Breathe Page 2

  One silhouette then the other sprang to their feet, and it appeared one was greater than the other was. They recovered and squared for a fight and were in positions ready for attack at the mere misstep of the other. The smaller of the two sized up the other, and took a swing and whiffed. The larger outmatched him, so he turned and ran.

  The victor ran after him but halted. He skidded on gravel, turned, and came back towards the van.

  Kara kicked her feet faster.

  He came back for the kill, she thought.

  She squeaked. Need to breathe. Nevertheless, she did not receive an answer to her prayer.

  The victor approached her with his hand out.

  She tried to cry but nothing came.

  This was it. This was life. It was over.

  Kara’s cheeks were raised, scrunched, and anguished. Her mouth was open. Her mascara streaked from the rain and masked the tears that trickled Kara’s face.

  Thoughts of her mom and her dad and her sister flashed through her mind. They would be heartbroken.

  The assailant held his hand out like Kara was a hurt bulldog.

  He toyed with her once more. She closed her eyes, for the final time.

  His fingers slide through her hair. The chokehold relieved. He slid an arm under her back and lifted her. The seatbelt tightened and followed her neck.

  He slid his fingers underneath the strap but it tightened further.

  Kara flipped open her bloodshot eyes, and held his face. Gentler and revealed. Blurred. Black. A light came. Her thoughts floated away from her head. She looked on herself from above the minivan.

  Kara came back. Her eyes opened, she beheld a large jackknife in her face. She swallowed but the seatbelt was too tight. She swallowed but it got stuck on the seatbelt.

  “Easy, I’m here and I’m gonna help you. I’ll cut the seat belt. I cannot get it off otherwise,” he said.

  Her eyes widened. His voice was different. Safe. A rescuer. A stranger none the less. Cautious.

  The knife snapped back. The seatbelt fell away from her neck. Her head fell onto his hand.

  Gluck. Cough. Kara wheezed like an out of tune violin. She coughed some more. She wheezed. Her head whipped with each cough but she recaptured oxygen levels.

  Her teeth chattered and her body shivered.

  Warmth and embraces surrounded her.

  His hand guided her head to his shoulder for support.

  “It’s okay,” he said. He rubbed his hands against her slimy gritty back skin and created friction.

  She gulped and strained her lungs. She vocalized a cry for the first time.

  He loosened his embrace and spoke soft words. He intended she lay down but Kara pulled herself into a ball and nuzzled closer to his body.

  She was naked and he was warm. He emitted heat. She pulled her arms in front of her chest and she warmed her arms.

  “Y-y- you saved my life,” Kara managed a squawk through her chattering teeth. “Thanks,” She said with scant a whisper.

  “You need some real help,” he said. Her heart beat against his chest.

  She leaned her head back and closed her eyes in tears. “I cannot believe this happened to me. I cannot believe this,” she relived eternity.

  He lowered Kara, with his right arm and reached his cell phone. “I’m going to call the police and get an ambulance out here, and we can get you to a hospital because you need a doctor, okay?”

  “No,” Kara pled in her frailty, “This is between you and me. I’ll be okay.” She acted soothed. She unrolled her tangled, wet shirts.

  Her decline took him by surprise, but he stressed again, “I’m sorry, I have to.” He stopped and reiterated, “You a doctor. You’re hurt. Hurt more than you realize.”

  “Where are my pants,” she cried in a hoarse voice. She cleared her throat but the seatbelt held fast in place.

  “They’re on the ground,” Kara cried. “Oh man, they’re soaked.”

  Her feeble body collapsed onto the floor. She retracted herself into the fetal position and whimpered.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. He wagged his phone before he dialed. “I’ll step out here and call okay?”

  “No, you cannot leave me here,” she said. Her shrill voice trailed, “What if he comes back? Oh!”

  Kara sighed, and stopped and thought, and regained her thoughts. “In my… in my sports bag… there’s a hoodie. Oh, headache,” she said. She closed her eyes and feigned rest.

  If I sleep, I will wake, and this will not be happening anymore, she thought and she drifted in and out of sleep.

  In haste, he unzipped Kara’s sports bag and rifled through it. He pulled out an ash-hooded sweatshirt and she took it from him but he insisted he help her get her wet clothes off first.

  She stared blankly. Warmth was a higher priority.

  He struggled and pulled her shirt over her matted hair. He was nervous he’d hurt her further. He kept his eyes shoulder level to her, careful because she might think he would take advantage of her.

  The hood was damp but the rest of the sweatshirt was dry. He helped her with the sleeves first before he slid it over her head.

  Once it was around her pits, he grabbed the bottom of the shirt and let it drop onto her lap.

  She struggled and covered buttocks. She pulled her legs inside and rocked back and forth like a ball.

  He stepped around the van. He dialed 9-1-1 and waited for a dispatcher.

  “911 what’s your emergency?”

  “Hi my name is Alex Fredrick and I’m on the east side of Gwinnet Place Mall,” he said. He walked in earshot of Kara so she could not hear the conversation, “I think she was raped. He tried to kill her,” he said. He maintained composure and coherency.

  “Is she breathing?” the operator asked?

  “Yes! Hurry up!”

  “It’s okay, hon. The paramedics and police are on their way. Is she conscious to your understanding?”

  “Yes, she spoke to me. She’s afraid, please hurry, I do not know what else to do.”

  “Please, remain calm for her.”

  “We are on the east side, in front of the food court entrance, on the freeway side,” he said.

  “Okay, thank you. You’re doing fine, Alex. They're coming. Stay with her until they get there.”

  “Okay…” Alex hung up his phone and returned to the van. He plopped in the doorway. He stared at Kara, huddled in the back corner of the vehicle, atop of the stowed third seat.

  She gazed at the floor. She chattered her teeth and hummed a monotone moan. She noticed Alex. He sat next to her and stared.

  “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,” she said. “Oh, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, please help me.”

  “It’s go okay.”

  Ninety-four seconds from the 9-1-1 call, a black, unmarked Crown Victoria with a gold star screeched to a halt. Lights flashed from the grill and the tail of the vehicle. He stopped at an angle to the passenger side of the van where Alex sat.

  “What did he look like?” the Gwinnet County Police officer shouted from his car.

  “Shorter than me. Dark clothes. White. Braves hat.” Alex rattled off.

  “Where did he go?” the Gwinnet the officer asked.

  Alex pointed towards the west, “That way,” and the sheriff sped off.

  The first car disappeared two more squad cars pulled up. One city officer emerged from his white squad car. His female partner popped out of the other side.

  The second car was a K 9 unit from the Gwinnet County Police department. It also was black with a gold star and K 9 in the middle.

  The K 9 officer got out and let his German Shepherd out. It sniffed around the van. The dog stuck his nose in the car, sniffed what he could from the ground. The officer and his dog ran in the direction the first officer ran. The dog barked the whole way.

  “Where’s my bus?” the male city cop called over his radio.

  “It’s coming,” was the response.

  In a short period, four more squad cars surrounde
d the scene from various departments. In the distance, lights flashed and sirens sped on the area streets. The police scoured the area.

  The ambulance arrived and the K9 cop and his master jogged back. “He lost the scent at the bus stop,” the cop said in distress.

  “They’re combing the streets and they have a five mile perimeter set up. We’ll catch him,” said an officer in command.

  An unmarked cruiser sped through the parking lot and stopped next to one of the other cars. , a 5 foot 8 inch blond, Detective Sanchez, of the Atlanta Sexual Assault Response Team hopped out.

  Detective Sanchez’s partner, Detective Stu Vu, question Alex.

  Alex gave Detective Vu the best description he could of the rapist.

  “It was dark,” he said, “and everything happened so fast. I saw him on top of her. I rushed in and tackled him. When we both got off the ground, he looked shorter than me. Braves hat… Nike Shirt. Dark clothes.”

  Detective Sanchez approached the van and the EMT tended to Kara.

  Sanchez took a seat in the van.

  “Hi,” she said, “I’m Det. Sanchez, Gwinnet Police. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. This sucks.”

  Kara nodded.

  “Is there anybody we can call, like your mom or dad?” Detective Sanchez asked.

  “My mom,” she scratched out.

  “Who should I say you are?”

  “Kara Foster…” she said. She lunged towards Detective Sanchez and grasped Sanchez’s coat.

  Kara wailed.

  The EMT stayed back.

  Sanchez returned the embrace. She pushed out her jaw and fought her own tears. The pressure of Kara’s hold was great from such a small body.

  Detective Sanchez patted Kara’s back and gave her unconfident assurance. She repeated soft whispers, “Shh... shh... shh... it’s go okay Kara.” She did not believe her own words but it was all she knew. “Kara,” Detective Sanchez said. She still held Kara and said, “I do not want to do this, but can tell me anything you remember what he looks like so we can catch him. He’s a bad, bad man. Is there anything you remember which can help us?”

  “No,” Kara said. She whimpered. “No, I do not remember anything and I want to go home and go to bed. I’m cold and I’m tired.”

  “I know Kara, I know. A doctor will help you. We’ve got people who can help you get better and help us find this person. We have a general description, but if you remember anything specific, please tell us.”

  “Can you bring a blanket?” Detective Sanchez yelled for another medic.

  Sanchez rose from her seat and let the EMT's tend to Kara. Sanchez went to Vu and asked, “What did you find.”

  “Just vague generalities,” he responded.

  “Hey Britt,” one of the cops called, “They made an arrest at the Days Inn. They think it’s your guy.”

  Vu called Alex, “Come with me. We will drive by so you can ID the guy.”

  Alex and Detective Vu sped away.

  Sanchez returned to Kara and the medics continued her examination.

  “So you were walking back from shopping, and you got to your car and he pushed you in?” Sanchez pried.

  “I got off from work,” Kara said. She replayed the walk in slow motion.

  “So he pushed you into the car?”

  Kara hesitated. She sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve. “I… no…” She swallowed and coughed. “He was in my dad’s van already.”

  “How do you think he got in?”

  Kara turned her head away. She sniffled again. In a broken, high pitch sentence, “The door was open already.”

  “Did you notice it was open as you came up?”

  Another car sped through the parking lot towards the crime scene. It screeched to a stop at the first set of cop cars. The door flung open and a woman popped out and screamed, “Kara, oh my God, no!”

  Two cops rushed to the woman and restrained her so she could not get too close to the crime scene.

  “I’m so sorry. It’s my fault,” she said. She covered her head and turned her back to the officers. “I should have walked with her,” she cried.

  “Annie!” Kara said.

  “You know her?” Det. Sanchez inquired.

  “She’s my boss, and my mom’s friend.”

  Det. Sanchez talked to Annie for a bit. She came back to Kara.

  Det. Sanchez’ phone rang, “It’s not him,” the voice said. “Alex said it’s not close.”

  “Dammit, what’s wrong with these beat cops? The EMT is wrapped up here. I’ll ride with her to the hospital. You and the boy meet me over there. I’ll question him when I get there.” She closed her phone and shook her head in disgust.

  The EMT lifted Kara onto the stretcher and rolled her into the ambulance. Josue and Chico stood off in the distance, by a light pole. Arms folded, and feet shoulder width apart, they looked on.

  After the medics lifted her into the ambulance, Det. Sanchez hopped in the back and settled in next to Kara the paramedics closed the doors.

  The paramedics closed the doors on the ambulance. The rain poured and said to the heavens cried for Kara.

  “Dammit,” Sanchez muttered under her breath because every drop of rain compromised the crime scene.

  The EMT put Kara on an IV and they had not left the mall. Within minutes, the ambulance was on its way, Kara en tow, to the hospital.

  “Please,” adamant, she gasped and she struggled for words. “I do not want to go… please, I beg you.”

  “It’s okay Kara. I’d feel the same way, and others have felt that way too. However, I found we could help you better in a hospital,” the medic reasoned.

  The other medic reached to the CB microphone on her shoulder harness. The medic radioed in to the hospital and said, “GMMC, 902h. This is an 82. We have a seventeen-year-old 4-2 with a 3-7 or 3-4c. There are multiple 22’s. 32 perhaps 33’s. 28. External injuries are apparent. ETA 15.”

  “10-4, 2430, GMMC Controller, We will be ready for 10-24. What are her stats?”

  “Blood pressure is 132 over 83. She is conscious and breathing. We have her on IV but no medications have been administered at this time. She’s slipping into shock but we do not have authorization to administer any sedatives without parental permission.”

  “Have her parents been contacted and informed on where to go yet?”

  “They have not been contacted yet. We have had the dispatch call her house with no answer. We sent a 5-0 to her residence. They will inform her parents of the situation.”

  “Okay, we have staff ready for your arrival. We’ll see you when you get here.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I cannot believe this is happening,” Kara mumbled to herself as if she was by herself. She sat and her eyes scanned like a deer in the headlights, but the EMT coaxed her onto her back.

  This cannot is happening. Her thoughts were lackadaisical and repetitive.

  The sound of the siren and the occasional blowing of the horn all blended and added to her confusion.

  Kara’s vision dimmed and darkened to black. The paramedics seemed like they faded further above her than when they first started. She spun in one direction and the world above her spun in another direction.

  Kara closed her eyes but the spin continued. She opened them again and she closed them but she could not open them. Her head throbbed harder and her stomach churned. The last bit of energy ebbed out and she gave up on her eyes. Every, beep, buzz and siren faded into the distance.

  “Kara, stay awake, honey, we cannot let you sleep on us,” a medic said.

  “We’re almost to the hospital; stay awake a little longer.”

  “But I’m tired, I cannot stay awake. I wanna sleep. I wanna go home,” she said. She tossed her head from side to side.

  “It’s okay Kara, I understand, but stay awake for us. Keep talking to us. Tell us what you did last week.”

  “I-I-I work at the mall. I got off from work…“ breath, “I was gonna go home, “ breath, “and read
my Bible,” wheeze,” and,” breath,” take a shower and go to bed. But…” Wheeze. “He scared me. I did not know he was there,” gulk “and he touched me,” pant “my body” breath, “I told” wheeze “him… to stop.” She did not restrain her emotions and tears poured down her rose-colored cheeks.

  Det. Sanchez listened and both medics exchanged glances. The grief and disappointment was tough, for those who listened. The sadness and pain in her face brought tears to the medic’s eyes.

  “Kara,” one of the medics said, “I do not know what you’re going through but we are going to do everything we can.”

  “How old are you,” the other medic chimed in.

  “Seventeen,” Kara said.

  “Oh I have a daughter the same age. Do you go to Shiloh High?”

  “No.”

  “Where do you go?” she probed. Anything she could do. She wanted Kara engaged in conversation. It’d keep her alert.