Another old story. Hope you like it!

Stay Still

by Helen W.

Which way?

Listening... past my heart beat... past Blair's footsteps behind me...

A scuff of impact, thuds onto metal then hard ground, a curse - this way!

That must be the wall I heard him jump over. There's a tree on the other side - must be someone's back yard. Five foot drop, from Jerald's sound on landing.

Over...

Dropping too far!

Feet hit first, too hard. Can't control... trying to roll with it... taking the impact on my side...

Pain hurts hurts pain pain hurts...

Jerald will shoot anyone who gets in his way. Got to stop him pain hurts hurts...

Got to get up - aghh!

"Jim!"

Too loud too loud hurts hurts...

Thud onto metal, thud next to me.

"Man, are you all right? Oh man, Jim. You've got to stay still, okay? I'm calling this in."

Hurts got to get up hurts...

"Officer down. We're a block off Maple, but you can't get to where we are from Maple. There's a wall and a drop and he must have missed the dumpster and fallen all the way to the ground." A pause. "He's Lt. Jim Ellison! We were after Scott Jerald and Jim fell and you've got to get someone here quickly. Okay, let me check... Jim, can you move?" Then, into the phone, "Are you sure I should be trying to get him to move?"

Rolling, pushing - agh! Hurts tasting bile...

"No, Jim, stay still!"

A hand on my shoulder, pressing a little. "Jim, you've got a stick stabbing into you right side above your hip. That's what's hurting so much. It's bleeding, but not too bad. If you get up right now, it's going to gush. And it might do more damage coming out than going in. Do you understand?"

He's pitched his voice low. It's lost the panic of his 911 call.

"You also might have hurt your back. So you've got to stay exactly like this, okay?"

"Jerald..."

"Is someone else's responsibility now."

Hands lifting my head, just a little. Fingers brush dirt from my face, then release me and now I'm lying on Sandburg's denim jacket. Yes, that's better.

"I'm going to run really quickly out to the street so that I can tell them where we are, okay? I can't see anything useful from here."

Running steps. "We're in a yard behind Maurice's Pizza and a two-family," Blair says into the phone. "Off Broadway. The address on the house is 144-146. There's a driveway and a loading area, and we're on a patch of dirt next to the restaurant's dumpster. Jim's got a stick stabbing his side. Yes, we're leaving it in place."

A shot!

Blair's footsteps thud back toward me, faster.

"I need your gun, Jim!"

"I can..." I say.

"No, stay still! There's a couple of squad cars at the light, and Jerald's trying to fight his way through. We're safe for now, but he might come back so I have to be able to defend us."

"That's my job!"

"Not right now!"

Must get up protect... pain...

And, more than pain, Blair's hand on my shoulder.

He hasn't asked where it hurts. I guess that's obvious.

"Jim, I want you to turn down touch, just a little, okay?"

Did that already automatically... doesn't help a lot.

If only I could see the opening of the ally, I'd feel better. All I can see is a spaghetti tangle of oak branches. Should have known the drop was more than a few feet from the look of the tree's canopy.

Should be going after Jerald...

"No, no, Jim, you've got to STAY PUT. I know you want to go after him. I know you NEED to go after him. But right now, you've got to stay where you are. PLEASE. You've got to trust me. I've got your gun. I can protect us. You've got to trust me that I WILL protect us. Okay?"

But you won't shoot to kill. You can't shoot to kill. You shouldn't shoot to kill. Even now.

I say, "Ughgh."

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Blair asks.

I shake my head a little. Blair keeps a hand on my shoulder. Again the need to get up swells, again Blair says "Stay still. Just stay still."

Suddenly, Blair tenses. Aims? "Find another alley." It's a command.

"Wha...?" I ask when Blair crouches back beside me.

"Jerald's bolted. But he's past us now. We're okay." A harsh, short laugh. "Relatively speaking."

I nod a little, and things start to fade a little.

"Jim!"

"You're out of surgery. You're going to be fine."

My mouth tastes like cotton. My side hurts like hell. But... yes, I can wiggle my toes.

I'm in a hospital bed and Blair's got a cup of water at the ready. Holds it for me while a drink, then sets it aside.

"What happened?" I ask.

"What do you remember?"

"Jerald came back and you told him to move on."

"Then you remember most of it. You passes out from shock from the pain and loss of blood, but Ted and Theo got to you 20 seconds later and got you here 10 minutes after that?"

"The stick?"

"That's what the surgery was for. They said it's a good thing we didn't try to remove it."

I nod.

"My back?"

"You're going to be hurting for a few days, but everything's fine."

"Jerald?"

"We got 'em."

A pause...

"Thanks for listening to me, Jim."

I nod again, and sink back against my pillow. "'s hard," I say.

"Yeah, I know."

THE END

All feedback welcomed, negative particularly, here or to helenw at murphnet dot org.