A couple days later, Kate’s arm was sore, but manageable. She took regularly scheduled pain medicine, and was due to be released from the hospital tomorrow. Kate was working a word search, and thank God for being left handed, because her right arm was next to useless due to her cut. Hearing a light knock at her door, Kate looked up and said, “Come in.”

A police officer walked over the door frame, and Kate would’ve sworn she was in an episode of ‘Law & Order -- SVU’ because this cop looked like the spitting image of the guy that played the cop ‘Elliot’ on that show. “Hi, Kate,” he said, walking over to the side of her bed. “I’m Officer Adams, and I was wondering if I could talk to you for a few minutes.”

“Yeah, sure. What about?” Kate asked.

“Well, we just need to get a statement of your account of what happened in your dorm room the other night,” he replied.

“Oh, I see,” Kate said, a look of pain washing over her face.

“If you’re not up to it, I can come back later, but it’s best that we get all this out of the way as soon as possible. That way, it’s still fresh in your mind and no details get forgotten,” he explained. Sympathy was written all over his face.

“No, it’s okay. And I don’t think I could forget any details of the horrific mess, even if I wanted to. It seems like it’s engraved into my brain forever. It’s cost me my scholarship, my future career, my trust in a lot of people --everything.” 

As Kate spoke, her eyes were glued to her word search book. She had been looking for the word ‘magnificent’ when the officer walked in. Now, she had been staring at the book for so long that all of the little letters started to blur and mesh together, into a big black blob.

“I’m so sorry, Kate. I couldn’t imagine what you’ve been through,” Officer Adams replied. 

“It’s okay, and I don’t mind telling my side of the story or whatever,” Kate said, finally looking away from the book and up at Officer Adams. He had nice eyes; they were a striking gray color. They looked caring and kind, but at the same looked fierce and striking. 

Taking a deep breath, Kate told the police officer --Luke, as he had told her to call him -- everything. She started at going to the college tour and meeting ‘Amanda,’ who later she found out was Erin, all the way through every detail until she blacked out in her dorm room, only to wake up here in the hospital a day or two later. Luke nodded as Kate told her story, writing everything down on notebook paper. He had also set a small tape recorder on Kate’s bedside table next to her word search book to record her statement --her story.

When Kate was finally finished, she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, “Well, that’s it, I guess. ‘The End,’ I guess you could say,” Kate finished, with a small smile.

“Well, that’s quite the story, I must say,” Luke said, rising from the chair he had sat in next to Kate’s bed. Kate watched as he collected his tape recorder and filed everything away in the black briefcase he had brought in with him. 

“Could I ask something?” Kate asked timidly.

“Sure, what’s that?” the officer asked, his eyes looking into Kate’s with wonder.

“What exactly is going to happen to ---them?” Kate asked, finally. 

“Well,” Luke started, taking a small breath, “they’re waiting to be transferred to their respective prisons, now. There’s no doubt they were all involved in your case; they were caught red-handed, as you know too well. But there are other cases, six, to be exact, that we’re pretty well positive that they done --were involved in. The other girls weren’t as -- fortunate -- as you, I’m sorry to say,” Luke explained.

“Oh,” Kate replied, breathless.

“But don’t worry. They will be going away for a very long time. You have my word on that. They’re each doing ten years for attempted murder, at the least. Probably all life sentences after the other cases are stacked on top of them,” Luke informed her, laying his hand lightly on top of Kate’s.

“Well, that’s good, then,” Kate said, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. She was glad they were all doing time, and being punished. She felt a small tinge of sadness at the thought of Erin being locked up, but she deserved it. Kate was thankful that Erin had alerted Megan back home, but what about all of the other girls? Why didn’t she alert their families? Why was Kate so different? There were so many questions Kate wanted to ask Erin, in a way, but at the same time, she never wanted to see or talk to any of them ever again.

“I better get going. It was nice to meet you and talk with you, Kate. I’m glad you’re okay and recovering nicely,” Luke said, bringing Kate out of her thoughts.

“Thank you, it was nice meeting you, too,” Kate answered, smiling up at the officer.

She watched as he picked up his briefcase and headed towards the door. After a small wave and a smile, he shut the door softly behind him. Kate smiled. She was glad that justice was going to be served.

A moment later, the door opened again, and in walked Mark, with Freckles leading the way, eagerly.

“Hey, lady,” Mark said, smiling as he walked over to Kate’s bed.

“Hey,” Kate replied, smiling. “Thanks for bringing ol’ Freckles by.”

“No problem. I hear you’re being released tomorrow. I thought I’d bring Freckles by for a minute before we headed down the road to go home. That way, he’ll be there waiting on you,” Mark smiled. Kate always loved his smile, and the way it made his eyes crinkled at the corners, and his eyes, a dark green color, seemed to light up and sparkle. He had the best smile by far, in Kate’s opinion.

“That’s very sweet of you. Thank you,” Kate replied, patting Freckles on the head, and scratching behind his right ear.

“Well, I also just wanted to say that--- well, I’m glad you’re okay,” Mark said. 

Kate looked up from her dog and into Mark’s eyes. They say that you could see to a person’s soul by looking into their eyes. Kate wasn’t sure, but when she looked into Mark’s eyes, she saw kindness, compassion, a great friend, a caring individual. She saw love. Blinking suddenly, Kate looked back down at Freckles, who was resting his chin on Kate’s mattress, his eyes half closed.

“Thank you,” Kate finally answered softly. They sat in silence for a few minutes, but it was a comfortable silence, not in the least bit awkward. 

“Well, we better be going,” Mark announced. “We’ll see ya when you get home,” he added.

“Okay,” Kate replied smiling, and giving Freckles a final pat of the head and scratch behind his ear, “Thanks again for bringing him all the way here. You didn’t have to, you know.”

“I know, but I wanted to. It was a pleasure. My pleasure. I love seeing you smile, seeing you happy,” Mark answered, smiling. Kate said nothing but smiled --and blushed-- in response.