A visit to the hospital
The sound of an ambulance echoed throughout the hotel, followed by the sight of the paramedics
rushing inside, along with two officers.
The EMTs workers hurried over to Miss Grace’s side, took her from Peach’s arms, and placed her on
the stretcher before taking Miss Grace out of the lobby, rolling her outside toward the ambulance.
Striving to stop herself from crying, Peach followed after the EMTs, sniffing as tears trailed down her
cheeks. “Who are you?” A friendly-looking lady gently asked her when she stopped in front of the
ambulance.
“I am her daughter,” Peach whispered, her voice cracking as more tears escaped her eyes.
“Oh, dear. Get into the ambulance.”
“Thank you,”
Nodding, Peach walked to the back of the Ambulance and ended the vehicle, taking a seat beside her
mother.
Inside the motel, the two police looked at Germa and Stony’s bruised faces, and one of them asked,
“What happened to these two? What exactly went on here?”
“Officer, arrest those five punks. They were the ones who beat up my men!” Tommy ordered, pointing
directly at Stony and Germa with his cane.
The two were lying flat on the ground, groaning in pain with a bloody nose and bruised lips, unable to
move their bodies.
When the two officers’ gaze darted toward Tommy, a look of fear and respect appeared on their faces,
recognizing who he was as they said, ‘Yes sir… Right away, sir!”
Then they pulled out their handcuffs, and approached Elijah, only for Ryan to step in front of them and
said boldly, “The Law of defense for others!” “Huh?” One of the policemen asked with a dumb look on
his face as he scratch his neck.
Ignoring his words, Ryan gave a half-smile and continued, “The law of defense of others closely
parallels the law of self-defense. This law allows you to use force, even deadly force, to defend other
people when you believe that they are in imminent danger.” “What are you talking about?! Are you a
lawyer or something?!” The other officer asked angrily as he glared daggers at Ryan.
“At least you are smarter than your friend there.”
“What is that supposed to mean?! Are you insulting authority!”
Dismissing his words, Elijah sighed in frustration and said, “My clients and I were only defending Miss
Grace from imminent danger that was caused to her by Tommy and his two thugs.”
With his eyes on both of the officers’ confused gazes, Ryan’s expression hardened as he said, ”
Tommy and his thugs committed three counts of offenses, a misdemeanor crime by trespassing on
Miss Grace’s property, a crime of malicious mischief by damaging her property, a misdemeanor offense
by beating on her.” “Does this fool think we are in a courtroom?” One of the officers mocked, looking at
his buddy, but his face soon turned serious when he saw his friend look scared and nervous.
Pausing for a moment, Ryan sneered as he looked at Tommy in disgust and said, “So, you can arrest
the five of us for defending an old lady, and later explain to lady justice why the ones who abuse Miss
Grace are not the ones behind bars!”
The officers swallowed hard and looked at one another nervously. Then they looked back at Tommy,
who seemed unsettled, and they hesitated before saying, “Should we make the arrest, sir?”
Deep down, they were praying that he would not say, “yes,” because they knew Ryan was right, and if
they arrest Elijah, James, Rookie, Matt, and him, they can see themselves losing their jobs in the
future.
“Let them be!” Tommy called out, nodding in approval at the cops.
A sigh of relief escaped the officers’ mouths as they put their handcuffs back into their pockets, then
walked away from Ryan and Elijah before leaving the motel.
When Tommy looked over at Ryan, his eyes darted off him and locked with Elijah’s cold gaze, and he
snapped his brows, squinting his eyelids and gritting his teeth before saying, “It’s you, that punk and
useless trash!”
Laughing like some sick psychopath, Tommy hit his cane on the tiles and mumbled, “Well, is this just a
small world… Since our path has crossed in such a way, you can bet your ass, this would not be the
last of our encounters!”
With a numb, lifeless stare, Elijah kept his gaze on Tommy, his eyes full of hatred and anger, and
mumbled, “Woohoo, I am shaking in my boot to the point I want to piss my pants.”
The sarcasm in Elijah’s voice made Tommy’s nostrils flare and his jaw clenched so tight his muscles
hurt, and he stormed off, leaving Stony and Germa on the dirty tiles. “Drag them out of here,” Elijah
commanded, looking at Matt and Rookie. Nodding, the two men walked over to Stony and Germa, took
them by their angles, and started dragging them towards the door as they groaned out in pain. When
the door closed behind Matt and Rookie, James looked at Elijah as his master said, “You guys should
gather your things. We are leaving here and booking ourselves a suite somewhere less stressful.”
Frowning, James clenched his fist, looking disappointed in his master, and asked, “What about the
girl… Peach?”
“What about her?” Elijah asked in a dismissive tone, looking at James’ hand as he noticed how he
clutched his knuckles tightly.
“Are we just going to abandon her in the current conditions she and her mother are in?”
“I don’t remember Peach being my responsibility,”
A sense of anger rose inside James as he snarled, “Why the hell do you treat her that way!? She
has been nothing but kind and patient with us since we got here! And all you have been doing is acting
like a dick to her and her mother!”
“I don’t see how I have been rude, James!” Elijah snapped back.
“Oh, spear me that bullcrap. You, I, and everyone here know that you have been acting like a complete
prick towards them since we got here last night!”
“Okay, I don’t want to be welcoming to total strangers. How is that a bad thing? Huh? How does that
make me a terrible person?” “You are right. That doesn’t make you a bad guy, but it doesn’t make you a
good one either.”
“I am not aiming to be a saint!” The lobby grew silent for a few moments, as James stared at Elijah in
disbelief, unable to find the words to reply. “You should all gather your stuff. I am calling an Uber to get
us out of this place.” Elijah announced as he stared away from James.
Walking in on the conversation, Matt and Rookie frowned when they heard those words, and yet,
neither of them dared to utter a word, not wanting to risk offending him further. As he watched his
master walk away, James clutched his fist even tighter and asked, “If the role was reversed, Elijah-“.
“Don’t you dare!!” Elijah shouted, causing James to flinch and shut his mouth instantly.
But his shock only lasted for a moment, then James drew a breath and let out, “I am begging you,
master! Peach’s father died, and her mother is in the hospital. This place is not generating enough
income. She will not be able to get out of this without our help.” Looking at Matt, Rookie nodded and
said, “Please boss, James is right. We should help the sweet old lady and her kind daughter. At least
until she’s out of the hospital and back on her feet.”
With a worried look on his face, Ryan lowered his head and said, “Maybe, just for two weeks or three,
huh, boss?”
Turning around to stare at his men, Elijah thought about it for a brief moment before scowling as he let
out, “Just for two weeks, and then we are gone. Understood?”
Even though the four of them tried hard not to smile, they couldn’t stop the grin from creeping onto their
face, and they nodded eagerly as they responded with a ‘yes, sir. “Good,” Elijah said as he turned his
back to them in an attempt to walk off. But then, James unclenched his fist with a daring expression on
his face and said, “Maybe we should go to the hospital to check on them.” “You are pushing your luck!”
Elijah snapped at him angrily. But when he turned and saw the pleading expression on all his guys’
faces, he couldn’t help but soften his voice and replied in a soft tone, “… Fine. Just for today.” At ten
o’clock, Matt brought the pickup to a stop in front of “St Louis hospital” and turned the engine off.
Staring at the huge, white building to the right, Elijah sighed out his frustration, pushing the
car door open and getting out of the pickup. After shutting the door, he stretched a little bit, feeling stiff
and tired after sitting in that cramped space for almost one hour, and then gazed at James and the
others approaching him. Together, they walked up to the entrance and entered the hospital, moving
toward the nurse at the front desk “May I help you, gentlemen?” She smiled at them kindly when they
got to her desk. Matt and the others gave her a respectful nod, and James smiled as he said, “We are
here to visit a mother and her daughter. Peach and Miss Grace.”
“Oh, I see. Peach is in the waiting room, and Miss Grace is in the operating room… The waiting room is
on the first floor, which is to the right of the lobby,” The nurse explained. “Is that understandable, sirs?”
“Yeah, thanks,” Matt said with a smile.
Once they walked away from the nurse’s desk, James’ face itched with worry as he mumbled,” Germa
only slapped Miss Grace, so why would she need surgery?”
“Well, she did look sick when we saw her last night and this morning. So maybe she needs to be
checked for something else,” Ryan suggested softly as he glanced at Elijah while walking beside him.
Listening to his men’s conversation as they walked further down the hallway, Elijah felt a sense of
unease and worry creep inside him, as well as the feeling of guilt.
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