Page 87 of Mia Amata

He heard car doors opening and yelled, “Hurry! In here!” Cops came in the front door, taking in the scene by flashlight. “Please,” Josh yelled. “She’s dying! Please help me!” Two policemen relieved him of the CPR while a third called for EMTs. A fourth helped Josh up asking him what happened. “I don’t know. Her dog showed up at my house, looking like he had been stabbed and like he attacked something—his mouth was all red from blood. I had my wife call 911 and a vet while I drove straight over here.”

“I take it you know her then?” the cop asked.

“Yes, she is my sister-in-law. Please help her, she is pregnant!”

“I have a pulse!” the one cop stated. They stopped the CPR and monitored.

“Who is the man?” the policeman asked Josh.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I have never seen him before.”

The EMTs arrived soon, taking over care of Mattie. They loaded her up in the ambulance, taking her to the city. The police asked Josh a lot of questions, but finally allowed him to go home. One policeman followed him home to check on Lucky. Josh walked through the door and Randy ran over to him. She hugged him, then looked at him. “What happened?” she asked, then saw the cop behind him. “Josh?”

“Mattie is hurt,” he said.

“What? How?”

“It looks like she was stabbed and shot. This policeman wants to see Lucky. Has the vet been here?” Randy looked stunned. “Yes, he is still here, looking after Lucky’s wound. Lucky was stabbed. He checked him out and said he would be just fine, stitched him up, and is bandaging him up now.”

They led the cop into the living room where Lucky was lying in a dog bed by the fireplace, his sister, Lady, by his side. The cop got all the details about Lucky’s injuries from talking to the vet. Once he felt like he got all the answers he needed he left. The vet stayed, finished dressing Lucky’s wound, told Randy and Josh he would come back the following day to check on him, and then he also left. Randy closed the door behind him and went to Josh.

“How is Mattie?” she asked.

Josh shook his head, “Not good. I need to call Jacob.” He pulled out his cell phone, noticed he had cell service here while he didn’t at Mattie’s house, then called Jacob.

“Josh,” Jacob said upon answering the phone. “What’s going on? Is Mattie OK?”

Josh closed his eyes. “No, Jacob, she is on her way to the hospital.”

“Hospital!” Jacob cried. “What happened?”

“I’m not sure,” replied Josh. “It appears she has been stabbed and shot.”

There was silence, “What? Who did it?”

Josh rubbed his eyes, “I don’t know Jacob. The guy is dead. It looks like Lucky attacked him, allowing Mattie to get the gun, and she shot him.”

“Oh my God,” Jacob said. “Tell me she will be OK Josh.”

“I can’t,” Josh replied. “Her heart stopped when I was there. I had to do CPR.” He heard Jacob sob on the phone.

“Is she… dead?” he asked.

“No,” Josh said. “We got her heart beating again, but Jacob, it doesn’t look good.”

“I’m on the next flight home. My boss is picking me up. He will take me straight to the hospital.” There was silence, and then Jacob said, “You said Lucky was hurt too?”

“Yes,” Josh said. “I think he jumped the guy. He then came to our house to get help for Mattie.”

“Take care of him, Josh,” Jacob said.

***

Josh left Randy at home to care for Lucky, then drove to Nora and Donald’s house. It was now around 2:00 am, but he didn’t want them to hear about Mattie on the news. He knocked on the door continuously until Donald finally opened the door, Nora right behind him. Their eyes opened wide when they saw Josh.

“Josh, what’s wrong?” Nora cried as he came into the house.

Josh told them what happened, once they got over their initial shock they ran upstairs and got dressed. They all got into the car, starting for the hospital. The trip there was quiet, except for the occasional question that no one seemed to be able to answer. They arrived at the hospital, running.

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