Page 3 of Her Passionate Hero

“I’m going to open the door, okay?”

What was he saying? She felt more of the hot night air hit her as it rushed in the door. Bewildered, she looked up into warm brown eyes. For a moment, she thought she was seeing a ghost from the past. She shook her head to clear it, and the features of the policeman became clear.

“Are you cut anywhere else besides your throat?”

She had to think. Eventually, she nodded.

“May I see?”

She shook her head wildly. “It’s not bad.” Her teeth chattered. She didn’t want to take off her coat and show her breasts.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

She opened her mouth to tell him about Mateo. “Ahhh.” Was all that came out. She thought about her mother in her first floor room at the nursing home. How had he known she had a small little place in Glendale? He even knew about the Jacaranda tree. More tears spilled.

“Miss? Can you tell me what happened?”

She heard a siren. Not some figment of her imagination.

“Who did this to you?”

She shook her head.

He sighed. “Can you tell me your name?”

She coughed and covered her throat. “Aliana Novak,” she whispered.

A woman in a blue shirt was suddenly beside the police officer. “I need to see my patient,” she said. The policeman moved. She crouched down in front of Aliana. “Can you get out of the car?” she asked gently.

Aliana considered her question, then nodded. She shouldn’t have, it hurt. More tears fell. Why couldn’t she stop crying? She needed to suck it up. She wasn’t a crier. She hadn’t cried in years. This wasn’t who she was. The tears stopped. There. She was back to being Aliana Mila Novak. She saw the woman give her an odd look, but then she smiled.

“Are you injured under your coat?”

“He cut off my blouse,” Aliana said. The woman assisted her out of her car. “I’m bleeding on my chest. It hurts too.”

“Can you walk?” she asked.

It was a stupid question. “Of course, I can walk.” Aliana legs went out from under her as she got out of the car. When the officer and EMT grabbed an arm on either side to keep her from falling, she yelped in pain.

“What’s wrong?” the woman asked.

“My arms hurt. One of them shoved them behind my back.”

“Okay, we’ll get you checked out.”

They helped her over to the ambulance and got her inside.

“I’m going to shut the door so we can take off the coat and see your injury, is that okay?”

This time Aliana knew better than to nod. “Yes.” Then she saw the other technician in the ambulance who was crouched down, getting something from a kit. “No,” Aliana said as the woman started to help her out of her coat.

She looked over her shoulder. “Jerry, why don’t you go outside and wait with the cop. I’ve got this.”

“Sure thing.”

After he left, Aliana cringed. “That was stupid. I’m sorry,” Aliana said quietly, looking at the grimy floor of the ambulance.

“No, it wasn’t,” the technician assured her. “I wouldn’t want to take off my shoes in front of Jerry,” she said with a laugh. Aliana looked up into her sparkling green eyes. “How about we take you out of this? You must be sweltering.”