Rick sat down on the covered toilet seat after he finished cleaning Cameron’s blood off of him. His mind was leaping from one thought to another. A serial killer is on the loose. That same serial killer is going after cast members of an irrelevant superhero TV show. That same serial killer knows where he lives and tortured his husband. Now, all of those events lead up to him sitting in a hospital bathroom alone. Alone? The mere idea of being alone ached Rick. However, he knew deep down that he wasn’t alone. 

He picked up his phone and started to dial Isabelle’s phone number. Before he could finish dialing her, he had to calculate what he had to say to her. How much should he give away? What will happen if he gives her all of the details? He couldn’t stand thinking about all of the possibilities anymore and finished dialing her number. 

The dial tone buzzed for so long that he thought she wasn’t going to pick up. Soon, Isabelle picked up her phone.

“Hello?” she asked into the phone.

“Hey Izzy, it’s me. I know I’m the last person you want to hear from right now but this is serious,” Rick stated. 

“Fine, but it actually better be serious.” 

“Your dad is in the hospital,” Rick said. He felt sick hearing himself say those words out loud so easily. 

Isabelle stood silent for a moment. “I’ll be at the hospital ASAP. We’ll talk more when I get there,” she stated. 

Isabelle ended the call, leaving Rick alone yet again. He decided to leave the bathroom and walk out to the front of the emergency room entrance. He stared off into the distance and continued to think.

He thought about what he would say to Isabelle, writing a mental script for himself. He thought about what to do about the serial killer and what they told him to do. Is the killer trustworthy? If he talks, is he next on the list? Will what happened to Cameron happen to Isabelle next? 

As Rick continued to think about every “what-if” scenario he could think of, Isabelle began to grab her things in her office at the police station and started to walk out. 

“What’s the matter, detective?” Mabel, the mousy forensics intern asked. 

“It’s a family emergency, Ms. Smalls. I have to go,” Isabelle answered sternly.

“Well, I hope everything’s okay. I just wanted to let you know that I finished scanning the severed thumb prints for the Rossi family case for you,” Mabel added. 

“Thanks, just leave it on my desk.” 

Before Isabelle left the building, Mabel added one last comment. 

“Being the daughter of the Red Raven sure gives you a lot of privilege. She can just walk out all she wants.” 

Isabelle walked right back up to her and scowled. “What was that?” she demanded. 

“What?” Mabel blushed and kept her eyes away from her. 

“I don’t have any privilege being Rick Greenblatt’s daughter, okay? I had to work my ass off just as hard as you and everyone else in this precinct. Hell, I had to work even harder before I even dreamt about being an officer. You have no idea what kind of hell I had to endure being related to that man. He’s lucky I’m even seeing him right now,” Isabelle explained. 

Mabel shivered, “I-I’m sorry.” 

“You better be. Now, keep your damn mouth shut,” Isabelle warned. 

Finally, Isabelle was out of the building. She stormed across the building and into the parking lot. She opened the door of her black truck, sat herself up on the seat and slammed the door closed. She took a deep breath and relaxed. She looked up from the floor and soaked in the peace of the emerald trees, ocean sky and wispy clouds. Like her therapist instructed her to do, she kept acknowledging her surroundings to keep herself calm. Finally, when she took one last deep exhale, she started to take off. 

As soon as she parked her car at the emergency parking lot, she ran into the waiting room and saw Rick. 

“What happened?” Isabelle asked. 

Rick stated, “He was coming upstairs from the basement but he fell and started bleeding out a lot.” 

Isabelle lowered her brows, “Are you telling me the truth?”

To be continued…