forty-three

When I opened my eyes again, Danielle lay sprawled on her back. Skippy sat squarely on her chest, a low growl coming from his throat warning her not to move. Based on her incoherent sobs, it didn’t seem like something we needed to worry about. Frank was on the phone with 911. Officer Hax had her gun trained on Danielle, while she too called for backup and an ambulance. I wondered why we needed the latter until I looked down to see my sweater covered in blood. Nigel saw it too. “Don’t worry. You’re going to be fine,” he kept repeating, his face pale, as he gently patted me trying to find the source of the bleeding.

“Nigel, I’m okay,” I said looking up into worried eyes.

“Of course, you are,” he said with an encouraging smile. “I’m sure it’s just a scratch.”

I struggled to sit up. “Nigel,” I tried again. “I’m okay. I wasn’t hit. You were.”

Nigel stared at me in confusion. “But, I don’t feel …” he began.

“You will,” I said, as I yanked off my sweater and gently pressed it against the gaping hole in his shoulder.

His face went a little paler as he looked down at his arm. “Oh,” he said.

I sat him up against the wall, keeping the pressure firm. “You okay?” I asked.

He nodded grimly. “Never liked this shirt anyway.”

I looked over at Officer Hax. “Did you get it all?” I asked.

She nodded and tapped her phone. “Loud and clear,” she said. “It recorded perfectly.” She glanced at Nigel. “Ambulance is on its way.”

I looked back to Nigel. His mouth was pinched in pain. “I’m fine,” he said. He glanced over at Skippy. “Did you see what he did?” he asked. “The way he tackled her? I taught him that.”

“I saw. Did I imagine it, or did I hear you yell, ‘Rosebud’?” I asked.

“You didn’t imagine it. That’s his attack word.”

“Wasn’t that done on an episode of Columbo?” I asked.

Nigel gave me a weak smile. “I love the fact that you know that.”

Officer Hax gave a low cough. We both looked over to her. “Um, speaking of your dog,” she said with a nod to Skippy, who was still sitting on Danielle. “Should we get him off of her?”

Nigel shrugged. “I don’t know. He looks comfortable to me.”