like the sun should be up, like hours and hours had passed, but according to the clock it was only a little after eleven. The sky beyond the windows remained dark, the glass reflecting the scene within the waiting room in a warped parody. Riel’s thoughts jumped around like agitated monkeys, and it wasn’t until Officer Norton came back with a plastic-wrapped ham sandwich and a Coke that she realized she was trembling with hunger.
She fumbled with the packaging so badly that Norton took the food back from her. He unwrapped the sandwich, popped the tab on the soda, and returned them.
“You’ve had quite a night,” he said.
She nodded, the soda sloshing in the can. She tried to steady herself.
He jerked his chin toward the food. “Eat something. I swear it helps.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Eat it anyway.”
She stared at the smashed ham and cheese. Nothing had ever looked more unappetizing, but she took a bite. It didn’t taste bad, but it felt weird in her mouth. She swallowed it down her dry throat, washed it down with soda, and looked sideways at the cop, who was regarding her curiously. Her brow wrinkled.
“Have you ever…” She licked her lips, frowning, and he smiled faintly.
“Have I ever shot a man?” he said quietly, and she curled in on herself, nodding. He passed a hand over his forehead. “In fact, I have. Once.”
She examined his face. He stared distantly at the far wall, shifting in his chair. “Line of duty, about two years ago. Guy came at me with a gun, and I didn’t even think, I just let loose. After, I found out the gun wasn’t loaded. It was some kid, twenty-three years old. I thought he was whacked out on PCP or something, but he was actually schizophrenic.” The corners of his eyes crinkled as a look of pain passed over his face. “I didn’t know any of that. Wish I had.”
“Did he die?”
Norton nodded, then sat up and smiled jerkily. “I still see him fall, see the look on his face. Dream about it.”
“You didn’t know,” Riel said. “Anyone would have done the same thing. You thought he was going to shoot you.”
“And what you did tonight, anyone would have done that too,” he said. “I checked, and the guy you got is messed up pretty bad, but they say he’ll live. He’ll be in jail a long, long time, though.”
Riel took a deep and shuddering breath. It felt good to talk about it, and it kept her mind off of Evan. She wanted to ask Officer Norton how he’d gotten involved with Mishmash, but knew she’d better not, not here in the waiting room with the young mother shooting them curious looks.
The wait dragged on and on. The hand on the clock passed midnight, then twelve thirty. They called the young mother, and others. The waiting room started to empty out, and still they sat. Riel ate half her sandwich, the can of soda going warm in her hand, and began to suspect that they were just stalling, not wanting to tell her, I’m sorry, Miss Mejia, but there was nothing we could do.
When a white-coated doctor finally approached them at a quarter to one, Riel felt a sick wave of adrenaline that threatened to bring the ham and cheese back up again.
“Miss Mejia?” the doctor said, and Riel nodded, fighting back her hope and fear.
The doctor smiled. “Mr. Anderson is out of surgery. He’s stable, and resting.”
“Oh my god,” Riel breathed, hiding her face in her hands, her cheeks wet with tears.
“He’ll have scarring, but he’ll be fine.” Riel shook with laughter and sobs as the doctor spoke. “Do you want to see him?”
Riel wasn’t sure her legs would carry her, but she got up. Norton kept his arm around her as they trotted down the hall, up in the elevators, and to Evan’s room.
They found him grey and unconscious, wrapped in bandages, but his chest was still rising and falling underneath the thin hospital sheets.
Riel took his cold, limp hand. He looked different, like Mishmash had: his cheeks were sunken and his complexion was grey, but it was Evan. Her eyes blurred with tears, and she pressed his hand to her forehead.
“I told you he’d be okay,” Norton said, but Riel couldn’t answer.
Riel sat by his bedside as he slept, staring at his face, watching him breathe. Nurses and doctors came in and out, checking his IVs and the monitors, and at two in the morning Norton prepared