| "Sans Soin (Without Care)" | ||
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Sunday 26th May 03.30hrs Sleep had eluded her once more; she had gone to sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow only to wake up an hour later wide awake as though she had slept for 10 hours straight. At first she had tried to go back to sleep, but try as she might, sleep wouldn't give her rest so finally she had given up and gone downstairs to the couch and switched the music player on. The music was soothing and restful, but the next few hours passed slowly, and it seemed that nothing could let her sleep. She debated whether to contact Dr Gideon, to see if this was relating to the sedatives he had given her, but she didn't really want anyone to know she was having yet more problems; she was certain that it was only a short term problem, it would be resolved soon enough and if she contacted Section, they would feel obliged to poke and pry into her life. She watched the sun rise over the bay, and the world start to wake. Joggers ran along the shoreline, and dog walkers exercised their pets. The sun shining through the windows, the day stretched out in front of her and she knew she didn't want to spend it inside on the computer, or even here, where the reminders of her problem stared at her and the bike was calling her to take it down the freeways. Perhaps the fresh air would help or rather let her sleep tonight. Breakfast was ditched in favour of eating out somewhere, having made up her mind to take the bike out; nothing was going to delay her, not even food. 08.30hrs So she had listened to her inner self, first calling Gray to ensure that she was not going to be required for the day; the last time she had tried to get away, she had been paged and then they had gone out later that night on the mission to capture the cardinal unsuccessfully. The bike stood on the stands, and she looked at the gleaming paintwork, it reminded her of how lucky she was and it begged to be ridden out across the miles and instead she pimped it around the local area if she were lucky or into town to SH1. She changed into her leathers, although they would be hot if she stood around, the safety they offered was uppermost in her mind. Kicking the bike off the stands and out into the sunshine, she shut the garage door and put her helmet on, plugging the head set into the onboard radio that was tuned into a rock station; letting the beats of the music set her mood. The bike was sweet, she had no set path to follow, but instead took the coast road. It was good to be out in the open air, the bike was responsive under her and the roads were mercifully uncongested by other drivers and she opened up the throttle, caring little about the thought of a speeding ticket. 15.30hrs She stopped for a juice at a small caf� attached to a fuel station, even adding a donut to the order. The sugar making up for not having anything to eat since yesterday evening and she sat in the warm sunshine sipping the fresh, tart orange juice and feeling like a truant school kid. Skipping the work she should be doing in favour of enjoying herself. She caught the stares of the other diners, but ignored them. She had undone her jacket, though not removed it, because it was warm, and underneath was a vest that stretched tightly across her chest, which enhanced her figure rather than hid it. The attraction of a good-looking bike adding to the picture meant that she was the recipient of many a jealous stare from both women and men. She finished the last bite of the donut and did up her jacket as she walked across back to the bike. If she was going to get back tonight, it was time to head for home. Regretfully she started the engine, and instead of returning the same route, she headed up the Parkway. The traffic was heavier, but not excessively so and she enjoyed the passing miles, weaving in and out of the cars and testing the bike's manoeuvrability. She didn't hear the vehicle as it approached; the first she knew of it, was when she saw the shadow of its presence and knew it was too close to her. She tried to edge away, but the leading edge of the van clipped the side of the bike and she felt it begin to slide away from her. She knew as soon as she had been hit that it was a lost cause; regretfully she kicked the bike away from her, letting it slide hearing the metal scraping on the road surface. Moments later the road rose up to meet her and she hit it hard, skidding along on her left side. She could feel the heat burning from the friction of her passage across the surface, but the noise wasn't deafening, though she wondered where and when she would finally stop. The road fell away at the edges and as she slid over the edge of the road, she scrambled with her gloves, trying to stop herself but it was no good, the momentum had not decreased enough and she could only hope something would stop her fall. Brushes and small trees surrounded her, she grabbed hold of them, and a painful jerk in her shoulder told her that her progress had stopped. She breathed heavily, looking around her. The slope she was on dipped steeply away beneath her and she could see the trail that the Harley had taken, by the destroyed fragments of housing and frame that had come away from the bike. She didn't let go of her grip on the bush, though her shoulder was aching. Instead she dug her heels in, preventing her from slipping further down the hill, while she considered how best to haul her way back to the top, only about 10ft away, but between her and the road was loose shale and gravel impeding her way back. She turned around slowly and looked up. Seeing as she did, two State troopers staring down at her, she waved her free hand indicating she was ok and they let down a rope to her position. She grabbed hold of the rope and carefully tied it around her waist, then indicated she was secured to the two troopers above. They hauled her up the slope and watched as she stood carefully, ensuring the hurts were nothing more than a bad case of road rash and a bruised shoulder; she had got away with it lightly. "You ok? Ma'am" one asked. "Thanks" she responded, "Though can you call a tow truck, I don't really want to leave the bike down there." She pointed to the slope behind her. "You want an ambulance as well?" the other one asked, but she got the impression that he didn't really want to stay around. She shook her head, "No, just a tow truck, thanks." There was something about the way they asked, like they were obliged to, rather than they felt sorry for her; it was annoying her and she was hard put to ignore their rudeness. She sat on the barrier, and ignored their comments on women riders obviously not able to handle bikes bigger than they could control, obviously they were chauvinistic as well as rude. She had to give them a basic report, but she provided them with very little information about what happened; she watched them drive away no doubt laughing about the incident at her expense. She didn't even feel rage about them, just a sense of relief that they had gone. As she waited for a tow truck, she re-ran the events leading up to the crash in her head. She had caught sight of very little, only that as she had fallen but she had recognised a partial plate on the SUV that had pushed her, but after that her attention had been focussed more on staying alive than taking down details. Randy and his reliable red tow truck turned up a short while later, and she watched as he managed to haul the remains of the bike up the hill and onto the back of the flatbed. It was a sad sight, what had been sparkling silver and gleaming only that morning now lay broken and crumpled like so much scrap metal; it was never going to be made right again, but she knew she was lucky; it could have been her instead of the bike. Randy gave her a lift back to the towing depot where the bike would be held until the insurance had been dealt with, but she knew it would only be going for scrap. She made a call from the payphone, to Gray's direct number. "Gray? It's Saf. I need a pickup." "Where are you?" he asked. Not even phased by her statement. She gave him the address, he didn't ask for further details, but she knew she would face the questions later. "You will be collected." And then he was gone and she was left holding the now disconnected telephone in her hand. 16.45hrs Randy offered her a soda, but she just shook her head. The day that had started badly was ending even worse, if it were at all possible. All she wanted to do was crash out on her couch in front of the TV, but she had her doubts about precisely when she would get home. She sat on the veranda outside the office, waiting and finally an hour after her call to Gray, a car drew up; a Lexus, in silver grey containing the driver, Gray. She placed the cracked and broken helmet on the rear seat, and got in the front. To his credit, he didn't bother her, just drove her back to SH1 in companionable silence; she didn't feel worried or threatened, just tired and a little annoyed with whoever had done this not to mention the various aches and bruises were starting to stiffen up a bit. 18.40hrs SH1 Gray whisked her straight up to medical for a check-up, by this time, her left shoulder which had taken the brunt of the strain was painful to lift higher than her waist and the bruising was starting to develop; they gave her some ice packs to put on them. The road rash they could do nothing for except to clean it up, over time it would heal up, but other than keeping it dry nothing special was offered other than a couple of painkillers which she refused after briefly hesitating; memories of her addiction too strong to ignore. Return |
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