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"Thank you," said the cop

The old man left, and a few minutes later, so did the officers They promised to keep an eye on G K’s house for a few days, but I knew that wouldn’t a it when they drove past

"You look like hell," G K said when they left

"I don’t feel much better"

She took me by the hand and led ht

The entire left side ofmy ear My eye was little more than a slit, and there was a visible knot oncaused red explosions between ht side of my spinal cord was the same color as my face--the man must have broken a thousand blood vessels In a couple of days I was going to be just one giant black and blue bruise

"I’ll get ice," G K said

A fewon her sofa, an ice pack pressed against ainst my face "Thirty minutes on, thirty minutes off, repeat as needed," my hockey coach once told me

"I’m impressed," G K said

"By what? That I can take such an awful beating?"

"That you can take such an awful beating and then co in a stuffed chair across fro what looked like a vodka and orange juice

"If you had answered your phone I ht not have," I told her

"Yet you did come Beat up like you were, all you could think of was uy Ask anyone"

"I can see that forsip of her drink "I took a shohen I ca a shower" She took another sip "A lukewarI stopped and listened The pounding stopped, and then it started again, and II left the bathroohtshirt and ca froh the peek hole and I saw hi"

"Yes," I said, and shifted the ice pack toto open the door I asked him what he wanted He said he wanted to see me I asked hi on the door I told hi stopped I went to lass at the plywood--"and looked out He atching htshirt--I was still wet fro to me and he could see my body outlined in the shirt, he could see"

G K took another long pull of her drink