Tripwire

William smiled, "Nah, I wouldn't do that," as he walked to Benjamin and put his hand on his shoulder, "I'm grateful to see that you're recovering, my friend."

Benjamin smiled, "it's all because of her," he nodded towards me. I scoffed; it wasn't me, it was Dave and Jacob and the paramedics and the Doctors and nurses and I said so.

The men disagreed; I had raced to find help despite my asthma, how awful the situation, on a bicycle that was way too big for me. That I was willing to do so for a total stranger.

I went beet red at the attention, "well, what else was I supposed to do? Leave a cute guy to die in the middle of a goddamned forest? Those don't exactly grow on trees, you know..." I laughed at my pun.

They laughed, too.

Benjamin smiled at me and I shyly smiled back.

Jacob said, "Hey Dave, can you give me a ride back to the park? My own truck is waiting for me there. Also, you should drop Miss Belinda off at her home on the way."

I felt sudden gratitude. I was relieved not to have to walk all that way back. I was so tired.

Benjamin asked for my phone number so I found a piece of paper and wrote it down, quickly, along with my address, because why not, I thought. I gave him an awkward and light hug and said, "Goodnight, Benjamin." He murmured, "Goodnight, Belinda. Hope to see you again. You can call me Benji, if you would like." I coughed in surprise. What? He likes me?! No way, I thought.

I grabbed my crap from William and thanked him.

Dave, Jacob and I headed to the bank of elevators and went back down to the ER level and walked out to the parking lot. I saw the paramedics who had transported Benji and waved at them. They waved back. I grinned. Maybe I will make a few friends out of this awful day; my silver lining, perhaps? I thought.

We walked to Dave's truck and piled in; I took the shotgun position like I had done, before.

I told Dave where I live so he set off; a confident and skilled driver. Jacob cracked a joke about ambulance drivers and I busted up laughing, tears streaming from the mirth. Dave snorted and pretended to be offended and then he laughed.

Dave pulled into the driveway of the house; I muttered, "I live in the basement suite," quietly, embarrassed.

"We've all been there, Belinda," Jacob said, to encourage me.

"Thanks!" I said, cheerfully.

"Hey can we see your place? I have something to give you." Dave said. Intrigued, I nodded.

We walked to my door and I drew my keys out from the lanyard around my neck and opened my door.

"Welcome to my abode," I gestured, like it was some fancypants mansion.

I dropped the hospital bag on my small kitchen table, walked to my bathroom to relieve myself again as I told the men to help themselves to whatever drinks/food I had. It wasn't much but I tried to have fresh fruit, cheeses, salami, crackers. Also, coffee and teas and milk. I also had a little sugar bowl that had ducks printed on it.

I washed my hands and Dave and Jacob were busy fixing up snacks for us. My stomach growled in anticipation. They had made coffee and a tea for me. They already knew I hated coffee.

Dave had brought his big duffel bag in with him and I had eyed it, curious. He carefully unpacked it and showed me all of his bandages, freaky-looking tools and things. Also, some needle-looking things which made me shiver.

He produced a very portable spacer in its packaging and a really high quality rescue inhaler and handed them to me: "for you, Belinda. Take them everywhere with you. Here's a waist pack to carry them in; it's unobtrusive."

"Wow, this is cool, Dave, thanks! Wait, how much do I owe you? I only have ten dollars right now, haha." "Oh, it's on the house," Dave said, while eating his cheese and salami cracker and then he popped a green grape in his mouth.

Jacob had gotten up from my little kitchen table to go eyeball my knitting with interest. He turned, looked at me and said, "you knit?!" I nodded, "you bet your sweet heiney I do, Jacob," as I pulled my pink scarf out of the plastic hospital bag and held it up. The men took my long scarf and ran their hands down it.

"Well, what's your favorite colors, dudes?" I said, as I got up to find my notebook where I write down knitting ideas and details of my projects.

"Blue," said Dave.

"Black," said Jacob.

I wrote down their names, heights, builds etc so I could gauge how much yarn and approximately how many stitches to cast on for them. I also can knit hats so I thought about knitting them hats to match their scarves. Also, some fingerless mittens especially for Jacob who looked after the park even in the dead of Winter.

I stifled a yawn, tomorrow is Sunday; I'd better go to the yarn store. There will be people needing help. I can get store credit so I can start these projects. I'm gonna need a LOT of yarn! I thought.

I turned, Dave was cleaning up and washing the dishes already. I was stunned at how efficient and businesslike Dave was.

Jacob noticed my table's leg was a little wobbly so he busted out his multitool from one of the interior pockets of his jacket, crouched, flipped my table over and got to work tightening it.

"Man, too bad this place is too small for roommates! You guys are awesome!" I laughed.

The men chuckled.

I sat on my couch and picked up my knitting project; a commission for the yarn store. I would be paid in yarn when I finished it. A generic stockinette hat; knit in the round. Once the model hat was retired it would be given to a homeless person.

They took turns using my restroom and I hugged them both when they were getting ready to leave. I followed them out to Dave's huge truck and waved them off after they gave me their phone numbers.

I went back into my too-small place, went to brush my teeth and put my nightgown on; it was demure with small, pretty flowers printed on it. The neckline and cuffs had delicate lace trim. I painfully brushed my messy hair and braided it, fixing the end with a hair elastic.

I yawned and flopped, face-down on my bed; bone-tired. I was out, quickly, and didn't wake until the sun was up the next day. I got up, showered, changed, had a cup of tea, grabbed my knitting bag and headed off for the measly one mile walk to the yarn store.

I strolled, quickly. I had remembered to bring the little pouch for my asthma stuff that Dave had given me. I felt a little happy today; the weather was nice and I had enjoyed socializing. This was unlike me; I was a dyed-in-the-wool introvert. Or, so I thought?

I entered the shop, greeted Susan, the owner. Susan was twice my age and a seasoned, clever, fearless knitter. I admired her prowess a great deal.

"I am almost finished with the hat; going to start the decreases shortly," I said.

"Great," said Susan.

I finished the hat; helped four novice knitters learn how to knit. I told Susan about my adventures the previous day and said she would give me the yarn I needed, she called it the "First Responders' Discount." I was ecstatic. She gave me some Addi fixed circular needles and a cool organizer for my knitting bag. God, I love Susan. She is amazing.

I headed out; it was 1pm and I had forgotten to eat, again. I fitted my bag around my shoulder and started to walk home, deep in my thoughts and planning my knits. I noticed an ambulance slowly driving down the street and it pulled over to the curb beside me. I raised an eyebrow, wondering what the heck now?!

Dave hopped out of the passenger door and I laughed, "are you stalking me, now, Dave? How did you know where to find me?!"

"This is the neighborhood we usually are in and I saw you so I asked my partner to pull over. We need to grab lunch, anyway -" He gestured at the Asian rice bowl type of place; it always smelled so good. I never ate out; I couldn't afford it.

Dave's partner, Samantha joined us. I stuck my hand out to shake hers and Dave

introduced us. I smiled.

"Well, I'll leave you two to your lunch. I am headed home," I said, thinking my fridge was pretty bare. I guess I could make some Mac n Cheese from scratch. Maybe make it into a fancy casserole? I thought.

"No, please come eat with us; my treat. You shared food with me and Jacob so I need to repay the favor. I went to see Benjamin this morning on my way into work and he would like to see you, Belinda. I know it's pretty far for you so we can give you a ride in our rig."

Well, I am not the type to turn up free food. I was too skinny; kept skipping meals and walking miles. We went into the café together. Samantha was petite; she had beautiful, smooth hair and nice features. I looked at Dave and wondered in my head if he was allowed to date his coworkers.

"I wish Jacob was here," I said.

Dave nodded.

I ordered a chicken fried rice bowl with broccoli. Dave ordered a shrimp rice bowl. Samantha ordered a snow pea beef dish, holy cow it looked divine. The place had free soda refills so I had a Sprite with ice in it. I drank two.

I opened my chopsticks and put my napkin in my lap and ate slowly, savoring every bite.

I thanked Dave profusely for the lovely lunch. Soon, we were done, cleaned up and headed out to the rig. I was nervous to get in the back; it was kind of cramped and I feel overly tall, gangly and awkward at the best of times. Dave helped me up and inside. With gratitude, I sat on the weird little seat as he helped me with the harness.

I grinned, thinking this is kind of fun!

Samantha was an amazing driver; just as good as Dave. Soon we arrived at the familiar, gigantic hospital grounds.

Dave and his partner were done with their shift but Samantha waved Dave off to go visit Benjamin with me; she would sanitize and lock up the rig. They often traded off on duties like this; they were best friends and always had each others' back.

I found myself wishing I had a friend like that as Dave and I entered the ER bay, my home away from home I thought. I giggled, softly. Dave looked at me funny and this made me guffaw. He really had silly expressions, sometimes.

We went up to the fourth floor and swiftly to Benjamin. "Hey, hope the food doesn't suck here, Benjamin..." I said. Benjamin rolled his eyes a bit, "It's pretty bad."

"Oh," I frowned. "Are you allowed to eat outside food?!"

"Yes, but I can't exactly stroll out for a burger and fries..."

"Gee, why not?" joked Dave.

We all laughed.

"How are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm comfortable but going a bit stir-crazy."

"Oh, I would feel the same way in your situation. When are they going to let you get outta here?" Dave asked.

"A couple more days, I think. I think they're pranking me by making me stay longer," Benjamin groused.

I said, "excuse me" as I left his room, went down to the gift shop and asked the old lady working there what book or magazine I should get for a bored Doctor that's a patient?! She handed me a thick murder mystery. I paid for it with my last ten dollars. At least payday was tomorrow, I thought!

I went back upstairs but took the stairs this time. I didn't really like riding elevators.

Panting a little I arrived back at Benjamin's room. I handed him the thick book, "this is for you, Benji. The old lady at the gift shop recommended it."

Benjamin thanked me.

I took out my new knitting needles and an already 'caked' ball of blue yarn. Dave's green eyes lit up, "Are you knitting my scarf???" "Yes, I gotta cast on. So much knitting I need to get done, between you and Jacob!"

Benji gazed at me with his stunning, light blue eyes. I squirmed a little. "Hey, can you knit me one, too? My favorite color is red."

"Of course," I laughed. I realized I had a huge skein of red yarn in my stash that would be perfect since Benjamin was so tall.

One of the staff when I was visiting Benjamin told me there was a position available in the administration department in the hospital. They had weekend staff; just not as many as weekdays. It was the type of job I was used to and it paid double what I was earning right now at my current job! It had excellent benefits, too. I applied that day and to my amazement, I was hired!

I was ecstatic and told Benji and Dave right away. Dave gave me a high five and Benji raised his arms to give me a hug, which of course, I accepted. His embrace was warm, strong, and inviting. I felt a tingle I wasn't used to and I was a bit embarrassed. I felt very warm, deep inside. A sensation I had never had before.

When Benji was released days later he wasn't able to look after himself, yet. He was off of work, too, until he could stand and walk, easily. I talked with Dave and he said he would ask Jacob if he could help us with Benji.

I decided I would care for Benji at his place as his couch was a lot nicer than mine. He gave me his keys and Dave and Samantha dropped me off there.

I opened the front door and a terrible stench nearly knocked me over; I followed the source and found some rotting things in Benji's fridge so I bagged them up with a trash bag I found under his kitchen sink. I dragged the trash bag to a dumpster I had seen on my way in.

I went back and opened some windows to air the place out. I realized he had in-house washer and dryer machines, really nice ones, too. I set about washing and drying his bed linens and the towel, washcloth and other things from his bathroom. I made his bed, emptied the dishwasher, snooped in his small office a bit. I was fascinated by all of his books.

I had called my boss soon after I got accepted for a job at the office in the hospital and given notice so I could start my new job at the hospital. The first day of my last two weeks I had spent the night at my basement suite since it was walking distance to my current job. I was walking my usual route into the business district at an ungodly hour in the morning when I saw him! The creep from the park!

I froze in my tracks, fear and sudden anxiety made my heart rate double. I tensed, wondering if it really was him that had set the boobytrap when Benji had gotten hurt.

The Creep spotted me and he glared at me; a terrifying expression full of hatred and evil. My blood ran cold at the sight of it. I thought, holy shit, he knows I told the cops I had seen him?! How???

The Creep took out a knife, a horrifyingly large knife. It looked like it could decapitate a grizzly bear in one swipe. Kind of like a machete! He began to run toward me!

My brain went into flight mode and I turned and fled, not bothering to scream; I knew no one was around to help me. It was 6am and a desolate part of town. My only chance was to run to the gas station four blocks to the East. There were only two intersections on the way there and they were controlled by only a couple of stop signs. I would have to run through those intersections heedless of any traffic. There was very little traffic here at this time of day, anyway.

The Creep was pretty fast but his heavy smoking habit had ruined his lungs. I could hear his noisy breathing from many feet away. He was still gaining on me. I wasn't a sprinter, really.

A big jolt of adrenaline hit me and made me pick up speed. I felt a familiar wheeze but ignored it. No time to screw around with Asthma with this maniac after me! My loud footsteps echoed; bouncing off the concrete buildings' walls. The sound was in harmony with my pounding hearbeat. I was glad I wore sensible to shoes to walk to work and my boss didn't care if I wore sneakers in the office.

I managed to yell, "FUCK!"

I rounded a corner and saw my savior: a cop car. It was driving slowly towards me on this side street. I ran right towards it; I didn't care if I got hit. The Creep would get lit up quickly with that fucking machete he was yielding! I hoped so, anyway!

The cop hit the brakes and I bounced off the police car's hood. I fell to the concrete right in front of the vehicle, but stark terror made me bounce right back up. I ran towards the back of the cop car screaming my fucking head off.

The cop driving bounded out with her handgun drawn; I realized it was the lady cop from the hospital! She recognized me, too. Her partner was a huge brute of a man; covered in ugly tattoos but he had an incongruously soft voice. He shouted at me to get in the back of the cop car. I flung the driver's side rear passenger door open and hurled myself inside. I ducked down and the female cop remotely locked the doors.

"DROP THE GODDAMNED KNIFE!" The lady cop screamed.

"DROP THE FUCKING KNIFE, ASSHOLE!" the dude cop screamed.

The Creep snarled in outrage; he had been denied his prey: ME!

Then, The Creep made a mistake. He rushed the male cop; he closed the gap and stabbed the big brute cop high up on his shoulder. The big cop cried out.

The female cop blew The Creep away. The Creep keeled over backwards, stiffly and hit the concrete; his lifeless melon bouncing with a sickening sound. He had a new orifice in his face; courtesy of the lady cop. Her handgun looked and sounded like a cannon to me but I didn't know shit about guns, I admit.

Her partner kneeled on the ground and went white; there was a lot of blood. This horrified me; I started screaming at the top of my lungs. Pain in my shoulder was reminding me when I had bounced off of the hood. I rubbed it, absently. My mind totally offline.

FUCK!

The lady cop radioed for help and an ambulance and two more cop cars arrived, swiftly.

She unlocked her cop car and helped me get out. I was protecting my right arm and hysterical. She soothed me; "He'll be okay, he's a big tough cop. He's had worse, before. The fucking psychopathic asshole is dead as a doornail and no one needs to worry about his evil ass again."

I didn't know the paramedics who packed the cop into the ambulance and I rebuffed their attention; I figured I just strained myself, or something. I realized I had skinned my knee; I looked down at it, annoyed.

I insisted I needed to get the fuck to work; I needed the money so I set off to walk but the cops from the third cop car hollered they would drive me. I readily agreed.

As it turned out, my employer decided to just pay me out and not have me work the whole two weeks. I thought this was great; Benji was going to be released and I could help him out before I started my new job.

When I got off of work Dave and Jacob were standing by Jacob's truck, in the parking lot. I was in pain and felt like shit and not in the mood for anymore shenanigans. I approached them, slowly.

"Yes?" I asked.

"We heard what happened to you today; we're here to pick you up and take you to see Benji. We're going to bring dinner in for all of us."

I couldn't really complain.

I grimaced as I climbed up beside Jacob. "You should get that looked at," Dave said.

"No. No more ER crap; sorry. I can't take anymore!" I winced.

We arrived at the hospital yet again. I thought, I had better get used to this place; I will be working here, soon!

We entered the ER to go upstairs like usual. We headed up on the elevator and I leaned on a wall, inside. I felt lucky The Creep hadn't gotten to me: I'd be dead rather than just banged up. I sniffled, the reality of the morning hitting me like a ton of bricks. It could have been me with that big ass knife buried to the hilt in my torso. I would have bled out with no one noticing until it was too late. Cold, alone, staring lifelessly at the rising Sun.

I shook all over.

We went to Benji's room. I had found a new book for him to read. I eased myself into the seat beside him, slowly, trying not to swear. Tears streamed down my face; I couldn't suppress my emotions anymore, today.

I tearfully told Benji everything that had happened while I shook all over. Benji reached over and gently touched me to try to comfort me.

"You are so brave, Belinda. I can't believe you were able to think so quickly on your feet to get away from that maniac. You saved your own life and I am so grateful." said Benji.