The Devil's Trail

40. N.O.K

Zak stood outside the double doors, refusing to move away from the small window beside it. He couldn't leave. He wouldn't leave her.

As soon as he had arrived, they took Delilah off his hands leaving him cold. Even now, he couldn't believe what had happened. The lengths people went to, the lengths he went to!

Zak rubbed his hands, trying to remove the dry blood from each crevice, but it was fruitless. It still remained, stained into his palms.

They had drawn the curtain around her bed, and he only got to see small glimpses of her when a nurse slipped behind the curtain. He knew they had cut her clothes away and they had been bagged by a member of the medical team for the police to take.

"Mr Bagans?" A man asked standing beside him.

Zak took a quick glimpse at the man, only noting he had dark hair and a badge in his hand. The police were already here..

"Yeah." Zak replied.

"We'd like to have a chat, if you could come with us to the family room.."

"No. I'm not leaving this window. I'm not losing sight of her for a second."

"Sir, we need to ask you some questions, regarding the incident that happened to Ms Winters."

Zak's grip tightened as he held his own hand "She was stabbed, by her step dad. Randy, I don't have a second name. He's with her mom, but I don't know her name either."

"And how did the incident unfold?"

"I'm not sure, it just happened so fast.. There was arguing, I.." he paused and wondered whether he needed a lawyer, at first he didn't think he would. But if he told the police his story, he would be admitting assault and incriminating Delilah for criminal damage.

"Sir?" The office spoke beside him making Zak snap his mind back to it.

"Delilah was attacked by Randy as a kid, she has a large scar down her chest, the nurse can confirm it, she had other scars too, I think she said her gran told the police? Or the hospital told the police?" Zak guessed trying to grasp at details of the conversation. But it had felt like such a long time ago...

"We will look into it.."

"She came face to face with him tonight and she lost it. She attacked his car. Look, do I need a lawyer?" Zak questions.

"You haven't been arrested for anything, we are simply trying to establish facts and a time line." The office replied whilst Zak stared at the hospital curtains still around the bed.

"I saw him and saw red. I punched him. He gave me one back, I guess Delilah snapped, she started hitting him and that's when he back handed her across the face, she hit the floor so hard..." He responded gripping the window frame tighter. "Nobody touches her, she's my partner, I'm suppose to look after her. But before anything could happen she screamed about something and then it all stopped. He said that he won again and got back in the car, that's when I realised she had been stabbed."

"Do you know what car?"

Zak shook his head. "I have CCTV at the museum, you might be able to see it from that. I know there's one at the end of the street."

"Which museum?"

"The haunted museum, 600 East Charleston Boulevard."

"I'll get onto it. We will need to speak with you at a later date, but considering what you've given me, I have something to work with. Hopefully it won't be long until we catch up with this Randy."

"I'll be here."

"We'll also have two officers placed outside the room." He added Zak nodded and the officer left the emergency department as the two uniformed police officers entered the department and took their stance at the doors.