Nightmares of Caitlin Lockyer

Part 1

1

They took her away from me.

I mumbled a protest through the haze of pain and exhaustion that had turned me into little more than a zombie. I'll never be able to watch a zombie movie again without remembering this night, I thought.

"It's all right – we have to move her somewhere else to take care of her. She's hurt worse than you," I was told. "We need to treat you, too. There's a gunshot wound in your shoulder."

I couldn't remember how long it had been since I'd last slept, so it took a few seconds to register what she'd said. Gunshot wound. My shoulder. Oh yeah, it hurts. I can't help her 'til that's sorted. Hospital staff will take care of her until I'm okay.

The pain began to dull as a local anaesthetic took effect. I turned to look at the mess of blood my right shoulder had become. The smell of disinfectant jolted my brain out of sleep and most of the way to alertness. All that blood and it's barely more than a graze? A few stitches will sort that.

One of the hospital staff held a clipboard while she spoke to two police officers just out of earshot. She nodded, looked grim and came over to me. She started firing questions at me.

"Name?"

"Nathan Miller."

"What happened?"

"I was shot."

"By whom?"

"A homicidal lunatic with a gun and bad aim."

The next question came tersely. "Her name?"

"Caitlin Lockyer."

"What happened to her?"

"Looks like someone tried to kill her."

"Was that you?"

"No, it was the homicidal lunatic and his mates, for all I know."

"What's your relationship to her?"

"Friend." What the hell, I thought. She'd probably agree with that, for the moment, at least.

"There. Done." The nurse stitching up my shoulder was cheerful, glad to be finished with me. "Now I'll show you to your room – just overnight..."

"I want to see her."

"She's still in Emergency."

"I want to see her," I repeated.

"Only family are allowed. She's in a critical condition..."

"Which is why I want to see her."

"But you can't..."

"Take me to where she is, now."

Nurse Grim was reluctant, but Caitlin wasn't that far away. Instead of a normal Emergency Department curtained cubicle, they'd put her in the room for child patients, with cheerful pictures and mobiles on the ceiling. Small though she was, I hadn't made the mistake of thinking she was a child.

Nurse Grim stopped to speak in a low voice to an orderly outside. I accosted a nurse on her way out of Caitlin's room.

"How is she?"

"She's fighting us. Calls out for someone and tries to get up. We can't do anything for her unless she calms down."

I glanced inside and saw someone with a syringe, advancing on her. "Please – don't hurt her!" I blurted out.

The orderly blocked my path. "You're not family... "

"I'm the one she's calling for."

"You said your name was Nathan Miller, and..."