“He’s my Dad,” Jean spoke for the first time. “He saved us.”
There was a round of muttered agreement from the other witnesses in attendance. Two ambulance attendants then rolled a stretcher down the hallway from the entrance. Jean and Deke made room for them. Nick’s breathing had stabilized to a shallow, but steady intake. His eyelids fluttered occasionally as one of the attendants, a short stocky woman with auburn hair, took Nick’s vitals. The blonde haired man with her, did a quick triage with Nick’s head wound, simply adding a head bandage to hold Gus’s shirt piece in place without disturbing the already clotting wound. The two then transferred Nick to the collapsed stretcher, and returned the gurney to its former wheeled height. With him strapped in place, receiving oxygen through the mask put in place by the woman, the taller but thinner blonde haired man talked to Dickerson.
“We’re ready to transport the victim. Do you want to have one of your officers ride along?”
“Yes. Go along with them to the hospital, Phil,” Dickerson told the officer he had sent out to meet the ambulance attendants. “Stay with him, and call me when he regains consciousness.”
“Will do.” He left with the stretcher bound Nick and the attendants.
Dickerson turned to Principle Collins. “Do you have a place where we can establish an interview room, so these other witnesses can return home?”
“We have an empty classroom away from this bloody scene.” Principal Collins replied.
“That would be great.” Dickerson addressed the waiting people. “I’m sorry we have to detain you a bit longer, but we’ll have you and your kids interviewed as fast as possible. Please remain where you are until we secure this scene.”
“Who are you, Sir?” Dickerson asked Gus, as Principal Collins led the witnesses away with two other officers Dickerson pointed out accompanying them.
“Gus Nason. Nick is a longtime friend and business partner of mine. He and I many times walk Jean to school. That’s their dog, Deke.”
“I confess I’ve heard of your friend, but I am not familiar with his books. It’s pretty amazing he was able to stop an armed man. Has he had law enforcement training?”
“Nick was in the Army’s Delta Force outfit. He’s an expert in unarmed combat, and combat situations. It was one of the reasons he began writing adventure novels.”
“Delta Force, huh? That would explain his skill level. It was certainly a lucky thing that Mr. McCarty was on hand.”
“Yes, that is true,” Gus agreed, while thinking luck had nothing to do with it. “Would it be possible to question us now, and let me take Jean to see her Dad? We live in the area, and will not be going anywhere other than over to Community Hospital.”
“We can do that. I’ll need Ms. Kader to stay with me while we ascertain what happened. She can fill us in on this honor killing business. This will be a mess, considering it happened in a school, and carries a controversial tag like an attempted honor killing. The media will lose their damn minds with the admitted facts. I’ll get you out of here with Mr. McCarty’s daughter as soon as possible, Mr. Nason.”
“Thank you.” Gus wondered what all this would mean in terms of Nick’s open involvement, coupled with his celebrity status. Most people wouldn’t know a famous author by sight even if they physically bumped into them on the street - adding Nick’s heroic encounter along with his Delta Force training to the mix, and Gus knew this story would not be forgotten easily.
Jean grasped Gus’s hand with both of hers, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I…I know now what you and Dad have been trying to explain about unintended consequences, Uncle Gus.”
Gus knelt down next to her, covering her hand with both of his, with Deke nosing into the mix. “Don’t give that a thought, Danger. Nick is so proud of you, he has a hard time thinking straight. We all make choices, and Nick never regrets a single one he makes. I can tell you that for a fact. We have to work on him not to kill off Jed. Otherwise, once he decides, my avatar is finished.”
Jean giggled, hugging Gus tightly. “Okay… but we have to find a way out of this mess first.”
“Agreed.”
*
The white shimmering lights sharpened into a hazy glaze. Nick turned his head, producing a painful realization his head was throbbing.
“Dad!” Jean leaped forward, grasping Nick’s hand. “C’mon… it’s me… Danger. Mom and Uncle Gus are here too. Please… please say something.”
Nick smiled. Pain meant he was alive. Jean’s voice meant he had been blessed. The memories of the morning’s deadly encounter filtered slowly into Nick’s consciousness one item at a time in a slide show of reckoning. He blinked after a moment, squinting at Jean’s worried face, with Rachel and Gus hovering over her.
“You’re grounded!”
Jean burst into tears, covering Nick in an all-inclusive hug of fear, relief, and regret.