The Guardian

Chapter Twenty

Gabriel smiled at Julianna. "Aggie was telling me that you were hit by a car on your way here today."

"Yes." She cuddled into her hoody and tried to get warm.

"She said it was quite dramatic. You went flying over the hood of the car, and that it took you a few minutes before you were able to get up."

"I guess it did. I was stunned when it first happened. I still feel a little stunned, actually."

"I can imagine. How else are you feeling?" asked Gabriel.

"I want her to go to the hospital to see if she has a broken rib or two", said Michael. "I suspect that she might have cracked something."

"Aggie said that the car has a dent in the front passenger's side of the hood. And she said that Vic was the person driving", he said as he took his pad of paper and a pen from his pocket.

"Yes, he was", said Julianna.

Gabriel wrote some notes. "Aggie also said that Vic got out of the car screaming and swearing, and telling you that you'd better not report the accident."

Julianna nodded carefully. "He did, I think. It's all a bit of a blur."

"Luckily for you, another driver reported the accident and gave us the plate number for the car. I'm going to Vic's house in a few minutes to follow up on the information that we were given. I won't admit that the two of you reported the accident. He doesn't need to have any other excuses to attack you."

She let out a relieved sigh. "Thanks, Gabriel."

"Do you have anything else to add regarding what happened?" asked Gabriel as he put away his notebook.

"No", said Julianna. "I can barely remember it."

"Did you get any more death threats or threats of sexual assault today?" asked Michael.

She nodded. "They're in my pencil case at home. In my backpack. Aggie can get them for you. In each case, they're anonymous."

"You have another couple of death threats on Facebook as well", said Gabriel. "I checked before I came here this evening. One of those threats was given by Vic. He's really taking things personally."

"Great", said Julianna with a grimace.

"I'll talk to Vic this evening, and arrest him for dangerous driving and assault. Hopefully things will get a little less crazy for you when he's off the road."

"He won't take this well", said Aggie as she listened in on the conversation. "I've known Vic for six years, and he has a temper. He's never been able to control it well."

"Then perhaps he should be taking anger management lessons", said Gabriel sharply. "Come on, Aggie. I'll drive you home while Michael takes Julianna to the hospital to get her ribs x-rayed."

"I'm Dr. Alec Asher", said a good-looking man as he entered the room. Julianna could see where Seth had inherited his movie-star looks. "I heard you were in a car accident." After seeing who his patient was, he now understood Seth's message that he was coming into Emergency to start his shift early.

"It's nice to meet you", said Julianna. "Michael thought my ribs might be cracked. He wanted me to come."

"That's a good idea." He helped Julianna take her top off. "What happened here?" he asked as he saw the bandage on her shoulder.

"Julianna has trouble controlling her self-harm tendencies", said Michael. "Yesterday she cut herself deeply, and Seth had to patch her up."

"How many stitches did it require?"