Chapter 4

Once we reached the hospital they pulled me out of the ambulance and rolled me into a room where a doctor came rushing in. He checked me out looking at all of my injuries, most of which had already been taken care of by the EMTs. He ordered an x-ray for both my arm and ankle and then left the room leaving me alone. 

It was another half an hour until another doctor came in. He was pushing a wheelchair and asked me to sit down. I complied and he helped, trying to make sure I didn’t use my ankle since it could be broken. He wheeled me over to the x-ray room and handed me one of those protective aprons. I moved my arm and ankle around following instructions until he was done. He wheeled me back and helped me back onto the bed before leaving me alone once again. 

It was another half an hour until the first doctor came back. He confirmed that my arm was broken which I already figured out, otherwise it wouldn’t hurt so much. Then he told me that my ankle was only twisted and I needed to try and stay off of it for a day or two. He quickly pulled together what he needed and put my arm in a cast. They finally gave me some pain killers and a prescription to take with me, however, that was a troubling matter. Where was I going next? 

I was about to get up and leave the room when the doctor informed me that there was a police officer waiting for me and that he wanted to keep me there overnight to make sure I had no internal injuries. 

So, with that, they moved me out of the ER and into a normal room where the police officer was waiting. Although it wasn’t just one, there were two. And they weren’t just any officers, they were the ones who came to my house. They let me sit down and get comfortable before speaking. 

“Hello, Sera. I’m Officer Ledger and this is Officer Belikov. How are you feeling?” the older one asked. I looked between the two with gratefulness for saving me as I tried to commit their names to memory. Who knows how much farther my dad would have gone had they not come. 

“I’m better now that they’ve given me some painkillers,” I explained. Officer Ledger smiled before giving a small chuckle and Officer Belikov gave a small smile as well, but I could tell he was staring at my arm. 

“Yes, I bet you would feel better with those,” Officer Ledger replied. The easy and comfortable atmosphere quickly filled with tension when his laughter died down and I saw his smile turn to a frown. Before he could say anything I quickly spoke. 

“Before you say anything, I just want to thank both of you for saving me today. It could have gotten a lot worse had you not been there. I’m grateful,” Officer Belikov smiled at me but Officer Ledger’s frown only worsened. 

“I appreciate your thanks Sera,” he said, “But I have some bad news.” 

My stomach dropped and my heart skipped a beat before speeding up. Thoughts immediately filled my brain to what this could be. I took a deep breath before nodding for him to continue. Officer Belikov came over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder before he started. 

“I’m afraid that I couldn’t get your father. He got away Sera. I’m so sorry.” 

Suddenly I was back in my house getting hit and thrown around by my own father. He got away. I would never be safe. Tears filled my eyes and I felt Officer Belikov squeeze my shoulder trying to be comforting. 

“Believe me, Sera,” Officer Ledger continued, “We are going to do everything in our power to find him and put him behind bars. Until then you will be under police protection 24/7. He will not get close to you.” The serious look on his face showed just how much he meant what he said. All I could do was give a nod. 

We sat in silence for a few moments before he told me that he needed to ask me questions and take pictures of my injuries. He took pictures of my arm, the bruises on my stomach, and the other injuries that I had. While he did that, he asked me questions and Officer Belikov wrote my answers down. 

Once everything was settled it was already dark outside and they had to get back to the station. They both thanked me and went to leave, but Officer Belikov stayed behind. 

“I’m going to be outside of your door until Officer Shanks gets here. He is going to take the first watch and make sure your father doesn’t come near you should he come after you.” I nodded and expected him to leave the room but he didn’t move. After a few moments, he spoke up again with a very sad look on his face. 

“Sera, I… I’m a father of two children. A boy and a girl. I would never even think of hurting them and I don’t know how someone could ever do that to their child. Especially a girl like you. I’ve only known you for a short while but you seem like such a sweet girl. I’m so sorry, but I’m going to make sure that man is behind bars for life.” Tears flooded my eyes at his words and I nodded. 

“Thank you…” I managed to choke out. Then, he walked out and shut the door behind him.