Glacier House

CHAPTER 1

Trish slowly got out of her car. She was so tired. She had just completed her stretch of three 12-hour shifts in the emergency room. It had been a crazy stretch. If it wasn’t a full moon, it certainly had the markings of one. They had been busy, and they had some very strange cases. On the second day, a man had been brought in after he collapsed at the mall. He was immediately given CPR and rushed to the hospital. They continued to try to revive him. After five minutes, the doctor looked up at the clock to call the time of death and the man suddenly gasped. Last night the ambulance brought in a gunshot victim. The police had tried to stop the bleeding as did the EMT, but he expired. After the body was sent to the morgue the police officer that tried to save him came in and said he had been exposed to his blood. This meant they had to get the body from the morgue and do chest compressions until they could pump enough blood to get a sample to test for HIV, Hepatitis, and a gamut of other possible life-threatening possibilities for the police officer.

She was so tired she could hardly put one foot in front of the other. She wanted a hot shower and a nice long sleep. Her brown hair had escaped the bun she wore when she worked. Her scrubs were spotted with blood. As she rounded the corner, she saw Dillon standing at her door. She just did not have the energy for this right now. She sighed and kept walking. She tried to make her 5’5” taller by standing erect, hoping she would come across as more confident than she felt.

“Dillon, I told you we were through. I’m tired. I need a shower and to sleep. Please leave.”

“No Trish, I know that you think we are done, but I just want to talk. Please let me come in.”

“There is nothing left to talk about. Please leave.”

He grabbed her arm just as the door in the apartment next to her opened. Her neighbor Brent came walking out and stopped as he saw Dillon grabbing her. “Is everything okay?”

“Dillon was just leaving.”

“No, Trish, we are going to talk.”

“I think the lady just asked you to leave. You need to leave. “

Dillon turned on him and hit him in the jaw. “You don’t tell me if I leave or not.”

Brent had been knocked back into his door. He straightened.

Trish reached over to Dillon, “Please just go.” He turned around and hit her with the back of his hand. She stumbled backward.

Brent took a step forward. “You heard Trish, time to take off.”

Dillon started swinging. He hit Brent several times and didn’t appear to be stopping. Brent’s wife, Barb, opened the door. “I’ve called the police.”

“Stop, just stop.” He turned around and acted like he was going to hit her again. They could hear the sirens and Trish saw the police coming down the road.

Dillon turned to Trish, “We are not done.” He turned and strode off. As he reached the parking lot a police car pulled up. One of the officers got out of the car and walked over to him and said something. Dillon took a swing at him. The officer grabbed him, flipped him on the ground, put cuffs on him, and jerked him into a standing position. A second police car pulled in. The first officer went over to the second car and talked with them for a minute. An officer got out of the second car, went over to Dillon, and appeared to be instructing him to get into his car. The first officer started up the stairs to where Brent, Trish, and Barb were standing.

Trish recognized the officer. And sighed in relief. “Chad, hi. I’m glad it’s you.”

“I didn’t expect to see you so soon.”

As he came to stand by them Trish made introductions. “Brent and Barb, this is Officer Chad. He brought in a gunshot victim a few hours ago. Chad, this is Brent and Barb, my neighbors.”

“Can you tell me what happened?”

“I had been dating Dillon for a couple of months and broke it off with him a week ago. Since then, he shows up everywhere I am. This morning he was here when I got home. Brent came out when I was telling him to go and tried to help. Dillon hit him.”

Chad looked at Trish. “It looks like he hit you too.” Trish put her hand to the place where he had hit her. “I know the ER was crazy last night and you look really tired. Because he took a swing at me, we can hold him on assaulting a police officer. Brent, could you come to the station and make a statement and let us know if you want to press charges?”

“Oh, yeah, I want to press charges. I don’t like that guy and I don’t want him getting away with this.”

“If you would come to the station sometime today that would be great. And Trish, why don’t you get some sleep and when you wake up come to the station. Someone will take your statement.”

Trish nodded with relief. She went into her apartment and went over to the mirror. She saw a welt where Dillon had hit her. She turned away. She sat on the bed, then lay down. She would rest for just a few minutes and then get up and shower. She woke up six hours later.