my memories and stories about my life, she listened intently, smiling.
When I left that night, I waited until she had fallen asleep. Detective Paulsen was there in the lobby on another case, and I stopped to talk to him.
"Listen, she said something about a guy named Blake…have you questioned him?"
"Blake Keldrick?"
"Yeah I guess so."
"Yes, he's the dance instructor at Ballet Chicago. He's was the last person she was spotted with. He was brought into custody and questioned but released. His DNA wasn't a match, and his story for the evening matched the witness reports."
"So who was he?"
"Evan, this is really none of your business," Paulsen said, appearing annoyed. "I'm not sure the attachment you have to this girl is healthy. She's had something horrible happen to her. There's no sense in making matters worse for her."
"So having the douche that hurt her on the streets is okay with you?" Defensive, I stepped forward, my chest inches from his, and his eyes flickered with the slightest bit of intimidation for me. "Tell me, Paulsen, how do you sleep at night knowing there are guys like that on the street walking around with your wife and daughter?"
"Don't make this personal, Evan."
I didn't appreciate his tone. I wanted to teach him a fucking lesson about telling a hockey player not to make something personal.
"See, that's where you're wrong. It's not personal. It's the right thing to do."
"Could have fooled me," he said, getting arrogant. "You seem awfully attracted to her."
I wanted to punch a cop. I really wanted to punch a cop.
Don't punch a cop. Don't punch a cop.
I didn't punch the cop. I wanted to be allowed back in this hospital, and I thought for sure he wouldn't allow it had I punched him. What I couldn't understand was why the guy hadn't been caught yet. I also knew, and tried to remember, this happened all the time. Ami wasn't the first girl that had been raped, and she certainly wouldn't be the last, sadly.
Blind Pass – To pass the puck without looking.
Ami was just a week shy of getting released, but they said she needed to have supervision. I wasn't sure how it happened, but my mom found out, came to the hospital, and talked Ami into staying with her for a few weeks. Ami was so carefree and loveable she agreed right away.
"What were you thinking?" I asked my mom when I saw her outside Ami's room the afternoon she convinced her of this.
My mom smiled. Though my words were accusing, maybe appearing as if I was upset, I wasn't. My mom did shit like this all the time. When I was playing in the Major Juniors, she was constantly letting guys who were recently traded to my team stay with us. She liked helping people. I was a lot like my mother in that regard.
"Evan, that girl needs you and she needs someone to watch over her. You can't do that all the time, and I wanted her to feel like if she needed a mother around, I would be there."
Naturally, I couldn't argue with her. Ami had been through something traumatic, and not just losing her family but her attack, too. My mom got that.
I didn't think Ami would go for it, but it was like my mom brainwashed her or something because ordinarily someone wouldn't want to go home with someone they didn't know.
What Ami didn't agree with was when she found out I took care of her medical bills. That part I had to explain. Ami had enough to worry about. The last thing she needed to do was worry about paying nearly a hundred thousand dollars in medical bills.
Eventually, she saw my point. I could be very persuasive.
Ami seemed to trust me, and I wasn't sure why. I had done nothing to prove I was a good guy, but from the very moment we officially met, she opened up to me. I thought maybe she was just like that normally, until I watched her around a few other people, like doctors and nurses. She acted different: a little shy, but mostly guarded.
That led us to the night she was trying to take a bath, and she didn't want the nurse in
Katie Ashley
Sherri Browning Erwin
Kenneth Harding
Karen Jones
Jon Sharpe
Diane Greenwood Muir
Erin McCarthy
C.L. Scholey
Tim O’Brien
Janet Ruth Young