Chapter 3 - Part I

The paramedics arrived and I explained to them what had happened. In the lapsed time since the accident a huge crowd had gathered around us and were debating what had happened.

"He pushed her into the road!" One over weight man accused.

"No I didn't!" I replied.

"Yes you did, I saw you do it!" He demanded.

"No I didn't and no you didn't. You have only just got here and pushed your way to the front. Jesus Christ." I breathed out and pushed my way through the crowd.

Away from the hoards of blood thirsty New Yorkers I punched some buttons on my phone until Mikes number began to dial. "Mate, I don't think I will make it back into work today."

"Oh, it went well then? Let me guess, you are taking her for a slap up meal and then back to yours for coffee and a bit of one on one. I'm right ain't I? You sly dog!" Mike whooped and cheered down the line.

"Not exactly mate, I think I might of killed her!" I told him.

Silence.

Mike burst out laughing, I could hear him wheezing and gasping for air in between bursts. This lasted for a least 30 seconds until he regained composure. "Your bloody kidding me Jack, you have killed her before even sleeping with her? I mean, where is the sense in that eh? You should conquer them in the bed then shoot them in the head! Thats my motto, have I not taught you anything?" Mike hooted at me, the man was full of morals.

"Your a twisted bastard, I will see you tomorrow, dick head!" I hung up the phone.

As I made my way back onto the block the paramedics were heaving Stephanie into the ambulance. I walked over to the scene and introduced myself to a couple of NYPD's finest, who then took down a statement from me and told me to be on my way. From what I could gather Stephanie had been taken to the local hospital, I needed to know how she was so flagged down a cab.

On the way to the hospital I thought about what had happened. The memory had an interesting theme tune of some of India's finest Bollywood hits. I wondered why there were so many foreign cab drivers in Manhattan. These thoughts took me all the way to the ER reception desk.

"Hi, erm I am looking for a girl that has just been knocked over by a cab down town, I think her name is Stephanie." I asked the large black lady behind the reception desk.

"MmmmHmmm," She replied. "And what be her last name may I ask you sir?" She looked up at me from her computer.

"Gosh well I don't know. I don't really know her that well, but I was there when she was knocked down." I said with a nervous smile.

The woman tilted her head as she peered at me in silence. "So your the asshole that pushed Miss Stephanie into the road while that big old taxi was headed round the corner," She began to swivel around on her chair. "Phylis!" She yelled. "This here is the boy that pushed poor Stephanie into the road. He ain't as psycho as we thought he would be!"

A short, white haired women in a nurses uniform came trotting over to the desk to see me. She looked me up and down, spun me around and pinched the skin on my left arm. "Well, he certainly seems quite normal to me. What is he like when he talks? Coherent?" Phylis looked over at the other woman.

"Well, sounds to me as though he is from England, so I don't know if coherent is the right word. I am going to say well punctuated Phylis." The larger woman looked me in the eye. "Do you Brits often push young girls into the path of cars in the street?" She asked with a damning glare.

"Jesus Christ no, i did not push Stephanie into the road. Who the hell has told you that?" I looked at both of the women. "I was simply talking to her and she walked out into the road without looking either way. I tried to stop her but it was too late. The taxi swung around the corner and hit her, I thought she was dead." I stepped back from the desk.

"Humph a likely story there Phylis, wouldn't you say? What say we call on security and have this young man escorted into the car park." The larger lady looked past me at someone just walking in through the automatic door.

"No no, you don't need to do that. I have already given my statement to the police. It was a rumour started by some big fat man in the crowd that gathered, I really had nothing to do with the accident." I demanded.

"Oh, so you are being prejudice towards over weight people now? Boy, this is not looking good for you. Phylis I am calling security." She picked up the phone and began dialing a number.

At the same moment I heard laughing coming from a bank of curtained cubicles just beyond the desk. It was a girl laughing, and I recognised the laugh instantly, it was Stephanie. Infuriated and fed up I gathered my composure and headed towards the laughing curtain. By now the two ladies had given up the game and were laughing too.

I wrenched open the curtain and stepped inside. Stephanie was lay on the bed looking a bit of a state, but with a big grin on her face. She had a big bandage wrapped around her left ankle and leg, leaving her toes poking out of the top. I wondered now how long it had took to get here, a lot longer than I had thought. Most of her was covered up with a hospital spec blanket and I could see she was wearing a hospital robe as well. Her hair was an amusing mess and her make up had run a little, but I thought she still looked beautiful.

"That was not funny at all." I glared in at her.

"Oh but it was, it was my pay back!" She continued to laugh.

"Pay back?" I yelled. "Pay back for what exactly? For watching you get hit by a cab, then fearing for your life, then calling the paramedics and staying with you until they arrived, being verbally abused and accused by a crowd of strangers, then coming all the way here to make sure you were okay. Jesus, you should be the one paying me back!" I took a deep breath.

Stephanie just sat there in stunned silence, in fact it seemed the whole ER had stopped work and were listening in on my rant. My cheeks burned red with embarrassment.

"Humph, sounds like somebody is a little bit antsy this afternoon, something troubling you boy? Had a busy afternoon?" A familiar voice ridiculed from behind me.

I stepped further into the cubical and whipped the curtain closed behind me, blocking everyone else out and leaving me and Stephanie alone. Her eyes were wide as she watched me pull out a chair and take a seat. She seemed utterly helpless and didn't seem to know what was coming next.

"Right." I said, and leaned forward.