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“Don’t let him clean off her injuries,” he said in a hushed tone. “We need to photograph them too and get a statement.”
I nodded and told Jack what the office had said.
“Okay. Are they coming now?”
I looked up at the officers and they both nodded. “Yeah, they’re on their way.”
Ending the call, I closed my eyes, willing the pain to subside, but knowing it never would on its own.
Brett stood up and said to the officers, “Do you think you could give us a ride to my car and then I’ll take Dean home?”
Santos nodded. “Of course, no problem. Dean, can you give us your phone number so we can get in touch with you if we have any more questions?”
I rattled off my number before pushing up from the chair. Much to my annoyance, I was still a bit wobbly on my feet.
“I got you.” Brett came over and reached out to brace me once more.
“Can you give us the address where your sister is?”
“Shit,” I said before pulling out my phone again and texting Jack. He responded within seconds, and I gave the cops the information as we made our way to the back of the small station house.
Buckled into the backseat of the police car, I remembered that Melissa was out of town and would have no idea what had happened. I didn’t know why she popped into my head when she did, but I fired off a text message to give her the CliffsNotes version of what happened tonight, and suggested that she check on her best friend.
My phone immediately rang and Melissa’s name flashed on the screen.
“Dean? Are you okay? What happened exactly? Where’s Cassie? And Jack?”
Her voice was shrill, the pitch so high I couldn’t handle it at the moment. “I can’t talk right now, I’m sorry. My head hurts.”
“Okay, okay, I understand. I wish I was there.”
“I’m glad you weren’t,” I admitted, thankful that she hadn’t been around tonight because she might have gotten hurt as well. The very thought made me sick.
“I’m going to check on Cassie. I’ll see you soon. Call me if you need anything, okay?”
I promised her that I would, and put my phone in my pocket. My head continued to pound. The officers dropped us off in front of Matt’s apartment, and Brett and I climbed out of the car.
After we thanked the officers for the ride, they assured me that they’d be in touch.
Brett motioned toward the stairs. “Do you want to come up first? I’m sure Matt has some aspirin or something for your head.”
“Yeah. Do you think they’re even here?” I hadn’t thought about anyone other than Cassie for what felt like hours, but was more like a handful of minutes.
“They’re here,” he said with a grimace. “They’ve been blowing up my phone.”
We walked slowly, Brett still helping me keep my balance as we navigated the stairs. When he raised his hand to knock on Matt’s door, I reached for my head.
“Please don’t.”
“Shit. Sorry,” he said before turning the knob and pushing the door open.
Matt and Jamie jumped to their feet and rushed toward us. “Fuck, man,” Matt said, “we’ve been so worried.”
I tried to wave them off, but they took me out of Brett’s care, each holding one of my arms.
“Seeing you collapse like that was some scary shit, man,” Matt said, which made me think about what it must have looked like from their perspective. “Are you okay?” he asked as they helped me toward their couch.
“My head is killing me. It feels like it’s murdering me with every breath I take. Please tell me you have some ibuprofen or something for this pain.”
