Chaos

Chapter 2

The police officer takes my statement, clearly regretful that he has to be so thorough. He took Casey's first while I waited in the car. Casey stands behind me now, as if he's ready to catch me if I fall. I appreciate him staying even though the police are done with him because I don't know if I could do this alone.
     I see Casey's head snap up as the front door of the apartment swings open and Kyle comes out. He's flanked by two police officers, his hands cuffed behind his back. Blood drips from his brow, framing a black eye courtesy of Casey.
     A paramedic grabs my attention as she motions for me to come over to the ambulance. I manage to put one foot in front of the other enough to get there before slouching on the bumper of the truck.
     "I don't want to go to the hospital," I tell her, looking down. All I want is to be somewhere I feel safe, and I don't really know where that is right now.
     "You probably don't have to if you don't want," She tells me, clearly understanding why. "Your cuts look pretty superficial, so I can patch you up here. Is that okay?"
     "Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks."
      She spends some time dabbing at my face with something that stings, making me gasp each time. Eventually she runs out of injuries in my face and motions for me to turn around. Shit. This is going to hurt. She motions for me to lie face down on the gurney inside the ambulance as I remove my shirt. She studies the glass shards embedded in my back before meeting my eyes.
     "I'm really sorry but this is probably gonna hurt," She apologizes. I just nod my head and bury my head into the gurney. I feel a cold pair of tweezers graze my back before the glass slices my skin.
     "FUCK!" I scream involuntarily. I groan as the paramedic looks for more glass.

     This continues for what feels like hours, when it was probably only ten minutes. Eventually the paramedic tells me I can sit up.
     "Well, none of them were deep enough to need stitches, but you're gonna want to keep them clean and take it easy." She hands me my shirt back, and I pull it over my head.
     "Thanks," I mutter, opening the ambulance door.
     "Wait," she says, handing me a piece of paper. "My number. If you want to talk. My ex was like this too."
     I take it gingerly and make my way out of the truck. I should say thank you but I'm afraid if I open my mouth I won't be able to stop to tears.
     I glance at the piece of paper - It just has a phone number and 'Becca' written next to it. I slip it into my pocket and make my way over to Casey. He helps me into his Jeep and gets in.
     "Where do you want to go?" He asks looking at my bruises.
     "I don't know," I whisper. "But I don't want to be alone," I confess.
      He nods, "You can stay with me." He puts the Jeep in gear and heads out of the parking lot.