Henry ran his hand through his hair and tried to get a control on his motions so he would stop shaking. He cleared his throat. "Has the threat been neutralized completely? Is it safe?"The EMT who had been called ran forwards to the man who had been shot. He had a giant pack on his shoulder which he dropped onto the hard station floor as he got on his knees. The health professional checked the photographer"s neck for a pulse before putting his head on the dude"s chest. "The threat? Man, you could have just shot his shoulder and I could have gotten you off easy. This is a serious injury which I understand was done in self defense. But ah, it"s going to be a bad scar if he even survives the surgery needed to get that bullet out of his head. You just nicked the brain instead of getting it in there. A civilian whose better than a sniper really scares me. All the personal around here should get a writing up for this."
The EMT looked at the police officers with a dark expression before turning to the wiry accomplice who was struggling in his bonds. His a.s.sessed his face and the bruise that was rapidly forming on his cheek. The wiry photographer shook off the touch with a loud grunt. The EMT shook his head. "He"s all right, you should survive to be put away for a very long time."
Henry looked at the two with a cold look. He looked like he hadn"t caught his bearings. "I"m glad he survived the shot. Now he can pay his dues to society. I should not be one to pa.s.s judgement as to why he did what he did. Even though the death penalty should be considered as he brought violence to a public place."
Ellie shook her head. "He probably made a mistake. I"m sure that he was desperate so he tried something without thinking straight. Without knowing his full story you can"t justify killing either of them. I understand you wanted to protect me, but I don"t want you to lose your soul. The mental guilt would be hard on anyone. We don"t need any more." Her tone was sad as her look was beyond the carnage in front of them.
"You have a soul, Ellie. It"s beautiful and full and warm. You can"t be holding guilt if you want to continue moving forwards." His voice was firm as he offered his hand to her.
"I"ll let go . . . when the wrong has been righted or G.o.d let me watch the karma served." Ellie sighed as she moved forwards to a.s.sist the EMT as more medical professionals were called Henry watched as she tote a piece of gauze into strips before handing it to the paramedic.
Henry watched her moved with crossed arms as he struggled to come to terms with these new changes in her. He felt obligated to train his sight on her unless she disappeared in smoke, too mythological to belong to his reality. This was the land foretold in Narnia after all. All he had to do was walk through a wardrobe. She was wearing the same clothes as before, but his feelings toward her were different. He could see her made up face, coiffed hair and traveling clothes of a high cla.s.s woman of his society, but he knew her muscle did not come from a pilates cla.s.s. Her lightning fast reflexes came from the precision of driving at high speeds for many years. Her acceleration of action equal to changes in the cars she was used go driving. Henry had always thought he preferred delicate woman with slim almost straight bodies, but he found his eyes traveling to the muscle in Ellie"s back and underarms. He had never thought that he could find someone like her to be attractive. He felt it was such a shame that all this time as a man that he had not thought to date someone like her.
"Excuse me, sir?" Someone tapped Henry"s shoulder.
Henry fought the urge to snap as he had been removed from his reverie. He turned to see that it was one of the officers who has failed to react when he had been dragged out of the carriage. Henry was surprised to see that the officer has a shiny sheriff badge on his lapel and he was holding out a champagne bottle that from what it was wrapped in had come fresh from the duty-free shop at the station. The pasty officer saluted as he offered the bottle with a stern look of practiced apology that came from incompetence. Henry relented. This was a smaller station, they probably weren"t used to taking security seriously. Henry tried to rea.s.sure the officer with a thin smile. "This would be incredibly difficult to drink without a gla.s.s."
The hand behind the officer"s back held out two champagne gla.s.ses as Henry quickly uncorked the bottle before pouring it generously into both gla.s.ses. Henry took a draught before offering the rest of the bottle to the officer. The bottle held up a hand and shook his head as he downed the gla.s.s of alcohol.
"I"m on duty sir. I"m just hoping a little hospitality can keep my head on for management."
Henry shrugged and drank straight from the bottle. He could feel the liquid starting to warm up his inside as his wits slowly came back to him. He looked to the officer. "I"m sure you"ll be alright. This is a smaller station. You"re not really staffed to prevent this from happening."
"Excuse me. But I have to be honest with you, I haven"t seen a horde of photographers this big since the royals come through. Are you both royals from some Asian monarchy. I can"t believe that someone who is not royalty and trained in armed forces could get that perfect of a shot. What are you j.a.panese? Chinese? I know the Koreans don"t have no king. They have korean pop which my girl likes. Maybe you could put in a word for me with that Jungkook. She would be Jungshook." The heavier officer attempted a body roll which Henry had to admit was mildly disturbing from an on duty cop