Chapter 5
An Apology
One month later:
Johnny pulled into the parking to his apartment building, it had been a long night, there had been 4 runs for him and Roy and though they were easy runs they had prevented him from getting the sleep he needed and now all he wanted to do was to get in bed and go to sleep. He climbed out of his truck and slowly went up the stairs. As he was ready to reach for his doorknob the door to Elizabeth's apartment opened and she stepped out. "John, can I have a minute of your time?"
Johnny first thoughts were, "Not now I don't have the energy to deal with you right now." But being a kind person, he leaned up against his door and nodded his head.
"First I want to apologize to you for what I did and to answer the question you asked me in the hospital." She paused to consider what Johnny's reaction would be at this point. But all she could discern was a tired man. "You wanted to know why I brought you the lasagna. I did it to thank you for preventing that man from raping me." She paused and Johnny looked at the woman to see if that was all she had to say. As he looked at her he saw tears running down her face. Elizabeth took a deep breath and continued. "Since my Fathers death 14 years ago," she took another shuddering breath. "Well, no one has ever stepped in to protect me, and I needed to thank you for it."
Johnny could see that she was sincere in her efforts to explain but that didn't make up for her trying to kill herself right in front of him. He nodded to her in acknowledgement and turned to unlock his door.
"I didn't indent to stay." She blurted out. Johnny turned to look at her again and she quickly continued to explain. "It was my plan to give you the lasagna and then return to my apartment. But when you insisted on shearing it with me," a slight smile came to her face and the way you were running back and forth into your apartment to get the dishes . . . well I couldn't leave. I told myself that I could stay for a few minutes and …. Well …. You know the rest."
Johnny looked at the woman and smiled, "Thank you for telling me that Zib." He turned to the door and finished unlocking it but before stepping in he asked. "How are you doing? Are you … well feeling better?
Elizabeth looked away for a moment and then quietly answered, "Yes, thank you for asking." Then both of them stepped back into there apartment.
Two weeks later there was a terrible thunder and rain storm. The lights were flashing all around as the wind whipped the torrents of rain around. Elizabeth stood inside the building watching the rain fall in hopes it would let up. She had lost the job that had brought her to California but she had gotten this new job working in the mail room sorting mail and delivering it to the rest of the building. She liked this job because she was often alone and didn't have to interact with other people. Though that made for a lonely life in her mind she told herself that it also made life safer and even somewhat predictable.
Twenty minutes passed but the rain showed no sign's of letting up so she finally decided to make a run for her car. By the time she had reached her car she was soaking wet. She pulled her keys out and worked to unlock the door. However in her hast to get inside her foot slipped and she banged her knee on the bottom of the door way of the car. Pain shot up her leg as she grabbed the door to steady herself. Finally the initial shock of the pain passed and she climbed into the car and shut the door. She leaned back against the seat telling herself, "Way to go Elizabeth." After resting a bit she started the car and slowly made her way home.
Johnny was watching the storm out of his window when he saw Elizabeth's car pull in. He turned his eyes back to the skyline for a moment then he looked down and saw Elizabeth limping her way from the parking lot to the stairwell, and then she moved out of his line of view. Johnny considered weather or not he should go and help the woman. All she had brought from the day she moved in was sorrow and he wasn't too eager to bring that on his self again. So he turned his eyes back to the sky and the light show it was putting on. A while later Johnny realized that Elizabeth had not reappeared. Johnny eyes scanned the foot of the stairs to see if he could see her but there was no sign of the woman. He opened his door and looked down the walk way and still couldn't see her. He stepped back into his apartment and grabbed his rain poncho and headed for the stairwell. As he round the corner he saw her sitting halfway up the stairwell, she was hunched over facing away from him. He hurried down the stairs towards her, when he reached her he could see she was shivering. Her reached out his hand and touched her on the shoulder; Elizabeth let out a shriek and lunged away for the touch and started rolling down the stairwell. Johnny quickly hurried after her, but was not able to stop her fall and she reached the bottom of the stairs. When he reached her he knelt next to her calling her name but refrained form touching her until he was sure she knew he was there and that she knew who he was.
"Zibbeth," he called to her with the nick name he had given to her, "it's John Gage, are you all right?"
The woman opened her eyes and looked up at Johnny, she had hit her head in the fall and it took a moment for her eye sight to focus on Johnny's face. Then she answered, "Yes," as she struggled to sit up. Johnny put his hand out to prevent her from doing so saying, "Let me check you out, can you tell me where you're hurt?"
"I'm okay, I just want to get into my apartment and get out of these wet cloths." She continued to struggle against Johnny's restraint. Finally Johnny relented and allowed her to get up but as she put her wait onto her left leg it gave way underneath her weight and she faltered. Johnny quickly grabbed her arm to steady her. "Let me help you!" finally the woman gave in and nodded her approval. Johnny pulled her arm over his neck as he wrapped his other arm around her and helped her upstairs and towards her apartment. Since his apartment door was opened he moved to take her into his apartment. As soon as she realized what his intentions were she tried to pull away from him yelling, "NO! I want to go to my apartment." This annoyed Johnny but he consented and helped her unlock her door and helped her in and over to her couch where he eased her down. Then he kneeled down in front of her and asked, "Where are you hurt?"
"I fell and hurt my knee. But I'll be okay. Thank you for your help you can go now."
Johnny had been quickly scanning the young woman to identify areas where she may be hurt. He could see a cut on her head and a few scraps on her arms. He was also quite aware of her shivering. He rose quickly and ran to her bathroom and grabbed a couple of towels and returned and handed one to her while he draped another over her shoulders. Then he knelt in front of her again and asked. "Please Elizabeth; all I want to do is help. I'm a paramedic, remember. I help people all the time." He watched her eyes, seeing her uncertainty. "Please." Finally she nodded. Johnny stood and gently palpated her body starting at her head and working down looking for other injuries that he couldn't see. All the while he kept talking to her telling her what he was doing and why. He took her pulse and found that it was racing at 140. He also noticed that she was breathing faster and on the verge of hyperventilating. "Calm down Zib, slow you're breathing down your going to hyperventilate." He worked with her and got her calmed down and then he explained his assumptions of her injuries.
"You've banged your knee up pretty good, and you have a couple of lumps on your head that could be concussions. And it would probably be good to get that cut on your head looked at, it could probably use a stitch or two."
"Thank you for your help but I think I'll be okay. I promise to take it easy. In fact I plan on changing out of my wet clothing and getting something hot to eat and then I'm planning on a long nap."
"With your pumps on the head you shouldn't go to sleep, until a doctor checks you for concussions. Please let me take you to Rampart."
"No, why don't you just go home. If I start feeling worse I'll . . . . call the fire department. Will that make you happy?"
Johnny knew that Zib didn't like to be alone with men and was sure that was the biggest reason for wanting him out of her apartment. Finally he stood and walked over to her phone where he found a note pad, he quickly wrote down her phone number and then on another piece of paper he wrote down his phone number. The he returned to her side and handed her his phone number. "Please give me a call if you need any help. I'm also going to call you from time to time to check on you. If I don't get an answer I'm going to call the paramedics and then I'm going to break down your door." With out giving her a chance to respond one way or another he turned and left the apartment locking and shutting the door on his way out.