by
Louise Dragon
“Doctor, I’m Detective Hans Steiger from the Waterville Police Department, can you tell me what happened to this girl?”
Lyle rubbed his weary eyes and tried to focus on the barely stabilized, battered body of Jane Doe.
“Hard to say. Raped, definitely. Either she was beaten too, or the wild animals got to her from the looks of those bites and scratches.” Lyle told the muscular young officer. “You did say she was found in the woods?”
“About five hundred feet south of Coca-Cola ledge,” Detective Steiger stated, chomping gum and flipping through a small notebook. Bunch of kids found her, swore she was dead. We got the call on a body in the woods at 9:20 and I went right out there. Thought she was dead myself, the poor little thing. Will she pull through?”
“It’s possible,” Lyle said. “She’s in a coma from shock and exposure. Although most of her wounds are lacerations and skin tears, she’s been brutally traumatized. We never know just how much cataclysm the human brain can withstand. It’s wait and watch now. Have you identified her yet?”
“The information went out on the eleven o’clock news,” The detective said around a wad of gum the size of a golf ball. “I expect to have her tagged by morning—if she makes it, that is.”
“Well, if you’ll excuse me, Detective Steiger, it’s been a long, rough night. I’ll try to keep the department posted on any changes in her condition.”
“Damn straight,” Steiger spat, following Lyle into the hall surrounded by a little cloud of spearmint. “I got a little sister about that age. I’d like to get my hands on the ape that did this. Right now, this little girl is the only one who can point a finger at him. If she should come to, just call the station and ask for me. You got it Doc? I want to be the first person that little girl talks to.”
Lyle watched the red-faced detective stride into the elevator and punch the button. Slowly, the young doctor shuffled back to the bedside of Jane Doe. What’s so special about this one, he asked himself? Since she was about the tenth beaten and clawed Jane Doe brought in, in as many months, Lyle wondered at the sudden concern of the police department. Checking her vital signs one more time and finding no changes, Lyle headed for the resident intern quarters to grab a power nap before the next emergency.
Continued . . .
Link to Part One (Such a Fine Son)
1 comment:
Nice second chapter. I have a feeling though that it's just the calm before the storm...
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