Somewhere in Between

By: Vela Cruze

Chapter 11:

Bob walked out of the room wiping his eyes. He sat beside his wife, "How is she?" Miriam asked.

"I don't know." Bob said shaking his head.

Dr. Reese walked over to the group, "Hello again. Helga has a good prognosis. She has 3 broken ribs. And I'm gonna start physical therapy for her to help her regain control of the muscle in her shoulder."

Miriam sighed with relief but her curiosity overtook her when she noticed Dr. Reese's grave expression. "What's wrong?"

"One of the bullets damaged some of the nerves in her lower back. The damage was minimal and I believe they will heal fully on their own; However, I'm still concerned about how this will effect her walking. Now I recommend her walking with a cane for a few months to help alleviate some pressure off of her left leg. But I also recommend that she doesn't do a lot of walking unless it is absolutely necessary."

After three days in ICU, Helga regained consciousness and within a week she was moved to another room. Arnold was a frequent visitor. "Any news on Frankie?" she asked as he came strolling into the room with a small bouquet of flowers.

"Nope. They're out looking for him though. That Detective Taylor said he won't give up until he has Frankie."

Just as Arnold finish his sentence, Detective Taylor walked into the room, "It's good to see you're awake, Helga."

"Yeah." She shifted in her bed, "But I start physical therapy today. Dr. Reese says the sooner the better. Hopefully I won't have to walk with a cane long." She said nodding toward the custom made pink cane leaning against the wall. "It's pink." Arnold said lifting it up.

"Yeah my dad had it made for me. I have some minor nerve damage in my back and it really hurts to walk without it. "

"The reason I stopped by was to ask you a few questions."

"All right shoot."

"Do you have any idea where Frankie might be?"

"Um…his mom lives on First Street. But I'm not sure he would go there. They didn't have a very good relationship. I mean I've only met her once. And she and Frankie ended up fighting."

"He's desperate. He'll turn to anyone he can. Anyone else you can think of?"

Helga tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Oh his best friend Tony C. He lives on South Street downtown. Frankie always goes there when he gets into trouble."

"All right I'll look into these places. I'll be back later tonight. Ok."

"Okay." She smiled as the detective left the room.

"So how long do you think you'll be here?" Arnold asked playing with her cane.
"I don't know. But I am going to finish up my physical therapy in South Carolina. As soon as Dr. Reese says I can travel."

"Oh so you're still gonna leave." Arnold said obviously disappointed.

Noticing this she quickly tried to explain why, "Even if they catch Frankie, there is no guarantee that he will go to jail. I think it will be better for me to just leave before he gets the chance to come after me. And he will kill me if he gets to me again. He won't make the same mistake twice."

Arnold knew she was right but still he wanted her to stay.

"Helga. Dr. Bliss is here." Dr Reese said stepping into the room with a clipboard tucked under her arm.

She walked into the room and smiled at Helga, "How are you feeling?"

"Better. My head doesn't hurt as much."

Arnold looked at the two women then realized he needed to leave, "Hey Dr. Reese you wanna go get some lunch?"

"That's a good idea. It's tapioca pudding day down in the lunchroom."

"I love tapioca pudding." They walked out of the room and their voices faded from their hearing range. Dr. Bliss turned to Helga, who was smiling.

"You seem depressed." Dr. Bliss said concerned.

"No kidding, I got shot in the back 3 times."

"Are you going to do physical therapy?"

"Yes. Dr. Reese says it will help me maintain muscle control while the nerves in my back heal. It seems Frankie always manages to take away everything that's good in my life."

"How's that?"

"First my freedom, then my dignity, my family, friends, my baby, my life…"

"What did you say?"

"My life?"

"No…no before that."

"My friends?"

"You said baby."

"No I didn't."

"I can't help you if you don't talk to me."

Sighing Helga began, "A few months ago I found out I was pregnant. When I told Frankie, he said he didn't want it. When I refused to have an abortion, he beat me with a golf club and I lost the baby." Helga closed her eyes and lay on her side, "I've never told anyone about it. It hurts me whenever I think about it."

"Helga…"

"It doesn't matter. It's in the past and there's nothing anyone can do to change it."

Dr. Bliss frowned; Helga was shutting her out again, "I hear you're moving to South Carolina."

"Oh yeah, to live with my sister."

"So you and Olga are getting along?"

"Well not exactly but it's better than being here and getting shot at by Frankie. And I guess we could learn to like each other."

"In that case here…" Dr. Bliss scribbled on a notepad a name and number, "This is a colleague of mine down there. If you still feel the need to talk to someone, then call her. Okay?"

"Okay."

There was a gentle knock on the door and Eva walked in carrying a small bouquet of flowers, "Hey roomie." She said setting the flowers on the nightstand.

"Eva…Oh Eva this is Dr. Bliss, Dr. Bliss this is Eva. What are you doing here?"

"I just came to say goodbye."

"Goodbye?"

"Yeah, I got an apartment. Out of state so I'll be leaving… in a few hours as a matter of fact. I uh heard what happened on the news and I just wanted to make sure you're okay before I left."

"I'll be okay. I'm leaving too."

"Taking my advice huh?"

"Yeah."

Eva glanced at a clock, "Well I better get going. My bus will be leaving soon." She gave Helga a gentle hug, "You take care of yourself, little lady."

"You too Eva. Be careful."

"I'll be all right until he shows up. Then it's back to a shelter."

"Let's hope not."

Eva smiled, "I gotta go. It was nice meeting you." She said waving to Dr. Bliss, "Goodbye Helga."

"Goodbye."

Eva nodded then walked out of the room.

"She's a really good friend. I hope she'll be all right."