“Where the hell is she?”Kaleb yelled right inside the doors of the ER.
Joel raced to him.
Kaleb’s eye widened at the man he’d seen with her before he walked up to him.“What happened?”
Joel wiped his mouth with his hand as he looked Kaleb in the eyes.“She was attacked again.”
Kaleb’s head snapped back.“Wait, what the hell are you talking about?”
Joel’s eyes narrowed.“She never told you about her attack?”
“No, all she said was she had a problem with a guy, but he was in prison.That’s the reason she gave me for moving to the apartment.”
“How long have you guys been together?”
Kaleb didn’t want to tell him about the day before.He was afraid they’d keep him from her.
“Just about three months.”
“The way she talked about you, I would have guessed much longer.”
“She talked about me?”Kaleb asked in shock.
“Yes.We met for lunch yesterday.She wanted to find out if her assailant was out and told me about feeling like she was being watched.I was the cop on the scene of the first attack, and she let me help her.Now she won’t let anyone near her.I have to tell you, I just about freaked when I found out he’d been out for weeks and nobody notified me.I put out an APB for him, but he got to her before we found him.The only thing that made me feel better was that I knew she had you.I talked to her about telling you her suspicions, and she said she’d think about it.The relationship was new, and she didn’t want you to deal with it.”
“I need to see her.”
Joel started walking back to the cubicle.“Please move back,” Joel growled.
The small crowd parted and let the two men through.
Kaleb’s first sight of her made him want to howl in fury.One woman sat by her and talked to her.Myla would cringe back when she tried to reach for her.Myla’s eyes were wild, her face pasty white except for the blood down one side of her face.
Kaleb walked slowly toward her.
The policewoman looked up at him.“Sir, you need to back off.”
“I’m her friend.Move back so I can get to her.”
Deb’s shoulders relaxed a bit and moved out of the way.
****
“Can everyone give usa minute?’Kaleb asked softly, so he didn’t startle Myla.He watched as the small crowd moved back, some of them returning to work.
Kaleb said a prayer that she’d let him help her and sat on the floor a foot away from her.
“Hi, Sweetheart.”
Myla looked at him in confusion.
“Hey, can you talk to me?”Kaleb asked, hoping she didn’t detect the fury he was feeling at that moment.
It took several more times until he finally got her attention.
“What are you doing here?”she asked.
“Joel called me.”
