Luke is scared. Luke is worried. Luke was worried about what Mrs. Bowles this morning. it was not a threat, but a statement. Of course Luke would be in jail for scaring two of the Bowleans kids and nearly dying.
The argument this morning was so loud that even Mr. Hubble, who is about 100 yards from Luke's house, heard and arrived at his house when the police arrived—fortunately he was the one who called 911 due to this commotion. Her two dogs, Cat and Jade, were barking to make the commotion sound more like a riot. The three men who came with Mrs. Bowleans, none other than her husband—which means it's Mr. Bowleans—a relative and a family Attorney. Those who know that Luke was sent home from the initial investigation yesterday afternoon, feel unacceptable so they take it out on Ben and the living room.
“…Adam was bleeding profusely and he was in a coma! How are you going to take responsibility, huh?! Can you replace his life if he dies?! Answer me, you bastard!” screamed Mrs. Bowleans while throwing a vase in front of him at him. About right in the solar plexus. Painful.
“Stop throwing things at my house you damn bitch!” Ben snapped angrily.
“What did you say my wife, Old Man?! You don't know who I am, huh?!”
"What's so important about knowing who you are, huh?!"
“ Watch your mouth , you old man! I will make sure your granddaughter rots in prison!” continued Mrs. Bowles.
So, that's when police sirens sounded and officers came to separate them. A male officer went inside to calm Mrs. Bowles, Mr. Bowles, and Ben. Also he asked for information from the Attorney. Meanwhile, the female officer took him to the terrace to calm him down. It wasn't long before Mr. Hubble arrived with Cat and Jade to provide further information.
“Excuse me, sir . You can't come here. We're on duty," said the female police officer, intent on keeping Mr. Hubble from getting any closer. He seemed to think that Mr. Hubble was just a curious neighbor.
“I called 911, ma'am. Hi, Mrs. Bright, are you all right?"
"I am alright. But Luke, he took a hit from the vase. Does it still hurt, honey?”
"A little."
" Well , sir . Since you contacted us, can you provide some information?” the female officer took a small notebook out of her pocket. "Your name, sir ?"
“Nick Hubble.”
"Where do you live?"
“Forest Edge no. 12. About 100 yards from here. If you walk East, you will find my house which is—”
"Do you know the initial details of the commotion, sir ?"
“I don't know, I was sleeping and suddenly heard a commotion around five in the morning, Ma'am. Then Cat and Jade…”
"Who is Cat and Jade?" interrupted the female police officer.
Mr. Hubble glanced down at his two beloved dogs, “This is Cat and Jade. They kept barking until I got angry and woke up. Then I realized that there was commotion at Mr. Bright."
Meanwhile, in the living room, Luke saw Mrs. Bowleans cried while continuing to talk about justice for his sons and daughters while Ben, who did not want to be outdone, also rambled on this and that, which made the male police officer give a little reprimand.
“I beg you to be quiet, sir . You have a turn to speak.”
Mrs. Bowleans was still sobbing. “What kind of country is this? You can't even punish the person who made my son die. Do I have to dirty my hands myself to punish that damn brat? Hu hu… he had crushed Patricia's hand, now he wanted to take Adam's life. So what if he's underage? He committed a crime. Assassination planning! Did he grow up in a demonic family? You son of a bitch has no parents!”
"Watch your tongue!" he snapped.
The screams of bickering made his head ache and his nose throb again. It's so tight. It's so noisy. Dizziness. Luke wanted to scream loudly to silence everyone for a moment. At the same time, Luke's vision became blurry. Like there is a red membrane covering the eye. In addition, the former impact of the flower vase on the solar plexus also began to ache.
Ah… Luke wanted to lie down for a bit. It took a moment, though the last words he heard were Ulfa calling out Luke's name.
“Luke!”
Then all went dark.
***
Luke woke up and it didn't take long for him to realize that this was a hospital. The smell of medicine mixed with carbolic acid and the sound of dripping IV fluids woke him up. Luke looked around, but there was no one. Even in the other beds there were no patients other than Luke so, apparently, the nurse thought there was no need to put up a curtain to cover him up here.
For a moment, Luke tried to move, but his stomach hurt so badly. It was as if there was a shock and a stab at the same time, so Luke tried to surrender and stay calm. Luke just remembered what happened this morning that made his stomach ache. Luke was also a bit annoyed because he didn't find Ulfa or Ben waiting here, even though Luke was sick. So Luke turned to the table by the bed. Grateful that his cell was there so Luke could text Ben.
'Ben, where are you? I've come to my senses. Please come quickly, I'm alone.'
The message was not sent. It's that old fart, Ben must have forgotten to recharge his cell phone. Maybe he'll read the message in an hour. Ah, but Luke just remembered that this is in the Hospital so not much signal can be received by Luke's cellphone. Unlucky. Luke will have to be alone for the next few moments. Yeah, let's be positive, maybe Ben and Ulfa are picking up some groceries at home.
So Luke tried to press the call button for the nurse above his head and while waiting for someone to appear, Luke decided to look around. Trying to divert feelings of guilt by staring at the empty bed one by one. Fortunately, the lights are bright enough that this ward doesn't look like the dirty ward in a horror movie. There were about six beds, including the one he was currently sleeping on. Also a wall clock that goes ' tick, tock, tick, tock '. The sound of mattress wheels being pushed and people's footsteps in the hallway. As well as the friction of leaves outside the window. Luke looked out the window. Ah, it's dark again. It's night apparently. A cool breeze blew the curtains, indicating that there was a small gap in the window that was not completely closed. Luke cursed anyone who didn't close the window properly at night. Plus, it's Hydra Cost . The coldest area in Vermont.
Again, Luke looked at the clock and it was nine past five. Luke was still waiting for Ben and Ulfa to arrive when, suddenly, Luke heard a strange noise from afar outside the window. Like footprints that walk, followed by a heavy snort of breath. So, Luke turned around and saw a dark dog standing among the leaves of a tree up ahead.
"Oh, just a dog apparently." Luke thought, relieved.
But, two seconds later, Luke had to retract that feeling of relief when he realized that this wasn't the first floor. The place a dog stepped on was not the ground with a tree on it. Rather, the branches of the tree are above the ground. It was as if they were lurking up a tree to where the floor he was on was now
In short, it's the black dog again.
***