Chapter 30
“Look who’s still here?” she said when the tech rolled her back to her spot in the hallway.
“Dr. Parker should be with you shortly,” the tech said before hurrying away.
“I guess I wouldn’t make a good boxer,” Ariel said.
“No. I don’t think so,” I replied.
“I’ve never been in a fistfight before. Does this count?”
“No. Sorry. You didn’t even throw a punch.”
“Plenty of heavyweights get knocked out without even throwing a punch.”
“You are not a heavyweight.”
She frowned at me playfully. “You really don’t have to stay here. I’ll be fine.”
“Let’s make sure you’re okay before I leave.”
“It’s not like you can do anything either way.”
I called her bluff. “You’re right. I should just go now.”
She reached a hand for mine. “Wait, you don’t have to go right now.”
I chuckled. “I guess I could stay a minute longer.”
“Or two.”
I was more than happy to stick around.
Doctor Parker stopped by a few minutes later. “CT’s normal. No bleeding, fracture, or swelling. I think you’re dealing with a little post-concussive syndrome, some dehydration, and maybe a vestibular disturbance from the blow. Probably a little anxiety about the whole thing.”
“Maybe a lot,” she said.
“I’m going to prescribe 25mg of Meclizine for the dizziness and give you a script for Zofran as needed.
You can get meclizine as Dramamine over the counter if you need more.
We’ll run another bag of saline, then get you out of here.
No alcohol, no driving, no contact sports.
Take it easy for the next week. You need someone to watch you and wake you up every 3-4 hours for the next two days.
You have someone who can look after you? ” Parker looked at me.
“I’m not sure,” Ariel said.
“My offer still stands,” I said. “Plenty of staterooms to choose from.”
Ariel nodded. “If it’s not too much trouble.”
“I’m releasing her into your care,” Parker said. “If symptoms return or get worse, come back. I’ll get your discharge order ready.”
Parker patted me on the shoulder as he walked away. There was an endless sea of patients to take care of.
The nurse came back a few minutes later with a dose of meclizine before discharge. Ariel swallowed it down. The nurse switched out the bag of saline for a new one, then darted off.
It took another 40 minutes to get the discharge papers.
We gathered her things, and I escorted Ariel to the car and helped her in. She was a little steadier now. I hurried around, slid behind the wheel, and fired up the engine. The barf bag had been disposed of. We were flying without it now. “You feeling settled?”
Ariel nodded. “I’m good.”
I pulled out of the space and tried to keep the ride smooth. There was still crazy traffic. It would be this way until 3:00 AM or so. Stop, start, stop, start.
We finally made it back to the marina, and I parked in a reserved spot by the dock. During spring break, we used orange traffic cones to block off the spaces. Sometimes they worked, sometimes they didn’t.
I helped Ariel onto the boat, and her eyes widened as she took in its majesty. “When you said boat, you failed to mention this.”
“Disappointed?” I teased.
“No. Not at all.”
We crossed the passerelle to the aft deck. Buddy waited at the salon door, bouncing and barking.
I tried to keep him from pouncing when I slid open the door.
“Who’s this?” Ariel asked in a cutesy voice.
I made introductions, and before long she was loving on the little Jack Russell.
Buddy ate it up.
She took in the appointments as we stepped into the salon. “On a cop’s salary?”
"No salary," I said. "JD and I volunteer.”
She lifted a curious eyebrow. "Volunteer? Interesting. Very interesting."
The boat was quiet. Jack was either asleep or had found some trouble to get into. My money was on the latter.
I escorted Ariel through the salon and showed her the galley.
"Make yourself at home. If you get hungry in the middle of the night, feel free to raid the fridge.
" I walked her down to a below-deck stateroom.
"This one is unoccupied, and the sheets are clean. You’ve got a fold-down TV and a private en suite.
I'm on the bridge deck aft if you need anything.”
"Thank you. This is really sweet of you. I take it back. You’re not the enemy," she said with a slight smile.
I returned the smile, then left her to her own devices. I climbed the steps to the main deck, grabbed Buddy's leash, and took him out to stretch his legs before settling in for bed.
There was still a pretty good crowd at Diver Down.
We strolled around for a bit, taking in the evening. The moon glowed overhead, and the stars twinkled.
On the way back to the dock, two masked thugs emerged from the shadows ahead, wielding pistols. One on either side of me.
Muzzle flash flickered before I could draw my weapon.
Bullets crisscrossed the night.