Chapter 10

One sunny afternoon Kyle was on his way home when he saw Anastasia and Jerome on the road just outside Anastasia's house. They seemed to be having a heated argument, he wanted to cut in but he walked away because it was none of his business.

"I'm sick and tired of this relationship Jerome, I want out," Anastasia said.

"You want out, you can't be serious. That's the biggest joke I've ever heard". Jerome said laughing.

Anastasia turned to back inside the house but Jerome held her arm.

"Ouch! Let me go, Jerome, that hurts" she said wincing in pain.

"You not going anywhere, I'm not done with you, you're mine whether you like it or not," he said tightening his grip.

Anastasia kept hitting Jerome with her other hand but he still didn't let her go.

Anastasia kept hitting Jerome until he became angry and hit her in the face, Anastasia fell on the ground as Jerome rained blows on her head.

Kyle who was just a few steps ahead quickly turned back when he saw Jerome hit Anastasia. Anastasia was out cold but Jerome still kept on hitting her, he was about to strike another blow when Kyle grabbed his hand.

"That's enough pal," Kyle said calmly.

Jerome got off from Anastasia and turned to face Kyle who remained cool.

"Listen, this ain't none of your business," Jerome said sizing up Kyle, "why don't you run along"

"What are you gonna do if I don't?" Kyle asked Jerome, to see how far he could go.

Jerome pushed Kyle, but before Kyle could get himself Jerome rushed at him and pushed him to the ground raining punches on him too like he's been doing to Anastasia. Kyle being more powerful grabbed Jerome by the scruff of his collar and took the fight to Jerome with him in control now. Kyle began to strangle Jerome who began to cough and gasp for breath, Kyle who had already become angry punched Jerome three times in the face which resulted in him having a broken nose. An elderly man who happened to pass by saw them fighting and came over to stop them.

"Stop that both of you," said the old man.

Kyle was reluctant to stop at first, he had the intention to kill Jerome at that moment but he realized the fool wasn't worth it. He let go of Jerome who quickly dashed off his car and drove off with blood gushing from his nose. Before he left he said Kyle was going to suffer for what he did.

"You're going to pay for what you did, I promise you," Jerome said as he drove off. The old man who happened to call an end to the fight slowly walked over to where Anastasia lay, he asked Kyle what happened but he didn't answer as he called his mom to quickly send an ambulance.

"What happened to her son?" The man asked,

Kyle didn't answer as he was on the phone with his mother.

"Hi Mom," he said

"Oh hi honey, anything I can help you with?" She asked.

"Yes Mom, there's an emergency on our street, please send an ambulance to the house seven blocks from ours," he said, "please mom, it's a matter of life and death"

"Ok, the ambulance will be there right away." She said.

Kyle explained to the old man how he had been on his way home when he saw both Anastasia and Jerome arguing, Jerome had hit Anastasia causing her to collapse. He hadn't gone far when he saw what happened and rushed back to save her.

"My goodness, bless you, child, we need people like you in society," the old man said.

The ambulance came twenty minutes later, before then Kyle had tried to revive her the way his mom taught him in case of emergencies but it didn't work, luckily for him, she was still breathing. The ambulance carried Anastasia and Kyle rode with them too because he was bleeding from the place Jerome had punched him, the old man waved at them and continued his walk.

The paramedics in the ambulance administered first aid to the bruises on Anastasia's face, Kyle was also given a pack of ice to apply to his swollen face where Jerome had punched him. They soon got to the hospital and the paramedics wheeled Anastasia into the emergency room where she was attended to. Kyle met his mother in the hallway,

"Mom" he called.

"Kyle," she said going to meet him. "Is that the girl that was hurt?"

"Yeah Mom, that's her alright," he said

His mother was one of the nurses on duty to attend to the girl.

"My God Kyle what happened to you?" She asked inspecting his face.

"Don't worry about me Mom, I'll be fine. Just go attend to her." Kyle said as he heard the doctor call his mother's name.

"Ok, you better get a good explanation as to what happened to you," she said as she dashed towards the room where Anastasia was admitted.

Kyle sat in the waiting room still holding the pack on his bruised face, he began to think of Anastasia, what would've happened to her if he didn't pass by, probably Jerome would have killed her and gotten away with it. As Kyle sat deeply engrossed in his thoughts his mother came out of the emergency room, he went to meet her to find out how Anastasia was.

"How's she?" He asked his mother.

"Well, it's a good thing she's stable now, she'll be fine," his mother said.

"I'm glad she's ok," Kyle said as he heaved a deep sigh of relief.

"Now how on earth did you get these bruises on your face," she asked inspecting his face.

"Ouch! Mom that hurts" he said wincing in pain.

The mother sat beside him in the waiting room and told him to tell her everything that happened.

"You know, this morning I was coming from that errand you sent me when I came across her and her boyfriend arguing just outside her house. I just walked past them but all of a sudden it became intense as I turned to see what was going on I saw the guy hitting her after she was knocked out cold. I went to confront him but he pushed me to the ground and started to punch I overpowered him and had him pinned to the ground as I tried to strangle him. He left with a broken nose." Kyle paused to catch his breath. "I had to call you to send an ambulance immediately"

"You seem to care about this girl, what's her name?" His mother asked.

"Her name is Anastasia, she was my classmate back in high school, same with her boyfriend but we barely talked only greeted and walked on," Kyle said.

"Do you know if they were always like that, you know always having misunderstandings?" His mother asked him.

"Oh yeah, they always had misunderstandings, you see according to what I heard her parents forced her on the boy because the boy's rich. That's why he always treated her like dirt" Kyle said nodding his head sadly. "I always wanted to go talk to her but Malia and I were dating back then so I didn't want any trouble."

"I see, awkward isn't it?" His mother asked.

"Yeah it is" he replied.

His mother inspected his face to see how serious the bruises were,

"Come with me, let's get you cleaned up." His mother said.

Kyle followed his mother to an empty Emergency room that wasn't in use when a patient was rushed in. The patient that was rushed in required urgent surgery and the doctor required the service of every nurse available.

Naomi, for that was the name of Kyle's mother was called by the doctor to get ready for surgery and meet him at the theater in five minutes.

"Ok doctor, let me just see to it that my son's bruises are attended to," Naomi said.

"Ok but be snappy about it," the doctor said.

His mother found a nurse in the empty room they just entered, Sue was about to leave when they entered.

"Thank goodness you're here Sophia," his mother said with a sigh of relief.