Free DoubleDown V by John R. Little and Mark Allan Gunnells Page B

knew it would happen one day.
    Karen was twenty-seven.  She had helped a dozen terminally ill patients find the peace they wanted so badly, and she’d made the final days of a hundred others easier by reading to them, listening to them talk about the events that shaped their lives, or just smiling and holding their hand while they watched television.
    Even that part of Karen’s life felt perfect to her.
     
    *   *   *
     
    Bonnie came up with the idea.
    “Hey, let’s go to the Halloween party at the Micimac this year.”
    “Really?”  The Micimac was a pub a couple of blocks from their home.  They dropped in from time to time, but Karen had never thought of joining the regulars there.  “Like get dressed up and everything?”
    “And everything!  Of course!”
    Karen wasn’t sure, but Bonnie hugged her and said she knew Karen would love it.
    They dressed up as characters from a recent movie, both men, both wearing fake beards and army gear.  To her surprise, Karen loved the party.
    At midnight, they were dancing with a dozen other couples.  Karen would always remember the D.J. was playing “Mermaid” by Train.
    All of a sudden Bonnie let go of Karen and grabbed her throat.  She started to choke.
    Karen felt like time had stopped, but this time it hadn’t.  She was frozen with fear and confusion as she looked at Bonnie.
    Blood gushed between Bonnie’s fingers, spurting over the dance floor.  Her face was white with shock and her mouth opened and closed, but Karen couldn’t hear any words.  The noise of the music drowned anything she might have gasped.
    When Bonnie sank to the floor, somebody screamed.  The music stopped suddenly and the lights all came on.  Somebody yelled, “Call 911!”
    Bonnie looked at Karen, who was still frozen, her mind unable to comprehend what was happening to the woman she loved.
    Finally, Bonnie rolled onto her side and that broke the trance.  Karen dropped beside her to see what was happening.  Bonnie’s hands fell away, and Karen saw more blood dripping from her neck.  There was a thin slash line cut horizontally through Bonnie’s throat.
    “No!  No, don’t take her from me, Bobby!”
    Karen looked around and saw a woman dressed as a genie.  She grabbed one of her scarves and placed it around Bonnie’s neck, hoping to stop the bleeding; she was afraid to pull it too tight, though, for fear of choking her.
    It seemed forever before the ambulance arrived. Two men pushed her aside to work on Bonnie.  They put her on a stretcher and took her away.  Karen ran after them, and they let her ride in the ambulance to the hospital.
    The paramedic kept her away.  “Don’t get too close.  She needs air.”
    His eyes told a different story, though .  Somebody sliced her throat.  If it was you, you’re not getting close enough to finish the job.
    Karen waited three hours while they performed emergency surgery.  In that time, she was interviewed by a female cop, who looked at her with disbelief in her eyes when Karen said she had no idea what happened.
    “You say you were dancing with her, though.  She was holding you and facing you.  How could anybody have sliced her throat without you seeing it?”
    Because time was stopped for him .
    “I don’t know.”
    She knew she sounded like she was hiding something, because she was.  It never crossed her mind to tell the truth about what had happened.
    The cop told Karen to go to the police station the next day and sign her statement.  She warned her there would be further questions.
     
    *   *   *
     
    They let her see Bonnie a little after three a.m.  She was unconscious, and the surgeon gave Karen the news.
    “She has severe brain damage from lack of oxygen.  The flow of blood to her brain was stopped for quite some time.”
    “Will she recover?”  Karen knew the answer even as she asked the question, but she had to be sure.
    The doctor sighed.  “Miracles do happen from time to time.”
    Karen felt