying again, it was all too much for me to handle.