The last thing I wanted was to call the police, but I had no
idea what else to do. I couldn’t leave her in the road, in the cold,
sitting half in a snow bank and half on the wet pavement. I couldn’t get
her in the car myself.
Reluctantly I dialed 911 again.
“The police will be there shortly,” the tinny voice said.
I hung up and waited.
While we waited I worried.
I hadn’t wanted to call the police because even though our local police
aren’t known for being abusive or for overreacting you never know. What if she didn’t respond and they tasered her? What if they tried to move her and
she resisted? Would Jason and I have to
watch her get slammed to the ground and handcuffed?
It took about ten minutes
for the police to show up. I told them
what was going on, about our earlier hospital visit, about her leaving the
house while we were sleeping. Jason stood
next to me as we spoke. I didn’t want him
there but I didn’t know what else to do with him. And he probably wouldn’t have left my side
anyway.
Both police officers walked up to Jessica. She still sat crossed legged on the edge of
the road. Jason and I watched from a
distance.
“Ma’am, we need to get you off the road and inside.”
She didn’t reply. Or
move. One of the officers put his hand
on her shoulder and shook her. She didn’t
respond. He shook her a little
harder. Still no response. I stood by, hands in my pockets, sheepishly
watching.
The officers talked quietly to each other then walked over to
me.
“We’d like to get her in your car and then take her to the
hospital. We will meet you there. Once
we get her looked at we’ll know how to proceed.”
Jason and I got into the car and I slowly moved it next to
her. I told Jason to stay in the car
while I got out and opened the back door.
I told him he shouldn’t be worried but he might be upset watching us try
to get her in the car, so it would be best if he looked away. The two officers and I approached
Jessica. They put their hands under her
armpits and tried to lift her. Her limp
body was hard to move. I tried to help
by picking up her legs but I don’t think I was helping much. We somehow dragged/moved her to my car. They slid her upper body into the backseat
and her legs were sprawled out the door.
One of the officers moved to the other side and was trying to pull her
in far enough so we could push her legs in.
As he pulled, her shirt rose up exposing her braless breasts. I reached in to tug it back down and thought
how humiliated Jessica – the Jessica I had known before today – would have been
for this to happen. I kept hold of her
shirt while we pushed her legs in and hoped Jason hadn’t seen his mother
exposed and catatonic and being shoved into the back of a car.
We got her into the car, finally. You would be surprised how hard it is to move
a limp person. I followed the police
cars to the hospital and pulled into the emergency lane. The police were already out and talking to
the hospital staff. An orderly was
rolling a wheelchair our way. Once again
I helped wrestle Jessica’s limp body, this time out of the car and into the
wheelchair. They wheeled her inside
while Jason and I went to park the car.
I held his hand as we walked from the parking lot and into the
emergency room.
“It’ll be okay, buddy,” I said even though I had no idea if this
was true.
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