Free Through the Windshield Glass by Kristen Day Page B

porch, she had raised one
hand in solemn farewell. I almost laughed to myself. This wasn’t so miserable.
I still felt good from the soup, and I was going to have a semi warm place to
sleep, even if the toilet was open to public view. Maybe I had read the door
wrong. Maybe there was small print under Misery, that said ‘with a side of
silver lining’. Apparently too much wishful thinking was an invitation for more
misery to set in.

Chapter Fourteen
     
    I was waltzed
into the police station and made to sit in an uncomfortable wooden chair, while
I waited for the cop at the front desk to get off the phone. After a little
while, the cop hung up his call and looked at me. I noticed his name tag said
Parker
    “Well,” he
said, “I have good news for you, Ms. Patterson. Ms. Cole isn’t going to press
charges; you’re free to go,”
    I didn’t see
that coming, my jaw dropped, “I don’t even have to stay here overnight? I mean
I broke someone’s window, on purpose!”
    Officer Parker
laughed, “You sound like you actually wanted to be here.”
    I laughed too,
with absolutely no enthusiasm, “No,” I said, “Of course not, I just thought…”
    “Well, is there
anyone I can call for you? Do you need a ride back to your house?” Parker
asked.
    “No,” I said,
“I don’t--I-- I’m fine, I’ll walk, it’s not too far.”
    “Are you sure,
I could give you a ride, you don’t even have to ride in the back?” Officer
Parker said, I liked him, he was friendly, and I knew he was just trying to
help.
    “Well, I
actually don’t really have anywhere to go,” I said quickly.
    “Surely there
has to be somewhere,” Officer Parker said.
    I shook my head
and launched into my story.
    Parker just sat
there and listened to me quietly, when I had finished he took a deep breath and
looked around. We were completely alone; it was too late for anyone but him to
be here.
    “That’s quite a
story,” Officer Parker said, running a hand through his thinning black hair, “I
suppose you
could
stay here for the night, but I’d have to book you.”
    I felt myself
smiling, “Really?”
    “I’m sorry,”
Officer Parker said a little loudly, he winked at me, “But you committed a
crime, you’re going to have to stay here for the night.”
    I smiled even
wider, “Thank you,” I mouthed.
    Officer Parker
nodded and stood up to escort me to a holding cell. Maybe I had gone through a
door without knowing it, maybe my luck was about to turn.
    I remember
walking into the holding cell, Officer Parker slammed the door behind me with
another wink and left. I walked over to the bed, laid down and fell asleep
faster than I thought was humanly possible.
    I was awakened
by a sharp pain in my lower abdomen. I couldn’t even move. I put my hand to my
stomach and found it swollen. There was no way my baby could have grown that
quickly overnight, something was wrong.
    “Officer
Parker,” I called out in a panicked voice. No one came, “Officer Parker!”
    A few moments
later, Officer Parker came skidding around the corner, he saw me lying in bed,
saw how distressed I looked and immediately knew I wasn’t just yelling at him
because of cravings or maternal mood swings.
    “I can’t move,”
I said, “there’s something wrong,”
    Officer Parker
fumbled for his cell phone and dialed 911.
    “Hello? Hello?
Yes, I need help! I’m Officer Parker of the Carson City Police Department. I
need an ambulance here right away.”
    Officer Parker
went silent for a moment, “This woman, she passed out in our lobby, I carried
her to a bed in a holding cell, she just woke up, she’s pregnant and in pain.
She says she can’t move.”
    I silently
thanked Officer Parker for tactfully avoiding the fact that I had actually
asked to be arrested.
    Another jolt of
pain rocked my body, my back arched and I broke out into a sweat.
    "Hurry!"
Officer Parker yelled into the phone. He rushed over to me, "Can you
breathe okay?"
    I nodded; my
breathing was