External Repercussions
By: CNJ
PG-13
Kathleen:
I don't know how long my husband Raymond and I sat on the bed, not saying anything after Ray killed Dennis Peck, his co-worker on the police force, but it could have been an hour or so.
"Ray, what are you going to tell them?" I whispered, my body still tingling from Dennis' touches. I looked back at Dennis' dead body. His blue-gray eyes stare back blankly, a look of death.
"Nothing…" Raymond stood up and with his shirttail, wiped off his gun and put it into his pocket. "The bastard got what he deserved."
"Raymond…" I gasped. "They'd catch up sooner or later once they see Dennis is shot…and what is this about Wallace…what happened between her and Peck?"
"Bastard shot her," Ray told me tersely as we headed downstairs.
"Oh…God!" I screamed. "Is she…?"
"She's not dead yet, but the doctors say she's lost a lot of blood."
"Poor thing…" I muttered. Amy Wallace is Raymond's partner. I met her about a week ago. Very polite, very sweet. She's small, has rather large brown eyes and shoulder-length dark hair. I admit I was a bit jealous at first and when my husband and Amy were working a lot of overtime investigating Dennis Peck, who was behind a killing spree of other cops, I'd fumed and Raymond and I had gotten into a huge fight. Amy had called then about some matter with the Peck case and I'm embarrassed to say that she heard everything.
But amazingly, when I met her, she acted as if nothing had happened and she hadn't heard a thing between Raymond and me and greeted me very graciously with a warm smile. I had nothing to be concerned about anyway, because Amy Wallace is gay and even if she weren't, I doubt she'd be the type of woman to carry on an affair with a married man. It shocked me that now she was hurt and in the hospital.
"So what are we going to tell the rest of the police when they find Peck's body here?" I asked Raymond.
"I'll think of something," Raymond said without expression as he poured himself a brandy. "With luck and your help, they won't have to find anything here."
"Surely, you're not going to hide his body in a closet, mop up all that blood, then later throw the body into the ocean or something!" I exclaimed. "I certainly will not help you do any of that!"
"Great, then you'd rather see my ass in jail!" Raymond sniped back, his green eyes flaring.
"No…but I bet if we get a good lawyer, the lawyer could build a case for your defense…"
"Juuust great, just great," Raymond slammed the empty glass down and cracked it. "Me turn myself in, then hope to God that the jury sees it as self-defense and lets me off…even if I'm acquitted, this could put a black mark on my record, possibly fuck up my career and get me in the shithouse with Grieb!"
"My God, then you're sinking to Peck's level if you're just thinking about how you can just get away with killing another person," I said flatly. "Just what will Wallace think when she comes around, uhhh? Not to mention Grieb, Penny Stretch, and all the other families of the officers Peck murdered?"
"I've heard enough of your defending that scum lover of yours!" Raymond bellowed, throwing the glass across the room, where it bounced off a picture, cracking the frame, then shattered when it fell to the floor.
"I'm out of here…" I muttered, racing out the door, leaving Raymond to continue his drama alone.
Raymond:
I did get around to calling the rest of the police and told them that I'd heard a fight upstairs and that I'd come in to find Peck dead.
"But apparently whoever did this escaped," I told Chief Healy. I was just not about to turn myself in. It would just undo everything I had done to expose the corruption in the LA Internal Affairs division. I just hoped Kathleen would have the sense not to openly contradict my story.
I headed back upstairs to the bedroom, stepped over the scum of Dennis Peck's body, and using gloves, pushed open the window that led out to the balcony. Fortunately, the second floor of this house is low enough for somebody to drop down to the ground, so no one would question my story that the "person" escaped uninjured by jumping down from this balcony.
On a quick inspiration, I kicked a potted plant over to give the appearance of a hasty departure and watched absently as the dirt spilled out over the concrete, then pushed over a wicker chair to give the appearance of someone who bumped into the furniture as he made his hasty getaway. That done, I went inside, leaving the window ajar, stepped over the Peck slime's body once more, then headed downstairs to wait.
They came twenty minutes later and asked the standard questions and looked around. The coroner came and took Peck's body away. I let out my breath in relief when they didn't seem to suspect anything of me, especially when I led them upstairs and they saw the fixed balcony with the overturned plant and askew chair.
It was almost noon, so I decided to call the hospital to see if Amy had pulled through. The receptionist told me that her condition had stabilized, but was still serious and she was still unconscious. She also told me that her family had arrived.
"Her family…?" I gasped. I never really thought about what family she might have; I'd just known her for a few weeks.
"Her mother and sisters are here and are with her now," the receptionist informed me. "Is there any message you'd like to pass on to them?"
"Tell them…I hope Amy pulls through…" I told her. "I'm her partner on the police force. When can I visit?"
"I'm sorry, but for now, it's restricted to family and listed friends only," the receptionist told me.
"Shhhit…" I muttered. I paused a minute and the receptionist asked if there was anything else she could help with. "No…thanks anyway."
"You're welcome…" the receptionist stated and we hung up. I let out my breath in relief that Amy was still alive. But she was still not out of the woods yet. Amy…Amy Wallace…funny, sharp, petite, a lesbian. She'd been so, so alive until yesterday as my partner.
We'd both known Dennis Peck was involved in real estate corruption and killing of fellow officers, but had to come up with proof. Dennis also fooled around with an assortment of women, including MY wife.
I closed my eyes briefly as I recalled yesterday. Amy and I questioning Dennis' wife and her not knowing much of anything…investigating the beach house, then the gunshot and finding Amy crumpled on the ground, her sunglasses scattered in a heap beside her, her normally olive face contorted and white with pain, blood seeping out of her torso.
The ambulance ride to the hospital with her struggling to hang on and her asked me to hold her hand. The rush into the hospital and the doctors rushing her into intensive care. My rage building up and me rushing home to find my wife in bed with that bastard Peck. Peck's arrogant grin and snide remarks about his victims. His taunting me and calling me a selfish yuppie of all things.
The IA department had been taking its dear time about investigating Peck, so I guess seeing him in bed with my wife…I just had to take matters into my own hands this time. Some might say I shouldn't have killed Peck, but I did what I had to do.
Enid Wallace:
It was so unbelievable that my lovely, wonderful daughter lay in the hospital so seriously wounded. I'd toyed with the idea of calling a rabbi here just in case, but the idea was just too frightening, so I put it off. I just gazed down at her in disbelief as Dr. Miner described Amy's condition.
"…We've been able to remove the bullet from her torso, but there is considerable damage there. In addition, since she's lost a lot of blood in her lower body, the nerves there are most likely severely damaged, which could lead to motion impairment."
"Paralysis…" I whispered.
"I'm afraid so…" Dr. Miner told me and peered sympathetically at me and my other three daughters, Jade, Nora, and Marcie. Marcie was wiping tears from her eyes and she gazed at her sister.
Amy lay inert with three wires coming out of her arm, a bulky area under the blanket on her torso area and another wire coming out of her middle. A heart monitor attached to her chest measured her heartbeat, which came steadily, but very slowly…too slowly for my comfort. It was so heartbreaking seeing my normally energetic third daughter lying there pale and still.
"Oh, Mom, if she c-can't walk…" Marcie leaned on me and really began to weep. I stroked her dark curly hair as I listened to Dr. Miner tell us that there was a chance that the paralysis might not be permanent, but that Amy would need extensive therapy to regain her mobility.
"We can hope she can regain about sixty to seventy percent of her mobility back," Dr. Miner told us. "Would you like me to contact her regular physician, so she can have a look at Amy and recommend a therapist and neurologist who can best help?"
"Yes…" I nodded. "Thank you." Dr. Miner briefly touched my hand, then left.
"Mom…what on earth is she going to do if she's crippled?" Nora whispered. "What's going to happen to her career?"
"They have desk jobs if it's a permanent injury," Jade put in. She's the oldest of the girls. Nora is next, Amy is third and Marcie's my youngest.
Marcie wiped her eyes and went over to Amy's bed and took hold of her hand. "Oh, Amy, please, please, come back…"she whimpered, fresh tears spilling down her face. Nora sniffed and stroked Amy's straight dark hair.
"Please pull through," Nora added. "My husband and all three kids are rooting for you…I wish we all could have flown from Nebraska…"
"You can do it, sis…" Jade added, stroking Amy's arm even over the tubes. "You're a fighter." She leaned over, gently pushed Amy's bangs up and kissed her forehead. I also leaned down and kissed my daughter, then we went to get something to eat.
It was hard because none of us were hungry. We wound up bringing tea and coffee back to the room. We sat until the early evening. It was Marcie who first noticed the faint quiver of Amy's eyelids moving.
"Mom…" she told me and pointed. We watched. "I think she's coming around…" The heartbeat monitor picked up pace some…still slow, but it sounded a bit better. We watched for what seemed like a century. Amy's head then turned and her lips moved softly as if she were trying to speak.
"Amy…darling, wake up, honey…" I reached out and held her hand. Amy moved her head again and frowned a little as if she were concentrating hard on some task. "That's right, dear, concentrate…come back…you have people here who want you back…darling, keep coming…wake up…come back…"
My daughters joined in and we softly begged for Amy's return to this life. Nooon w'rry, M', I'll ssee youuu…it sounded like she was trying to say. Her lips moved again, trying to speak. Y'll cammme…she mimed.
"Yes, we're here," Jade told her. Amy twitched all over and struggled to speak again. Yyyy…I…"…eeeeere…youuu…" Amy's voice finally broke though and she squirmed again. "I c'n heeear youuu…"
"YESSSS!" All four of us whooped. "You can hear us!"
"Because we're all here," Nora put in. She held Amy's hand. "And you're here also…time to wake up, dear." Sure enough, Amy's brown eyes groggily opened and she gazed at us intently. She'd come back and I knew that she was going to pull through.
Amy:
Everything was a dreamy blur. I gazed up at my three sisters and mom, not quite understanding where I was or what had happened. A gray-haired guy was leaning over me and it took me a minute to realized that he was a doctor and he was checking things like my blood pressure and heartbeat.
"You're in the hospital, sweetheart," Mom whispered.
"Wh-what…" I had to struggle to find words, my mind was so soupy and my tongue felt thick. "…appened t' me…"
"You were shot on duty yesterday afternoon," Marcie told me, holding my hand as the doctor smiled at me, finished his checking and retreated into the blur. "Do you remember what happened?"
I tried to remember but couldn't. The only thing I could think of was my partner and I looking over a large beach house…but that's all I could remember. I don't remember being shot or who did it or what.
Raymond, my partner…oh, dear…was he all right? I tried to remember where he'd been or whether I'd seen him or anything happen to him, but my mind was foggy and whatever memories I had of the beach house and of yesterday at all faded in and out and melded together like caramel over a hot stove.
"Go ahead and rest now, darling," Mom whispered. I felt something removed from my chest and vaguely wondered what it was. It felt good feeling Mom's warm hand holding mine. I couldn't feel my lower body, however. I pondered that for a while as my sisters talked to me, then let it slip my mind. Later, I'd regain the feeling in the rest of my body as I became less groggy. I'd also find out if Raymond and the others in the LAPD were all right.
More later!