Page 64 of Summer Ride

They stepped outside just as streaks of sunlight filled the sky.

Somehow, she’d lost track of time. As they rode in the backseat of the cruiser, the cop chatted with Carter. She was too numb, too tired, to really listen.

When they got back to the house, there was still another cop car parked in the driveway.

“We’ll need to take your official statements,” the cop said, letting them out of the back of the car.

“Fine, but I’m going to let Kara shower and change first,” he said, helping her up the stairs.

When she stepped into the house, it was as if the bright cheerful atmosphere broke her from the trance. Her legs crumbled, and Carter had to practically carry her into the bedroom.

She sat on the edge of the bed and held onto him as everything that had just happened to them replayed in her head.

“Come on.” He took her hand and led her into the bathroom. “Let’s shower off and change. They can wait a few minutes for our statements.”

He wrapped her newly casted wrist in a trash bag for her. The moment she stepped under the hot spray of water, tears stung her eyes. Carter gently washed her clean as she stood still, letting her tears mix with the clean water.

“I’m going to rebandage these when we get out,” Carter said, removing the massive gauze the ER nurse had wrapped her cuts in. “She put butterfly Band-Aids on them, which should be good enough for now,” he said after he looked at her cuts.

She nodded. “How’s your head?” She reached up with shaky fingers and touched his temple.

“Hurts, but at least now there’s only one of you instead of a dozen,” he joked.

Then he pulled her into his arms and held her tight.

“My god. I don’t know what to say,” he said.

She felt his chest jerk and realized he was crying. She had never seen him cry. She kept holding on to him.

“Shh,” she said, trying to soothe him. “It’s okay. You did what you had to do.”

He laughed and pulled back. His eyes were red as he looked down at her.

“I don’t give a shit that I killed that SOB. What I care about is that he hurt you.” He lifted her casted arm. “That I allowed him to touch you again. I made you a promise…” He dropped off as they both heard a loud knock on the bedroom door. He shook his head, turned off the water, and handed her a towel. “Take your time. I’ll head out and talk to them first.” He pulled on a pair of gym shorts and a T-shirt and left her alone in the bathroom.

She stood there, wrapped in a large towel, looking at herself in the mirror.

There were bruises already forming on both of her cheeks. She had several smaller cuts on her arms, but the two that crossed both of them were the largest. Then there was the cheerful yellow cast.

She didn’t know why she’d picked yellow. She’d never had a favorite color. Flower, yes, but color, no.

Carter was right, the Band-Aids the nurse had put on the larger cuts were holding her skin together just fine.

It took her a couple tries to pull on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt, and she was a little breathless by the time she was finished. She brushed through her hair with her left hand, dropping her hairbrush several times.

She wrapped one of Carter’s hoodies around her shoulders and then stepped out of the room. Carter sat at the bar talking quietly with the three officers, including the female officer that had helped her earlier.

“How are you feeling, hun?” the female officer asked her. “Better?”

Kara nodded and sat next to Carter.

“I’m fine,” she said, but then she told Carter, “Some orange juice might be nice.”

Carter jumped up and got her a glass before sitting back down next to her.

“Carter has pretty much answered all our questions and covered everything we needed. We just wanted to assure you that we all believe he was acting in self-defense. We do, however, need to make sure your story aligns with his.”

She nodded and took another sip of the juice. The sugar helped her get through the dozen or more questions they asked her about the previous night.