Another woman raised her hand, “Have you ever made a physical bust, like a brawl?”

“I did all night shift.  I did a lot of weekends.  Down town.  We got plenty of chances.  I have had a broken arm, a broken nose, a couple of black eyes and a sprained ankle.”

The girl asked before she thought, “What about your leg?”

“My leg?  Well, that happened so fast that I have no idea what happened.  One minute I was there standing on it, the next I was falling because the middle of it was shredded.  Had I moved two inches at the right time I would not have been badly hurt.”  The girl dropped her head.  Jan continued, “Don’t feel bad about asking that question.  My amputation is a part of my being a cop.  One minute I was standing on two legs, the next there was a shot, I had intense pain in my right leg, I tried to move and it wouldn’t support me.”

She answered several more questions then there seemed to be no more.  “I hope to be seeing you, thanks for the opportunity to share.”

As she started to the back of the room the class stood and clapped.

Paul spent the last three evenings with Felicia.  She was feeling well.  Tonight Paul took her to Archie’s and gave her the ring.  It was the first time they were together alone since her amputation.  When they got home her dad was not there.  He left a note on the kitchen table stating that he would not be back till after midnight.  Later they learned that he went to Bob Evans, ate his supper and then sat at the counter drinking coffee and reading a book till midnight.  He wisely wanted them to have some space and he was not sure she could be out for long yet.  She asked Paul to stay and went to the kitchen to fix a soda for them.  She realized she could not carry it and he heard her start to cry.  He hurried to the kitchen, thinking something was really wrong.

“I can’t do anything.  I can’t even carry a drink to you.”

He picked up the two drinks, carried them to the coffee table in the living room.  He returned to the kitchen, and picked her up over his arms.  Her crutches fell on the floor as he carried her to the sofa.  After placing her there he went back to the kitchen and retrieved her crutches.  He had learned from being with Penny that placing an amputee’s crutches out of their reach made them very up tight.  Then he pulled a chair to the sofa so he could sit facing her.  She wrinkled her face a little as he sat down. 

“What’s wrong?”

“My leg, it hurts some.  Just a twinge, they come and go.  It’s worse when I get tense.”

“Do you want me to get you a pill?”
“No, I have taken too many of them in the last two weeks, let me try to tough his one out.”

“My sister says that massaging her stump takes some of that away.”

She looked at him, then reached under her skirt, unhooked the cast and pulled it off.  “If it helps, go ahead, but try to be really careful, it is really tender.”

He massaged her stump and kissed her until they heard her dad in the driveway.  He pulled the chair back and helped her put the cast back on her stump.  They were just finished and he was sitting on the sofa next to her when her dad unlocked the side door to the garage. 

To read more of this story click here.  There are links to the other chapters in chapter 1.

The Night Sniper Chapter One: On the Beat

The Night Sniper: Ch. 047 Felicia Finds a Job for Jan

The Night Sniper: Ch. 049 Paul and Jack are Wounded