Complete Blackout

Complete Blackout

Policewoman Bonniejean sat beside the bed waiting. When the eyes of Amber Leonie opened and blinked, she stood up.

“Ms. Leonie? I’m Officer Bonniejean. Do you feel up to talking?”

The battered and bandaged figure nodded. The officer moved the chair she’s been sitting on at an angle where she could see the victim. She took out a small tape recorder and turned it on.

She recited the date and time, then her name and that of the victim.

“In your own words, tell me what happened.”

“I was walking home, and someone came up behind me and put a knife to my throat.”

“Was this at night?”

“No, in broad daylight, or at least shaded daylight.”

“How shaded?”

“I took off my sunglasses as I couldn’t see well enough, if that tells you anything.”

“Where were you walking?”

“Shady Tree Tunnel.”

“Did your attacker say anything?”

“Scream and you’re dead.”

“Then what?”

“I don’t remember what happened next.”

“Did you faint or pass out, do you think?”

“I must have, I woke up just a few minutes ago.”

“Did you notice anything about your attacker? Like his voice or other characteristics.”

“His voice was raspy and muffled. He had a caduceus tattoo on the wrist of the hand that held the knife.”

A man in scrubs entered the room and came toward the bed. He checked the IV and took out a syringe. Officer Bonniejean had been watching him until she saw the needle. With her nightstick she knocked it out of his hand, jumped across the bed to flatten him to the floor and cuff him.

“It was the caduceus tattoo he had on his wrist that triggered my reaction,” she said later back at the station. Ms. Leonie had just finished telling me about it.”