Page 148 of Finding Our Reality

His eyes look bloodshot, and I realize that this must’ve been a nightmare for him too. He thinks of Lulu as a daughter. She reaches out, tenderly touching his face. He bites his lip and nods. “The ambulance is here, sweetie. They need to take you to the hospital. We have to make sure you’re okay.” He nods to two paramedics standing behind him with a stretcher. “We, uh,” he’s so emotional, he can barely get the words out, “need to document all of your injuries.”

Her eyes widen and she looks back and forth between the two of us. “You’ll both go with me, won’t you?”

I squeeze her thigh. “Of course, we will. The other guys can stay while the scene is processed.”

Right at that moment, Colson walks up, holding an evidence bag. “Speaking of, I need to collect your weapon, Crutch.”

I doublecheck the chamber and safety and drop my gun into the evidence bag. “It wasn’t fired, of course. Lulu beat me to the punch. Or kicked me to the punch, I should say.”

Colson hugs Lulu. “I’m glad you’re okay, kid.”

She laughs, making herself hiccup through her tears. “That’s right. Who will wreak havoc on your desk if I’m not here?”

He shakes his head and holds out his hands for my vest. Turning the camera off, I pull it over my head. I hope the brass doesn’t hound me for making out with the victim. Hopefully, they’ll be a little understanding considering it’s the night of our engagement and all.

A young city officer peeks around my shoulder. I recognize him. He’s a regular at Will’s bar. “Excuse me, Sergeant Crutchfield, would you like to read the rights?”

We all watch as Phillip rounds the side of my truck, being led to the waiting patrol car by Leary and Wilson. I look at Lulu, gauging her reaction. True to fashion, she straightens her shoulders and lifts that stubborn little nose of hers in the air. She holds out her hands, wanting me to help her down from the truck. Carefully, I lift her and set her on the ground.

“Marcum,” I grip his shoulder, “you started this. You need to finish it. It’s what Carrie would want.”

Marcum walks over to Phillip. Standing right in front of his face, he starts to recite the Miranda rights. Cutting around me, Lulu immediately joins them. Her fingers wrap around Marcum’s, tightly.

We all watch in awe as he delivers the warning to Phillip, hand in hand with the woman who brought him down.

NEARLY ONE YEAR LATER

CRUTCH

I finally make it out of the meeting. I check the conference room to see if Lulu’s still there; she’s not.

The department has once again hired my wife, proving to me that I married the world’s smartest woman.

When I get to my desk, there’s a sticky note stuck to my laptop screen.

I finished and walked over to the bar. Come pick me up there. We don’t want to be late.

PS- I have a surprise for you.

I wiggle the note in the air. “You know what this is about?” I ask Marcum.

He lifts his eyebrows. They look like furry caterpillars on his face. “Maybe.”

I snort. “But you’re not gonna tell me.”

“She’ll kill me if I tell you. She wants to be the one to tell you.”

I shut down the computer and gather my things. “Are you coming tonight?”

“Yeah, we’ve got to pick up Nathan from a friend’s house. He’s coming with us. Stephanie and Brent left on their anniversary trip today.”

“That’ll be good. Laura will be happy,” I say begrudgingly. “Her crush on Nate is really giving Ridge a run for his money.” I say goodbye to Marcum and start my walk over to the bar.

I can’t believe so much has happened over the past eleven months.

The depth of Phillip’s drug ring and crimes was unfathomable. Using his position as an orthopedic surgeon, he basically forced people into an opioid addiction. He over-prescribed to those who actually needed pain relief, and he alsoprescribed to those whodidn’treally need it. He was the epitome of everything wrong with the health system.

How he handled them after getting them hooked was an evil story in and of itself.

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