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MITCH DROVE BY THE hospital before he started his night shift. Kendra’s mother called him an hour before, telling him the news. Someone had found Kendra behind a dumpster in lower downtown, badly beaten. She was alive, but badly hurt. Her mom felt that Mitch deserved to know.
“If you didn’t break up with her,” she sobbed over the phone, “She wouldn’t have been running with such a rough crowd.”
I didn’t break up with her, Mitch wanted to say, but it didn’t matter. Kendra’s mother was going to believe what she wanted to believe. “I am so sorry. I tried to work it out with her,” he told her. “I’ll go by and see her today before I go to work.”
“Yes, and tell her I’ll be by as soon as I can.”
When Mitch ended the call, his heart was pounding. What had Kendra gotten herself into? Despite what she did to him, she didn’t deserve this.
He arrived at the hospital and the nurse at the desk directed him to the ICU. They would let him see her for two minutes only, the nurse said. She wasn’t conscious, but maybe the voice of a friend would help her.
Mitch was horrified when he saw her. Tubes stuck out of her mouth and nose, and long intravenous needles were stuck into both her arms, dripping fluid into her battered body. Her beautiful dark blonde hair was matted back and deep purple smudges ringed both of her eyes. The abrasions on her face made him wince and the bloodied splint on her right forearm make him feel ill. Who had done this to her?
A nurse came into the room at this point and he touched her arm as she moved past her.
“Do they know what happened?” he asked her.
She shook her head. “They found her, badly beaten up. Judging by where she was found, they suspect it is gang-related.” She turned her attention to Kendra, checking her vitals and adjusting her bedding. She turned back to Mitch. “Are you a friend or family?”
“Uh, friend,” he replied.
“Well, she certainly has a lot of friends.”
Mitch didn’t know how to respond. He just looked on helplessly as the nurse adjusted something on the I.V. drip that ran into Kendra’s arm.
“You need to go now,” she told him. “She needs to rest.”
He nodded. “Kendra, it’s Mitch.” He touched her hand lightly. “Please get better. A lot of people...love you.” He turned and left the room.
In the corridor, he almost bumped into a tall, dark-haired young man. The two locked eyes and Mitch suddenly understood.
“You’re here to see Kendra,” he said abruptly.
“So?”
He grabbed the boy’s arm. “What happened to her? Tell me.”
The youth yanked his arm out of Mitch’s hand. “It’s none of your business.”
“I’m her ex-boyfriend,” Mitch replied. “My dad was the cop that was killed one night in a gang fight. She was there.”
The taller boy eyed him carefully. “She should never have called the cops in the first place. That was her first mistake.” He turned and slipped into Kendra’s room.
Mitch stood in shocked silence for a moment, and then hurried to the nurses’ station. “You need to post security on Kendra’s room, and don’t let anyone in there but her family.”
The nurse looked up. “Why is that?”
He pointed to her room. “The guy in there with her right now is a gang member, and likely responsible for her injuries. He shouldn’t be in there with her.”
The nurse looked at him blankly for a moment, and then she picked up the phone. “Security to the third floor ICU station please.”
Mitch slipped out of the hospital before they arrived.
***
MOM WAS WAITING FOR him when he came downstairs before his shift. That was fine. He wanted to talk to her, too.
“Mitch, I got the job,” she blurted out without preamble. “The one at the university. I start at the beginning of August, in two weeks. That’s enough time for you to give notice at your job and pack up your stuff. We’ll get someone to rent the house or something. Maybe one of those government workers who are building the new facility. It’s going to be great, you’ll see. I found a nice, two bedroom apartment and...”
Mitch held up his hand. “Mom, I’m glad you got the job you wanted, but I’m not going.”
“Oh come on, Mitch. You can go backpacking any time. You need an education, and you’re not going to get that hiking around the world.”
“Well, I wouldn’t agree with that. I could learn a lot by travelling, but that’s not why I’m cancelling my trip.”
She frowned briefly. “What else could you possibly be doing?”
“Mom,” he sat down at the table, taking her hands and lowering her into a seat next to him. “I’m staying here. I...um...I want to be a cop.” Like Dad. He almost said it but clamped his lips shut in time. That wouldn’t help his argument any.
Her face went white with shock, then red with rage. “WHAT? No. No, honey, you can’t do this to me.”
“To you? I’m not doing this to you. I’m doing this because it’s the right thing. This city needs good cops, and I know it’s something I would be good at. Dad would agree with me.”
She stood suddenly and flung her hand at him. “Yeah, and look where it got him. DEAD, that’s where. You want to die? Is that it? I’ve already lost my husband and now my son wants to follow him?”
“Mom, no, please listen...”
“You want to guarantee me you won’t die in the line of duty? Can you do that?”
“Well, I’ll do the best I can, but...”
“No, you can’t guarantee that.” She collapsed in a chair and dropped her face in her hands, elbows on the table. “Oh god, Mitch, I can’t stand to lose you too. I just couldn’t stand it.”
He moved to drop an arm around her shoulders. “You won’t Mom. I’ll do everything I can to stay safe, I promise.”
“Yeah, your dad promised,” she cried into her hands.
“Mom. Mom, please understand. I can stay here at the house, and I’ll get paid while I’m going through training, so I’ll have enough cover the expenses. You said the house is paid off. I’ll be fine.”
“I won’t.”
“Yes, you will. You’ll have Pam. She’ll look after you and you can look after her. I’ll check in with you every week, and I’ll come see you when I can.”
She looked at him with tear-streaked eyes. “Oh Mitch, I love you so much.”
“I know, Mom, and I love you, but I have to do this. Please understand that. For Dad, for this town, for the people who are going to need all the help they can get. Rather than everyone running off at the first sign of trouble, someone needs to stay here and keep everyone safe. This is my purpose, Mom. This is why I am here. You know what happened to Kendra. I need to make sure that never happens to anyone else. The gangs are becoming a real problem, and I want to be a part of the solution. The police force needs all the help they can get, and I could be really good at this.” He gripped her cold fingers in his warm hands, willing her to understand.
She reached up to touch his face. “Sweetie, I do understand. I see so much of your father in you, your dedication, your gentleness, your kind soul. Your stubbornness, too. I never saw two people who were so gentle and pig-headed stubborn at the same time, but it’s because I see your father in you, that I fear for you. Promise you won’t take stupid chances. I need you. Pam needs you. We’re family, and we need to stick together.”
Mitch grinned and leaned over to kiss her forehead. “It’s going to be okay, Mom.”
“But what if you have a family? A wife? Kids? What happens when you get shot in the line of duty and leave them to fend for themselves?”
He stood up and looked out the window where the sun was beginning its descent. “If I learned anything, Mom, is that I never want to do that to anyone.”
“You say that now.”
He looked down at her. “Nope. I won’t ever leave someone widowed.” What he didn’t add was that he wouldn’t raise kids to listen to their parents bicker constantly about his job, either. As much as he loved his dad, he would never do to some woman, what his dad did to his mother. Or allow someone to do to him, what his mother did to his dad. Families were for people who were free to love. Not cops.
“I need to get to work,” he said. “I’ll see you when I get home.” He paused at the door. “I’m going to be a cop, Mom, because there are people who need my help. It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
The evening was cooling as he stepped out on the front porch. The dry smell of summer-scorched grass mingled with the odour of drying leaves and dust. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and looked down to see a small bee, lifting off a cluster of blue lobelia in a pot on the front porch. The bee rose high enough to buzz past Mitch’s ear, then turned and headed home, towards the setting sun.
** THE END **
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