THREE HOURS LATER
SAINT FRANCIS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
SAN FRANCISCO
Miranda ran through the hospital doors as fast as was physically possible for her. She barely gave the glass doors in front of her time to slide open all the way as she flew through them. As Miranda made her way to the front desk she was so pissed off and worried about her friend that she didn't even care that there was a man in line ahead of here. She just breezed right past him and pushed her way to the front desk.
"HEY!" the man yelled in anger which quickly turned to fear when Miranda spun on him giving him her cross examination glare.The same glare that was quickly making her a famous name in the court rooms of San Francisco. "Uhh never mind ma'am you can go ahead of me!" the man quickly shot out. "I'm in no hurry."
"Thank you" Miranda said to the man softly and given him a small smile before turning to the woman at the desk.
"Can I help you Ma'am?" the receptionist asked as she looked into the darkest and the most angriest looking pair of eyes that she had ever seen in her life.
"Yes, you can!" snapped Miranda wasting no time on pleasantries "You can tell me where Lizzie Tyler is?!"
"Oh let me see if I can find that for you?" the receptionist said as she looked up at her computer and quickly let her fingers run across the keyboard in front of her "Uh Lizzie that is with two Z right?"
"YES!" Miranda yelled in frustration "Lizzie L-I-Z-Z-I-E Tyler!"
"Ok here we go ma'am." the receptionist quickly spit out "Mrs. Tyler is in exam room fourteen."
"And just where the hell is that?!" asked Miranda looking around trying to find a sign or marker or something that would point her in the right direction to go.
"Uh it's right down that hall on the left" the receptionist pointing to Miranda right "It's through those doors there and it's the third door on the left."
"Thank you" said Miranda as she turned on her heels and started in the direction pointed out by the receptionist.
"Ma'am!" the receptionist stood up at the counter and yelled at Miranda "Only patients and medical staff are allowed back there! You just can't go back there!"
"Just sit down,shut up and watch me!" yelled Miranda as the doors slid open for her and she practically stormed down the hallway her head moving around looking for room fourteen.
After finding the room Miranda would have went right in if it wasn't for the fact of the very large policeman standing there next to the door.
"Excuse me ma'am, but can I help you with something?" the policeman asked her as he suddenly stepped in between her and the door blocking her path into the room.
"Yeah you can start by getting the hell out of my way." said Miranda looking up at the policeman not backing down an inch from the large man.
"I'm sorry ma'am but I'm afraid I can't let you in there....." the policeman started to say.
"Look Columbo!" the fuming Miranda spat out at the cop "You people call me at home to tell me that my best friend is here in this hospital hurt! You than ask me to come down here to help her and now you won't let me in the room to see her! What the hell is going on?"
"Oh are you Miss Miranda Sanchez?" the cop asked her.
"Yeah, I been her my whole life!" said Miranda still glaring at the cop"NOW can I go in there and see my friend?!"
"I'm sorry ma'am but I'm afraid that she's still in there with the doctor right now." said the policeman this time a little more understanding "But while we wait for her to get through, I do need for you to answer a few questions for us. That is if you don't mind?"
"Alright go ahead." nodded Miranda as she backed up some from the policeman.
"We found Mrs. Tyler wondering down the middle of Park Street just walking around in the freezing rain." said the policeman looking down at his notepad "She appeared to be very confused and disoriented. She also appeared to have been badly beating and suffering from shock."
"Oh you can bet your ass she was beating and I know who it was who did it to her too!" said Miranda her anger now seething to unseen scary proportion.
"And just who might that be, Ms Sanchez?" the policeman asked hoping to calm the woman in front of him down,but with no such luck.
"Kevin Tyler! That sorry ass no account husband of hers!" yelled Miranda.
"Miss Sanchez do you happen to know where we might find Mr. Tyler?" the policeman asked as he was writing the information down in the notepad he had.
"You can try their home at one forty-six Rosewood Avenue." said Miranda thinking "But your more than likely to find the bastard at that new sports bar called The Endzone. You know the one down on Second Street."
"Ok thank you for all your help Miss. Sanchez.But I do need to ask you one last thing" said the policeman "Mrs. Tyler didn't seem to have any identification on her when we found her and brought her in. The only thing she had on her was your law offices business card. Why is that you think?"
"Why didn't she have any ID on her? My guess would be that she had to get out of her house fast in order to save her life."said Miranda"And for the other part of your question I gave Lizzie my card after I started to suspect her husband was beating on her.I've been trying to get her to talk about it or maybe come in to my office and file for a divorce.But she was to scared of the bastard to do either one ot those things."
"Well, it seems that you might be right about that, Miss Sanchez." said the policeman nodding his head "Because how we found out who Mrs. Tyler was, when one of the nurses here recognized her from being in here before with many suspicious injuries."
But the discussion went no further when right at that moment the doctor came out of the examine room interrupting the policeman and Miranda.
"How is she doctor?" asked Miranda anxious for any information she could get about her friend.
"Well, I'm afraid that Mrs. Tyler....." the doctor started to say but was interrupted by Miranda.
"Lizzie call her Lizzie doctor." said Miranda "Because in just a short while I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure she doesn't have that last name anymore!"
"Yes, sorry." said the doctor apologetically "First off we had to treat Lizzie for a mild case of hypothermia brought on by her walking around outside in the cold rain. Also it appears that she has been beat on pretty badly by someone. And judging by the freshness of the wounds I'd say it happened just recently." The doctor pulled out some paperwork from the folder she was carrying and skimmed over it "All the test from the rape kit haven't come back yet but I don't think she was raped."
"How can you be so sure doctor?" the policeman asked in confusion.
"Because I'm afraid that all the signs here are starting to point to this being a classic case her being a battered wife." said the doctor who than motioned for Miranda and the policeman to follow her "Come with me let me show you something."
The doctor lead them into a room where she put some X-ray sheets up on the wall and turned on the light behind them to illuminate them.
"This is one of Lizzie old x-ray from the last time she was in here." said the doctor "I'm ashamed to say that no one caught this the last time she was here."
"What are you talking about doctor?" asked the policeman.
"Do you see this line here that goes all the way through her ulna bone?" the doctor asked them as she pointed to the x-ray that showed Lizzie left arm. After seeing the nod from the policeman and Miranda the doctor continued "This large amount of scar tissue on the bone can only be caused by repeated breaks of the same bone in the same area. And from the looks of it this bone has been broke a few times by someone putting a lot of pressure on her forearm."
"Like someone twisting her forearm behind her back?" Miranda asked the doctor.
"Yes, I"m afraid so." the doctor said nodding her head.
"So it's your conclusion doctor that this was done by her husband?" the policeman asked.
"Well, since she's not talking to us right now and since there is no why for me to tell that from just the x-rays alone" said the doctor shrugging her shoulders "I can't tell you with one hundred percent accuracy it was her husband that did this to her. But Lizzie does have a very noticeable hand shaped bruise going around her neck. If you can get me a copy of her husband left hand I could possible try to see if it matches."
"I'll get right on that doc." said the policeman heading for the phone behind the nearby counter "Right after we pick him up from the APB I'm about to put out on him."
After watching the policeman start to make his call the doctor turned to Miranda "There is one more thing about your friend you should know about. You heard me mention that your friend Lizzie wasn't talking to us right?"
Miranda nodded her head yes.
"It seems that the attack has caused Lizzie to have had somewhat of a small nervous breakdown. She allowed us to exam her without to much difficultly. But when we tried to get her to talk about what happened all she would do is wrap her arms around herself and say the same three words over and over again. It was the same three words she told the police when they found her."
"What were the words?" asked Miranda puzzled.
"She kept saying, I want Gordo, over and over again." said the doctor "Do you know what she means by that?"
"Yes, I do doctor. It's someone she hasn't seen in a long time. Someone she hurt many years ago and has lost contact with over these last few years." sighed Miranda rubbing her aching forehead "Don't worry doctor I'll take care of it for her. Can I see her now?"
"No, I'm sorry." said the doctor shaking her head "We had to sedate her to help calm her down so she could get some rest. She'll be out for a few more hours now. But when she comes to I'll have them come and get you and take you to her." the doctor told Miranda as she started to go about making her rounds.
As the doctor was leaving Miranda thanked her for everything she had done for Lizzie.
I may not have been able to help you from getting hurt Lizzie but I'll help you get what it is your heart wants, thought Miranda as she pulled out her cell phone,hit Gordo number on her speed dial and as it begin to ring prayed that he would answer the phone in a good mood and with a forgiving heart.