“What is—did he hurt you?”
“Twisted my wrist. I think it might be sprained.”
“We’ll find someone to look at it.”
Jackson steered Park out of the bathroom. In the corridor, one of the uniformed cops fastened cuffs on Tucker’s wrists as Gavin recited Miranda. Gavin concluded by saying, “Get him out of here,” and the uniforms pushedTucker down the hall, followed by a woman in a suit. Gavin turned back to Park and said, “You okay?”
“I’ll live. He hurt my wrist.”
“Come with me. I’ve got a paramedic on standby. He’ll take a look at it.”
Ten minutes later, Park sat on one of the lobby sofas. Jackson sat very close next to him, and Park felt a little crowded, but he didn’t have the heart to tell Jackson to go away.
The paramedic knelt in front of them and examined Park’s wrist. “I can’t say for sure without an X-ray, but I believe it’s just a sprain. Scale of one to ten, what’s your pain level?”
“I don’t know. Maybe a five? It really only hurts if I move it.” Park didn’t want to be separated from Jackson, so he said, “Do I have to go to the hospital?”
The paramedic grimaced and tilted his head.“Tell you what. I’m convinced it’s really just sprained. If there were a break, you’d be in more pain. I’ll wrap it and put a splint on it to stabilize it. I recommend icing it and keeping it elevated to keep the swelling down. If the pain doesn’t decrease by tomorrow morning, go to the hospital then for X-rays.”
“Okay.”
“Sit tight. I’ll be right back.”
Park looked around. After Tuckerhad been arrested and escorted to the precinct house by Detective Peters, most of the people in the lobby had cleared out. The press camped out in front of the hotel again, but security wasn’t letting them in. Dee sat on one of the other lobby sofas with his eyes closed. Martha and Dum were chatting with Gavin. There were a few uniformed officers around, but they were mostly addressing the problemof speaking with the hotel guests who were not part of the Livingston campaign to let them know that everything was safe.
And itwassafe now. Park still felt a little shaky, but it was all over.
He turned and looked at Jackson, who looked back at Park with his heart in his eyes.
“We should talk,” Park said.
“Yes. After your wrist gets wrapped and Gavin takes your statement.”
Park nodded. “It meant a lot to me to hear your voice when I was trapped in there.”
“Yeah? Gavin kept yelling at me to shut up.”
“It comforted me to know you were there. I didn’t feel like I was alone.”
The paramedic returned and got to work setting and wrapping Park’s wrist. Then he handed Park a cooler bag with some ice packs in it. He gave Jackson strict instructions to helpPark keep the wrist iced and elevated and to watch out for swelling. That struck Park as odd at first, but maybe they looked enough like a couple to the paramedic that he assumed they’d be spending the night together. Not that Park objected to that prospect.
Once Park’s wrist was taken care of, the paramedic patted his knee and left. Gavin came over and asked, “Are you okay to give a statement?”
“Yeah.” The adrenaline was dissipating, and Park just wanted to lie down and sleep. “Let’s get it over with.”
