I'll Be Holding on to You

still alive

I locked eyes with the tattooed blond on our way out. She had her arm around her friend, who was more than likely her girlfriend from the vibe I got. 

My gaydar was never wrong. 

"Are you guys okay?" I asked her, though I knew they were. Physically, anyway. Even in the untenable situation we were in, I found myself taking in her tattooes; an explosion of color on both arms, forming exotic pictures and quotes I couldn't make out.

"Yeah," she said, her voice cracking. She swallowed. Mascara had left tracks down her cheeks and Tom's blood was all over her hands. Some had gotten on her friend.

"Thanks for helping Tom," I said without thinking.

"Yeah," she said again, gesturing like of course, and then we were out in the cooling air and Mo was gently settling Evie in the backseat of the SUV. Thankfully Freddy never locked it, mostly because he insisted no one would want to steal a pink SUV, and we couldn't really argue with that logic.

By the time I got Bowser from Cam's car, the other cop had tucked the now-conscious attacker in the back seat of the squad car. The asshole was fucking crying, of all things. I hoped Erika had damaged him internally.  

Evie was coming around and the twins retreated to the front seat to give her less stimulation. 

I sat in the middle row and looked over the seat at her while Cam just existed next to me. He'd had a tranquilizer, dissolving it sublingually, which was gross but effective. The last thing we needed was him freaking out.

Evie opened her eyes and sat up, stoic. "What happened." Her voice and eyes were flat, not a great sign, but I could work with it.

"We're at the deli," I said, casual. "You passed out. We're in the SUV. Officer Spencer is here taking care of things."

"Freddy." Her eyes were returning to normal but she was trembling now in reaction. I handed her the vape pen and she took a puff, letting it out slowly.

"He's okay," I said, not knowing how true it was. "The EMTs are in there with him." I didn't give any more info than I had to. 

I registered Mo slipping out to talk to the cop we knew. My heart was racing and I had the metallic taste of adrenaline in my mouth.

Cameron climbed into the seat with Evie and she slumped against him. "It's okay, bb," he said mildly. She believed him. Bowser watched from next to me, knowing better than to join.

In addition to having anxiety, Evie was on the autism spectrum, what had once been called Asperger's and was now referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorder or ASD. We hated the term "high functioning" but it's what the professionals used. 

She also had Sensory Processing Disorder, which mixed up the signals between her brain and her senses at times, and mild OCD. She was literally off-the-charts intelligent and had too many emotions that were often unmanageable. 

She was not the only one with overexcitabilities, or OEs. Nor the only one who was highly sensitive on all levels. We were an exceptional group of friends in more ways than one, all sharing much higher than average IQs, but Evie and Cam were the brightest of us all.

I saw the EMTs rolling Tom out on a stretcher and his voice floated over to us. Gage was alongside it, looking understandably sketched.

"Tom's talking," I observed to help Evie get a grasp on what was happening. 

"That's good," she said, her body calming down with Cam there. He was like her security dog sometimes. "I want to go see Freddy."

I didn't see that happening, what with the blood and the passing out and all. "Yeah, let me see how it's going," I said agreeably, careful not to patronize. 

Erika was listening and she came to take my place, squeezing my hand, so I could slip outside to where Mohammed was talking to the cop we knew, along with the two girls.

It was fully dark now. The first ambulance pulled away and the front door opened again so the second team could bring out Freddy. 

I joined them as they loaded him. His eyes were closed, his face pale where it was usually ruddy. Blood was still smeared and I fought the urge to spit on my sleeve and wipe it away. I knew they would take care of all that.

"How is he?" I caught the attention of the EMT not hooking him up to things.

He met my eye and spoke through his salt-and-pepper mustache. "He's stable. We'll take him to Memorial. He should be alright." He glanced at Moey. "One of you riding?"

I couldn't leave Cam or Evie. "Mo," I called.

He came. "I'll g-go with h-h-him."

Relief. "I'll take Evie home and we'll just recover there. You want to call Big Freddy?" Freddy's dad.

He sighed and pulled out his phone. "N-n-no, but I w-w-will." He reached to hug me tightly. "I f-f-filled Spencer in." His frustration at the regression of his stutter was evident but he took a deep breath, holding my hands in his. His calm transferred to me. "Crazy sh-shit."

More so for us than it would have been for any normal person, due to our collective past. Lucky us.

I let him go and he climbed in. "Keys," I remembered, and Mo made a face but reached into Freddy's pocket and tossed them to me. 

Seeing Freddy so still gave me a sudden lump in my throat and tears stung my nose. "Love you guys."

"G-g-go find Nemo," he tossed out with a wink, making things normal again with his stupid movie reference.

I flipped him off and began to return to the four of us left, but was waved over by Spencer. I sighed inwardly. I don't like cops on a good day.

"Dorienne, right? I know you want to get home after all this. Mohammed said you'll all give statements tomorrow? I can come out if that's better. We're holding onto the stun gun, obviously, but you're all clear."

I tried to think about what was better for Evie but my brain was fried. "Yeah, he said he has your card."

He regarded me, his radio crackling, all of his weapons and gadgets shiny and important looking. He was as big as Freddy, his nose broken so many times it spoke clearly of a history of boxing. He wore his bulk easily but had never used it to intimidate us. 

Not that we were exactly a meek bunch who would have been cowed by it, had he tried. Back when we were kids or at any age. 

"I'm sorry you kids had to be involved in this," he said finally, with sincerity.

"We are, too." I raised my eyebrows and shrugged, what are ya gonna do. Life was like that. "I guess you can't just take him out back and shoot him," I nodded toward the squad car.

"Yeah, would save on the paperwork." He rubbed a sleeve across his mashed nose. "I'll talk to you tomorrow. Get them home."

I refrained from spouting off a Sir, yes sir and took the opportunity to disengage.