Finally one of the officers managed to broke the window and a small shaking person, hiding under one oft he seats came to light.
Rhodes didn't hesitate. He pulled her in a hug, fastly, hiding his crying eyes, while he inhaled the soft scent of her shampoo. She was there. She was alive. They didn't hit her. Just some scratches and a grazing shot showed what just happened minutes ago.
"Excuse me, are you Mr. Rhodes? The guy who called 911?" The foreign voice of a cop disturbed the scene.
"He's a doctor", he heard his daughter saying but it sounded, like it was miles away.
"Help is on the way", one of the officers informed his colleagues, uncertain who needed it the most…
CMDCMDCMDCMD
"Sure you're okay? You're hands are trembling", the medic told Connor, who got the second pair of needle and suture at the ambulance after the first one was fallen to the ground .
"I want to get stitched by my Dad", Amy admitted, getting a nod from Rhodes.
"We're fine."
One of the medics reached into his pocket.
"Good, so here is a card from the next hospital. If you feel any need at all, you can drive there. It's about 20 miles from here and it's not far from Lakeville."
"Thank you", Connor whispered quietly, said good bye to the team, when they walked out oft he ambo, getting back to their car.
Still a little bit messed up he took a seat on the bonnet, touched Amys wound with his cloves.
"Be honest: You had a deal with Dr. Charles to make the trip a little bit varied." She smirked.
Connor gave her one of the most angry looks.
"Another word and you're gonna walk to our cabin, young lady. On foot."
"Come on, Dad. I'm alive". She told him, when he finally managed to get the needle through her wound.
"Ouch. That hurts."
Rhodes finished the second stitch fastly.
"Yeah, but it was like this close. They could have killed you." He indicated with his thumb and index finger.
"Waite, I wasn't the one who was leaving his own daughter to treat strangers. You walked out oft he car to play superman, leaving me in a war zone. Same as you did when you flew to Ryjahd. It's not the first time and…"
Amy stopped when she recognized the look in her fathers face. Connors lips trembled. Within minutes he turned around. Thats when she noticed that her words hit him harder than she expected.
"Dad?"
He didn't respond just walked away from the damaged car.
„Come on, Iwas joking. I know that you wanted to help. Would you please come back, so we can continue our ride?"
He shook his head no.
"Get back in the car", he sniffled and repeated his words, when she didn't move.
"I said, get back in the car", he screamed a little bit louder. Even if she knew him for over 14 years, she didn't remember a single situation where she caught him crying.
Quietly she did what he told her and watched him from the backseat.
Seeing him kneeling down, rubbing his eyes and face with a tissue made her shiver. Knowing that he was crying because of her, created a lumb in her throat. Finally she didn't suspect, that he suffered more, than she thought he would…
CMDCMDCMDCMD
The rest of the drive became a silent time.
Amy pretended to listen to her ipod, even if she couldn't because of empty batteries.
"Can you tell me something?", she finally interrupted the silence, when he turned off, cause they were getting close tot he cabin. Connor looked up at the mirror, nodded in confirmation.
"What about my dreams? I mean, what was that? Am I becoming a psycho? Explain it to me."
"I'm not Dr. Charles."
"So this means yes? I am a psychopath."
"That's not what I'm saying. It's not my special field."
„And that's it?"
Rhodes mouned, looked at the broken window on the passengers side, then glanced at the driving mirror.
"As doctors we call it aftermath effects of an posttraumatic event. That includes mortal agony and producing fears into other areas of life."
"Like waking up, thinking you have to die on cancer soon?"
"Most likely. Yeah."
"Did you have that too, after your mom died?"
Rhodes didn't answer and kept driving.
"Let's not talk about that right now, okay?"
Amy kept silent, pretended like she stared outside the window.
"How is your wound?"
"Hurts here and then."
"You should cool it, as soon as we reach the cabin."
Luckily it just needed another 10 minutes until they arrived in the woods. Dr. Charles didn't overact. It was a beautiful log Cabin offering everything you could expect if you want to take some days off.
Connor looked around, totally impressed by the furniture.
"Wow, look at that. It even has a fireplace", he told Amy, who explored the neighborhood rooms.
"And two bedrooms and a bookshelf full of adventures. Dr. Charles has a good taste. By the way: How long are you planning to stay here?"
Connor opened the refrigerator, handled a cold pack to his daughter.
"Let's see. Probably three days, maybe more."
"Was it his idea or yours?"
Rhodes looked at her, uncertain what she talked about.
"The trip. Come on, Dad. He's not giving you the keys for fun. Did you owe him something?"
"Will you ever stop being that curious?"
"I'm your child. What else did you expect?"