The shout carried up the stairwell, sharp and commanding.
“We’re up here!” I called out.
“Step back,” Axel said, low enough for only me to hear, as he pushed my stomach, nudging me back several steps away from him.
I wasn’t sure why at first until the cops came up—with guns raised—and immediately assessed Axel on top of Milo as something dangerous.
“There’s a gun on the floor to your right that we kicked out of the way,” Axel informed them as they topped the stairs. “This man was attacking my girlfriend when I walked in. He’s been restrained, but my girlfriend needs medical attention.”
“He assaulted me! I’m innocent!” Milo yelled from the ground.
Both officers took a quick scan of the scene before looking at me. “You live here?” the first one asked.
“Yes, and my bakery is the business below. The man on the ground is my employee, and he assaulted me and held that gun to my head and threatened me until Axel arrived.” I spoke quickly, hoping to diffuse the situation so the officers would lower their weapons, as it was making me extremely nervous.
“No!” Milo shouted. “She has it all wrong. I’m the victim here!”
The closer officer radioed in some codes over his walkie-talkie while the other walked over to Milo.
“Sir, you can get off him. We’ve got him,” he said to Axel.
Axel walked over to me at the same time the other officer did.
Five minutes later, I was sitting on the narrow bench in the back of an ambulance as an EMT gently examined my arm. The doors were still open, allowing me a view of Axel standing just outside the emergency vehicle, speaking in low tones to one of the officers. Diego and Vince had arrived sometime during the chaos and were now hovering close to Axel and me.
“How are you holding up, Stella?” Vince asked, trying to hide the worry on his face.
“I’m okay, all things considered,” I told him, though I wasn’t sure if I was saying that to reassure him or myself.
Axel filled everyone in on what had happened, his voice calm and measured, despite the craziness of everything that had happened. After a few quiet exchanges, Diego and Vince offered to stay behind and deal with the police so Axel could go with me to the hospital.
“This is definitely going to need stitches and likely an X-ray just double check nothing is broken,” the EMT beside me recommended.
“Go,” Vince said, waving Axel off before he could even hesitate. “Diego’s calling Archer now. We’ve got this handled here, and we’ll text if we get any updates.”
Two hoursand ten stitches later, I was ready to leave the hospital. My arm wasn’t broken, but the glass had ripped a good gash along the side of my arm. I also had numerous other bruises and marks from where I had fallen, but the doctors felt I would make a full recovery and be back to normal in two to three weeks.
Anna and Archer had shown up to check on us and offer any help I needed.
“Do you want me to call Luna?” Anna offered.
I smiled wryly, knowing this was not whatI meant when I offered to call her with an emergency to get her out of the evening with her sister. “Yes please, but you may want to send a picture of me, or her mom won’t believe her that it’s a real emergency.”
Anna laughed briefly, snapped a photo, and left to go into the hallway to make the call since the nurse had stepped in to check my vitals again.
Anna had stayed with me while the police had asked more questions. They’d needed to talk to Axel separately, which she and Archer had told me was pretty standard for the police. Archer, being a former cop, had gone with Axel, and Anna had stayed with me. I’d been happy to have the support.
Now we were just waiting for the nurse to get my prescription and bring my discharge paperwork, but I knew that meant we would likely be here for another hour at least.
“Do you want something to drink?” Anna asked as we filled the time with chatter while waiting for my doctor to return.
“Stella!” Luna practically shouted as she appeared in my doorway, looking frazzled.
“Hey, Luna,” I said and then greeted her mom who was right behind her. “Hey, Beverly. Sorry you had to leave Terra’s party.”
“Mom and I were miserable, so don’t apologize,” Luna responded.
“I love both my daughters dearly, but I’m happy to have left, though I’m definitely not happy about the reason.” Beverly’s eyes softened with sorrow.
