CHAPTER THREE
"Is that him now?" Lisa asked the tall, dark-haired policeman standing next to her. There were four policemen on the floor that night. The other patients were moved to the opposite end of the floor, clearing out of the large ward at the west end of the corridor.
"Right, ma am. He just came out of surgery. You shouldn't have too much trouble with him. He just got a bullet in the right leg. The doctor said he'll be well enough to be transferred to the city jail hospital tomorrow morning," the policeman said, glancing around the empty, darkened ward nervously.
Lisa followed his glances with nervous glances of her own. After their fucking, Chad continued to warn Lisa of the possible danger of having Art Decker in her ward that night. His warnings finally made her so nervous, she was about to call in sick and let someone else take her duty that evening.
"You think there'll be any trouble here?" Lisa asked as she peered down the corridor and saw the green-clad surgical technicians wheel the gurney down the hall toward the ward where she and the policeman stood.
"That's what we're here to stop," the cop said. He turned and looked at Lisa, noticing that his comment hadn't calmed her down any. "Look, ma'am. We don't think anything's going to happen. We've got patrols out looking for his brothers. Word's out that they're heading up to San Francisco. This is just to make sure they don't try anything if they're still in town."
"I hope so," Lisa sighed as the gurney passed by her. She picked up the chart that hung from the side of the cart. Instructing the technicians where to put Decker, she conferred with the surgeon concerning his night orders. The policeman who'd been talking to her moved up to the hospital bed where Art Decker had been moved. Lisa felt immediate relief. There were two patrolmen in her ward, several more along the corridor, two by the elevator, and others in the lobby and parking lot around the hospital.
"Ma'am, he's waking up," the young patrolman called from the corner where Decker had been put.
"And call me any time you've got questions, Lisa," Dr. Hammond said as he closed the metal cover of the chart and handed it back to the nurse. "This is a star patient," the surgeon whispered, winking and patting her lightly on the shoulder as he turned and walked toward the elevator.
"Thanks," she sighed, raising her eyebrows as she turned on her heels and walked quickly to Decker's bed. The blonde felt her skin crawl as she approached the still form. Decker was a man who had terrorized a large section of Los Angeles for over a year. Everyone agreed that he was mentally ill. The scenes of sexual mutilation and degradation perpetrated by him and his brothers had been enough to make everyone certain of his mental illness.
When she walked up to the bed and peered down at Decker's face, Lisa was amazed that she didn't see something twisted and sickening staring back at her. Actually, he looked rather meek and respectable, certainly not like anything she'd imagined.
"Something wrong?" the policeman asked, noticing Lisa's hesitation and surprise.
"No. It's just that he doesn't look like…"
"Like a killer?" the policeman interjected. "I know. That's how he and his brothers got into homes and apartments, even when people were warned about him. He looks like the kid next door. Everybody trusted him. But don't worry, ma am. That's the right man, all right."
Lisa felt her skin crawl again. She thought about the descriptions of what some of the victims looked like after the attacks – tits cut off; cunts bloodied and beaten; women who'd been forced to perform humiliating acts of bestiality with their own pets in front of their crying children and horrified husbands. Then Lisa noticed Decker was awake and looking up at her. She sucked in a sharp breath and stepped back, covering her tits protectively with the chart.
"Okay, Decker. We've got you in here for the time being. You don't try anything, and you'll he fine. There's nothing better I'd like for you to do than by something," the patrolman said. "I knew one of the women you and your scum-bag brothers took care of. I'm just hoping that you try something tonight," he added in a quivering, threatening voice.
Lisa glanced at the angered patrolman, then shifted her eyes to Decker and was horrified to see a sneer twisting its way across the man's thick lips. She saw the patrolman's eyes widen, then his hand slip quickly for his holster.
"Don't," she whispered, reaching down swiftly and grabbing him gently around the wrist. "He's not worth it."
The patrolman sighed and relaxed, standing back and wiping the sweat off his forehead.
"You're right. I'm not going to blow my career because of a turd like that," the patrolman said, closing his eyes and getting control of himself.
Lisa sighed, then looked back at Decker. She could see something gleaming in his eyes. It was a look of hatred. His expression, earlier so innocent and boyish, was one of an unearthly, horrid sneer. His upper lip curled back and revealed a row of long, white teeth that gleamed even under the dim light in the ward. If he weren't strapped in the bed, Lisa swore that he'd jump up and rip her apart with those teeth.
"Feeling better?" Lisa asked evenly, amazed that she could act so professionally under his madman's steady gaze.
"Yeah," he hissed, closing his eyes and rolling his head to the side.
The blonde was thankful he wanted to sleep. She couldn't take him awake.
"I've got to see about the rest of the patients. We've had to move them around. That never does them any good," Lisa said to the young patrolman as she motioned to the teenage nurse's aid to follow along.
The two women moved from room to room, examining every patient quickly, trying to push out the nagging terror that something horrible might happen tonight.
"Judy, why don't you go downstairs and grab a cup of coffee. Bring me up one when you're through – black," Lisa said as they finished with the last patient.
"All right, Miss Murray," the young aid said, relieved to get off the floor for a few minutes. Lisa went back to her station, signing the reports and finishing the night orders as the policemen patrolled the corridors and ward. Gradually, she began to feel calmer about the situation. After all, it wasn't all too terrible. There were enough guards on the floor to throw back any assault.
Then there were the thoughts of what happened between her and Chad earlier.
"Urnmmm," she sighed, realizing her thoughts were wandering. She looked around to see who had noticed her daydreaming. The police talked in soft voices to one another or yawned sleepily. Lisa went back to her work, but slowly drifted back to those minutes that evening when she and Chad were scooting around on the floor of his office. She could feel his hot, sweaty, hairy skin sanding over her belly, tits and crotch. She could still taste his salty spittle pouring into her sucking mouth as he blew his wad into her pussy.
Lisa sighed, forcing herself to concentrate on the work in front of her. She'd have plenty of time to think about what happened in her home. All she was thankful for now was that relations between her and Chad were normal again. In fact, if she could slip away sometime tonight, there might even be a repeat performance. He was on call tonight, sleeping in his office on the first floor. She could slip out for one reason or another and…
"Who's there?" Lisa suddenly heard one of the officers in the corridor call out threateningly. Lisa felt her blood freeze and the hair on the back of her neck stand up when she heard that question. The blonde felt like suddenly diving under the desk.
"It's only me," a female voice chirped.
"Oh, it's all right officer," Lisa said, settling back in her seat and nearly fainting with relief as she recognized Marilyn's voice. "What're you doing up here? You're on duty."
"I know," Marilyn said, sitting down in a chair next to Lisa. "I left the floor for a second to find out what happened," the brunette giggled.