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John woke up to the sirens of the ambulance. He was connected to an IV and was informed he was on his way to the hospital for evaluation. John tried to plea with the paramedic to let him go home, but everything went black.
John woke up in the hospital room. At the end of the bed was his captain with a look of concern.
“Captain, I just did not get sleep last night. I bet it was just over exhaustion,” John said.
“Save it, John. Your labs came back, and you had quite the amount of alcohol in your blood, which got me curious. I checked your car and found these,” the captain said as he placed a bottle and several nips on the end of the bed.
John’s throat got tight. He felt as if he swallowed sand. He had no words and only a few seconds to produce an excuse to bail him out.
“John, you are one hell of a detective, but I will not accept this behavior on my force. If you want to be in this force, I better not see this again. Consider this your final warning,” the captain said as he stood up quickly and grabbed his coat. John could tell the captain wanted to hit him hard. John realized he needed to be more careful and to get out of the captain’s spotlight.
John was discharged a few hours later and was taken back to his house by a fellow officer per order of the captain. John waved as the officer watched John stumble into his house. As soon as the officer left, John fell backwards against the wall and the light faded into darkness.
John woke up that night by the chimes of the doorbell. He could hear Nancy yelling through the door that she knows that he is there and that she brought him something to eat. John forced himself to get up from the floor with a pounding headache. He had to get to that door to stop the piercing sounds of the doorbell.
“Jonathan, it is about time you opened the door. I have been out here for about five minutes waiting for you. It is Tuesday and I brought dinner,” Nancy said. John and Nancy usually meet for dinner every Tuesday night and play cards. Nancy was always good at cards, especially Five Crowns.
“I am sorry, Nancy. I needed to take a nap. Please come in,” John said.
“Are you ok? I saw the officer dropped you off and you look like you need a shower. Why don’t you get cleaned up and I will set everything up? Then we can talk,” Nancy said. In the time John has known Nancy, he has always welcomed her motherly intentions. John’s mother died when he was young.
After John’s much needed shower, he came down to the dinner table all set up and a homemade lasagna with garlic bread that was calling his name. John had not eaten since the incident, but his stomach was welcoming the food. John poured a glass of red wine for himself and offered a glass to Nancy, which she declined.
“So, Jonathan, after we eat, we will chat during a game of cards. Now eat up before it gets cold,” Nancy said.
As John was eating the meal, he could not help thinking about that infant he found in the dumpster. He wondered if she would ever get a meal like this or even a nice interaction with someone as kind as Nancy. John grew up to TV dinners and fast-food joints. He was never a good cook, as he was told numerous times by friends. He always looked forward to Nancy’s meals and her company. Living alone in this house at times was burdensome with only the bottle to keep him company.
After the meal, Jonathan gathered up the dishes and placed them in the dishwasher as Nancy was telling him stories about her students in her ninth-grade English class. Nancy was always enthusiastic about teaching the youths and strongly believed that her job was to inspire her students to become the best they can be in this world. Nancy had been teaching English and Math for forty years and has grown to be one of the most well-respected teachers in the Boston school district. She had been offered numerous promotions, but Nancy could not leave her current position because she was happy doing what she loves.
“Now Jonathan, tell me what is going on. I can tell that something has been on your mind from the moment I got here. Better to talk about it,” Nancy said welcoming.
John poured the final glass of wine the bottle could provide. He told Nancy about finding the infant in the dumpster. He knew to leave out the drinking part because he did not need a lecture from Nancy about bar fights and her questioning him about drinking and driving. As John was retelling the story, he felt sick to his stomach. John could see that infant wet, shivering, and crying. Nancy looked at John with a look of terror that John has not seen, even when he has told her stories of other cases.
“Jonathan, this is one of the worst things I have heard in all my years on this Earth. I have read of things like that happening, but I have never talked to someone who experienced it. How could someone do that to an innocent child? I am sorry you had to experience that, but she is alive because of you. You saved her,” Nancy said, as a tear ran down her cheek.
Although John knew that he saved the infant, he did not feel like a hero. In John’s mind, the young girl will be judged and looked at differently for the rest of her life. It made John disgusted how people can be so cruel. His line of work was to investigate the most heinous of crimes people can do to one another. Life was a big joke in John’s mind and there was no positivity in it. The only thing John looked forward to now in his life was when he can crawl into a bottle and forget about the nightmares that haunt him.
John cut the night short after talking to Nancy about the infant. He did not feel like company at this point and just wanted to drink to forget the images. Nancy understood and told John that she will always be there for him if he wants to talk. Nancy told John that she would pick him up in the morning to bring him to his car, which he lied and said it was towed due to illegal parking. He knew better than to tell her that he was too drunk at work to drive it and it was impounded. John grabbed his bottle of whiskey that was a birthday present for his captain. He knew he needed this to get through the night.