Doing it, he nearly ran into Mrs.Matthews.
“See here!”she snapped.“Look where you’re going.You nearly ran me over.”
“My apologies,” the doctor muttered and rolled his tray past her, and if Hutch wasn’t wrong, he did this rapidly.
Hutch thinned his eyes at Mabel.
“It wasn’t me,” she said.
“Ellis listens to police band,” Mrs.Matthews declared as she strode forward, Ellis at her back.
She looked to his feet and gave her orders for his treatment plan.
“You will remain in bed for two full days, not including bathroom breaks, so you won’t worry Mabel.”
Hutch pushed up to sitting.“They’re giving me a boot.”
“Puh!”she pushed out.“Save the world from tough guys.”
Hutch sighed.
“I just came in to see how you’re doing,” Harry said.“And to share, obviously, no charges will be filed.Castle doctrine.”
“I should think not,” Mrs.Matthews stated sharply.
Harry glanced at her with a smile, then came back to Hutch.
“We’ve been over the scene thoroughly, I’ll be writing it up and going over it with the county attorney, but I don’t see any issues,” he continued.“They were using deadly force.You used reasonable force.How you managed it putting two holes in three guys, and one in the last two, I don’t know.But you did.Bottom line, you got buckshot in your roof, a destroyed door and an injured dog who took a hit.The threat was imminent.So go to Doc’s.For fuck’s sake, put your feet up for a couple of days.And I’ll talk to David about hanging a new door.”
Hutch nodded.
Harry started to walk away, doing chin dips as he went, but Hutch called, “It was the thrill.”
Harry turned to him and winced.
“We should have known, with your training, he couldn’t resist,” he replied.
Hutch sighed again.
Harry gave him a smile, passed it around liberally, then walked away.
“What’s this about a thrill?”Abigail asked.
“No idea,” Mabel replied.
“He’s fine.We can go home now,” Mrs.Matthews decreed.
She then pivoted and marched away.
Ellis gave them a brief wave and followed.
“You sure you don’t want me to go look in on Hannibal?”Doc offered.
“Or we can go,” Brett added.
“I need to see my dog’s okay,” Hutch said.
Everyone nodded.
