Death is a Girl

Chapter 78 - Protocol

Morrigan wasn’t sure precisely what she felt as she stepped inside the hospital room. She looked upon her mother, lying in bed with her eyes closed, an I.V. in her arm, and a heart monitor letting out a soft, constant beep. Her mother’s chest rose and fell slowly with her breathing, and in a way, seeing her like this was a relief. It wasn’t good—Morrigan wished this never happened, but at least she was alive. Now, seeing with her own eyes that her mother was alive, even if in critical condition, at least cast-off Morrigan’s worst fears that it was truly too late or that she would be beyond saving.

As Morrigan stepped closer, she noticed brown straps on either one of her mother’s biceps, which bound her to the hospital bed. Her forearm, from the wrist until almost the elbow, was heavily bandaged in gauze. Morrigan’s heart ached even more. She took a deep breath, steadying herself as she moved closer to the bed. Her mother’s face was so pale. Morrigan gently took her hand, and she could feel the coldness of her skin on her fingertips.

“Mom,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “I’m here.”

Noir spoke from behind her. “Morrigan, don’t forget your glamour.”

Morrigan ignored him; that didn’t really matter right now. Her mom wasn’t even awake.

“I’m sorry I…” Morrigan spoke softly to her mom, unsure exactly what she was apologizing for. Or, maybe it’s that she didn’t know what to apologize for first. She felt so much guilt, thinking of all those years she had only ever seen the worst in her. Then to just disappear one day... she remembered thinking her mom wouldn’t even care. But how could she have thought that? She felt so stupid and ignorant.

“I know things were not easy… and I never gave you much credit for anything. I know… I know you would be the first to admit you’re not perfect, but you tried, and you didn’t have anyone helping you. I… guess I didn’t make things much easier.”

Morrigan saw wet dots appear on her mom’s bandaged arm, and she realized they were sliding off her own cheeks. “I’m so sorry… I didn’t think leaving would matter. I-I’m an idiot for thinking that. I don’t want you gone, Mom; please don’t die! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

She went down to her knees, placing her head against the hospital bed as she wept, still holding her mom’s hand. “Please, Mom… please be okay…” she whispered.

Then, she felt her mom squeeze her hand back very softly, but Morrigan stood instantly. “Mom?” Her eyes were still closed, but her breathing had grown slightly deeper. Her eyelids softly fluttered, and Morrigan heard the heart monitor beep a little faster.

“M-Morrigan,” she whispered with lips that barely moved.

“H-hey, I’m here,” Morrigan said, moving closer to her. “I’m okay, Mom. See? And I came to see you.”

“Please… don’t… go…” she whispered. Morrigan blinked and realized her mom was still unconscious; she didn’t actually hear her. “Come… back… Morrigan…”

“I am back, I’m right here,” Morrigan said, squeezing her mom’s hand a little tighter.

“I’m sorry… please… don’t leave…”

Morrigan saw tears roll out of her closed eyes.

“I won’t mom. Just be okay. You don’t need to do something like this so please just be okay.”

A long silence passed as Morrigan realized her mom really was unconscious. She didn’t say anything back. “Mom… There are some things I’m mad about, too, but… it’s okay. None of that matters. Just please be okay.”

Then Noir spoke up. “Morrigan, we have to go now.”

“No… just a little longer.”

“Morrigan someone’s coming!”

“What?” She looked at the door and back at her mom helplessly. She didn’t want to leave, not now. But it didn’t matter because Noir’s warning came a little too late, and the door opened.

“Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t know…” the nurse’s words trailed off. There was a police officer standing behind her.

“Crap…” Morrigan muttered under her breath as she looked back at her mom and focused on her glamour while she remained hidden by her hood.

The cop cleared his throat and stepped into the room. “You’re Morrigan Livingston, aren’t you?”

She figured there wasn’t much point denying it. “Yeah… I just wanted to see my mom.”

The nurse asked, “You never checked in. How did you get in here?”

Morrigan sighed. “I snuck in. I’m sorry, I just really needed to see her.” She took a deep breath, hoping her glamour would make her look human enough not to scare them, and finally looked over her shoulder at them. No shocked gasps or looks of horror, so she guessed she succeeded.

The cop cleared his throat. “You know, we’ve been turning the town upside down looking for you all summer. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I was just staying with a friend.”

“Which friend?” he asked.

“I’d… rather not say.”

The cop nodded, grabbed his radio, and held it close to his mouth as he said. “Dispatch, this is Detective Grant. I have located Morrigan Livingston. She’s safe and currently with her mother at Bellevue Hospital, room 314. Requesting immediate notification to all relevant parties, over.”

Morrigan sighed and looked at the nurse. “Is she going to be okay?”

The nurse nodded. “We expect she’ll be in a coma for some time, but we anticipate a full recovery.”

“How long?” Morrigan asked.

The nurse smiled softly. “It’s hard to say. She suffered extreme blood loss, but we did get to her in time, and we’ll keep giving her the best care we can.”

Morrigan felt a wave of relief wash over her. Her mom would be okay! It hardly looked like it now, but she trusted the nurse’s words. She silently swore to herself to be a little easier on her mom in the future and try to connect with her more often.

Officer Grant finished his call and turned to her, his expression softening. “Morrigan, I’m going to need you to come out into the hallway with me while I ask you some questions about your disappearance.”

“Can it wait? I just want to stay in here if it’s alright.”

“I’m sorry, but no.”

Morrigan sighed, looking back to her mother. “There isn’t much to say. I ran away one day. I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have, but I’ve been staying somewhere safe, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Unfortunately, it does matter. This had been investigated as a possible kidnapping or homicide. So we need to clear some things up before we close the case.” He gestured to the nurse. “The doctors have work they need to do in here as well, so it’s best you get out of their way for now.”

Morrigan really didn’t want to leave. She took her mom’s hand and said, “I’ll stand in the corner, so I’m not in the way, then.”

“I’m sorry, but that isn’t an option right now. We’ll get you back to visit her as soon as possible, but we have to follow protocol for now.”

“I don’t want to.”

“I am sorry, but it doesn’t matter if you want to or not. I need you to step out of the room. Now, please come into the hallway with me.”

Morrigan ignored him until the nurse put her hand on Morrigan’s shoulder. “It’s alright, sweetie. Your mom’s going to be just fine but we do need this space.”

“You’re lying,” Morrigan said. “If you needed to do an operation or something, you wouldn’t have brought a cop. There’s no reason I can’t stay here.”

Both of them seemed at a loss for what to say. Morrigan figured she called their bluff. She felt a little bit of satisfaction from that fact but still wished they’d just leave her alone.

“Morrigan,” the cop tried again. “I need you to come into the hallway with me now. Now.”

She gritted her teeth. She hated being told what to do, especially when it didn’t make sense. There was no reason she couldn’t stay by her mom’s side. She had already called them out on that, so why were they being so difficult about it? Why did it matter?

“This afternoon, I didn’t know if my mom was alive or dead, so just let me stay for a while!” she snapped at him.

“Come on, that’s enough now,” the cop said, grabbing her forearm.

“H-hey! Let go!”

“We’re going into the hall. Please don’t be difficult.”

He was strong, and there seemed to be some technique in how he grabbed her arm, which pretty much forced her to follow. It didn’t hurt, but his grip was firm, and it absolutely infuriated her. “Let go of me!” she yelled. I didn’t do anything! You can’t just force me like this!”

“Yes, I can,” he said simply, and once they were in the hall, he kept dragging her.

“You said just out in the hall!”

“We’re going somewhere that we’ll be out of the way while I question you.”

“No!” Morrigan struggled against his hold, her voice rising in desperation. “I need to stay with her! You don’t understand!”

“You’ll get to see her again in a minute.”

“Just let me now!” she screamed. They passed a few concerned people in the hall, but nobody interjected.

He guided her around a corner. “Stand against the wall here, Morrigan.”

“Why!” He finally released her but stood in a way she felt like she was trapped against the wall

“Because I told you to. Now calm down,” the cop said. “Now, who have you been staying with this last month?”

“I told you I’m not answering that.” She kept her gaze to the side of him, anger boiling in her chest.

The officer kept his tone firm but calm. “Morrigan, we’re trying to help you and your mother. But you need to cooperate with us. Who have you been staying with?”

Morrigan’s jaw clenched. “I’m not saying anything about them. They were just helping me. They don’t deserve any trouble.”

Officer Grant glanced at his notepad and then back at her. “Alright, we can come back to that later. Did you have contact with anyone else during the time you were missing? Any communication with friends or family?”

“No.”

He noted this down, his expression thoughtful. “So you weren’t forced away from your home or tricked into going somewhere or something like that?”

“No. I just felt like leaving for a while…” She exhaled, trying to think of an answer that would placate him. She obviously couldn’t tell him the truth. “I only planned to be gone for a couple of days, but I ended up staying longer and never leaving.”

He cleared his throat and put his notepad into his pocket. “Okay, so here’s the thing, Morrigan, and I need you to be honest. We don’t want to get anyone in trouble, but we need to know who you were with.”

Morrigan kept her mouth shut and refused to answer. She was angry now, and tired of repeating herself. Her forearm even hurt a little bit where he grabbed her now that she thought about it.

“Do you have a family member you can stay with?”

She shrugged.

“No aunts or uncles, anything like that? Or even an older cousin?”

“Not really.”

“Okay, well, here’s the situation. Right now, you are in police custody and—”

“But I didn’t do anything!” she interrupted, but he talked right over her.

“—if we can not ascertain an appropriate party to transfer custody of you over to, you’ll have to go with CPS, and they’ll take care of you.”

She felt her blood run cold, understanding where this was going. “Am… am I being detained?” she asked, her mind riffling through some random videos or articles she read about talking to the police. Since she was no stranger to shoplifting or even credit card fraud, she figured she’d be in this position sooner or later, just under different circumstances.

“Yes, you are being detained.”

“Under what charges?”

“Right now, none.”

“So then I should be free to go.”

“No, you’re a minor who’s been a missing person for three months so you’re not free to go.”

“Well, take me home then! Or… just leave me here. It doesn’t matter.”

“Morrigan, we can’t just leave you here. It’s our job to ensure you’re safe and accounted for.”

“Well, I am safe and accounted for here. So I’m staying here.”

“No, it doesn’t work like that. The medical staff are not babysitters.”

Morrigan’s eyes drifted down the hallway, her mind racing. She couldn’t let them take her into custody, and she definitely couldn’t go with CPS. She still had her list to take care of tomorrow, especially with Alice apparently keeping tabs on her. She couldn’t mess up any of her reapings again or flat out miss a day of work. If she didn’t find a way to slip away it could turn into a big problem really fast.

As she scanned her surroundings, she spotted an exit sign down the hallway. A surge of adrenaline accompanied a pounding in her chest. If she could just make it to that door, she might have a chance to escape. She just had to disappear around a corner long enough to use perception blocking or even shadow step away; she just needed to get out of his sight.

She glanced back at Officer Grant, who was watching her closely. “Can I have some water?”

The officer looked at her, weighing her request. After a moment, he nodded. “Alright, there’s a water fountain just down the hall.” They started walking in the direction of the exit sign. He loomed just over her shoulder. She took a deep breath, bracing herself. If she moved suddenly enough, she could surprise him and get a head start. After that, she just had to plow through the exit door, lose him around a corner, then disappear.

Her adrenalin raced. Despite everything she had been through these last three months, the prospect of fleeing from an ordinary human cop was still nerve-wracking.

They approached the water fountain. She took one last deep breath as she acted like she was about to take a drink—then suddenly made her move.

Morrigan broke into a sprint, aiming for the door just a short way down the hall now.

“HEY! STOP!” Officer Grant yelled. “MORRIGAN! STOP!”

She could hear his heavy footsteps close behind her, but she didn’t dare look back. She stretched out her hand, pushing the door open with all her strength, and burst into the stairwell. She didn’t stop, her feet barely touching the steps as she flew down them. The sound of the door slamming against the wall and Officer Grant’s shouts echoed behind her.

“STOP! MORRIGAN!”

She had to lose him. She had to disappear! She reached the bottom of the stairs and shoved through another door that would lead her outside. Her eyes darted around, looking for an escape route, and she spotted a corner of the building with a nice long shadow that would be perfect for shadow stepping. She started heading right for it. If she could just get to the shadows and out of his sight for a moment, then—

She was jerked to a stop as she lost her momentum, and before she understood what was happening, the world was spinning around her, and she was tackled to the ground. She screamed, thrashing around, and Detective Grant yelled, “Stop resisting! You’re only making this worse!”

“LET ME GO!” she screamed as her hands were forced behind her back. “I didn’t do anything! You can’t do that! STOP!” She felt the cold metal of the handcuffs go around her wrists.

“Morrigan. Enough!” Grant said, slightly winded himself. “You’re coming to the station with me now.”

“But I didn’t do anything!” she screamed. “You can’t arrest me for no reason!”

“Morrigan, listen to me,” he said, holding her still. “Because of what you just did, I can charge you with resisting arrest and obstructing an officer. But I don’t want to do that. I know you’re scared and upset, but you need to calm down and cooperate with me. This is for your safety.”

Morrigan looked over her shoulder and glared at him, her breath coming in ragged gasps, tears of frustration streaming down her face. “I don’t want to go with you! I need to be with my mom!”

“I understand,” Grant said, "but right now, we need to follow protocol. You’ve been reported missing, and we need to ensure your safety. Let’s get this sorted out, and you can see your mom again as soon as possible.”

She continued to struggle, but his grip was firm. Defeat and exhaustion finally won out as she stopped resisting, and he picked her up off the ground and led her away.

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