The Law of Three

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

First Aid

 -- Manhattan --

Red Eyes.

Then light.

Sarkey opened her eyes and sat up all at once. She instantly felt nauseous and gripped the sheets on the bed.

“I feel sick,” she said to no one in particular.

“That’s probably the sedative.”

The voice familiar, reassuring, came from her partner, Jamie Farks. Sarkey swallowed and clenched her eyes shut, fighting back the urge to vomit. Her skin broke out in a sick, cold sweat. She breathed heavily, trying to control the nausea. After a moment the feeling passed and she slowly reclined on the bed.

“Where am I?” she asked.

“Hospital. Manhattan General.”

Sarkey could hear him shifting in his chair.

“What the hell did they give me?”

“Nurse said Thorazine,” he answered. “From what the agents on the scene said you were pretty much out of your head.”

Just shot a guy in the head at point blank range. Then he tried to eat me. Nothing to see here, folks. Drive on by.

Sarkey slowly opened her eyes.

“Supposed to relieve nausea.”

“What?”

“Thorazine is supposed to relieve nausea,” she muttered almost to herself.

“When was the last time you ate?”

“Jesus, Jamie. I don’t even know what day it is.” Sarkey moved her tongue around her mouth and smacked her lips. “Tastes like something died in my mouth.”

“I’ll go ask at the nurses station to see if they can rustle you up some chow. Some food should help settle your stomach.”

The thought of eating caused another wave of nausea, but she knew he was right. She heard him get out of his chair and move to the door. She opened her eyes and looked at him as he pulled the door open.

He hesitated before walking into the hall, then turned and stared at her. He opened his mouth and closed it twice before speaking.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there last night.”

“How’d the trial go?”

“Bustamante got life plus forty. He’ll die in prison.”

“Good. They couldn’t have done it without your testimony, Jamie.”

Jamie Farks, her partner of five long years, turned his gaze away from her. She could see in his body language the guilt he felt for not being by her side and the relief he also felt knowing he’d be as dead as the other agents if he had been. She knew from personal experience one would feed the other for some time to come.

At least relief is part of his equation. For me it’s all guilt.

“Hey. Look at me. The only reason I’m here is because my shoulder holster snagged a broken piece of rusted metal on the fire escape.”

He nodded once and attempted a smile, but guilt won out over relief and the smile turned into a smirk.

“I’ll see about that food.”

He walked into the hall and the door shut behind him.

Her shoulder holster. A piece of rusted metal. The fire escape.

Red eyes. Hungry red eyes.

Sarkey sat up suddenly gripping the rails on the side of the hospital bed. Her heart raced. She tried to swallow but couldn’t.

For a moment the light disappeared and she found herself back on the fire escape, alone, helpless in the dark, waiting for death.