7 Attempted Murder

"Got to call Scarlett, she'll be at the clinic… I'll ride there, it saves the shit phone service." James tells himself as he gets on his motorbike and fires it up for the deep grumble to fire out of the dual black exhausts. As James shoots off down through 'The City of Orange' and follows the 280 east, through Jersey City and into the packed up 5 am traffic of New York City, "Well shit, this has thrown a spanner in the works." James complains, with a grumbling stomach and thinks of a different way to get to the clinic in Hell's Kitchen… "Bank's street. If I jump off this clustered road at Bank's, I'll cut this giant pile-up off." James smiles and pulls his phone out to use Apple maps to give him a very 'direct route' into Hell's Kitchen. After Apple Maps had finished complaining about it not being the fastest route, James was off and racing his way past cars in traffic to pull onto Bank's street, which was an empty road compared to Canal street that was full of early morning workers, like James, but the only difference was James was on the clock, he had to be at Arthur's for a certain time if he's a few minutes late Arthur could get suspicious.

"The clinic." James sighs in relief of seeing the sign for the 'Mental Health & Abuse Help: Hell's Kitchen', "I have to see if Scarlett can give me anything more on this Jessica."

As James walked into the clinic, it wasn't as tidy as he remembered… books were everywhere, shelves were broken, computers were damaged beyond repair or missing and Scarlett's office door was ripped off of its hinges. "Scarlett? SJ!" James shouts, hoping she will at least respond to her high school nickname.

"James?" a voice breathlessly replies, and James follows it into her office to see her lying on the floor with bruises dotted over her body that are visible, "did you call me my nickname?… Silverback." Scarlett questions and uses James highschool nickname as a little joke.

"I did honey. Now, what happened here?" James replies, to then smile at his hurt wife knowing he can't show his anger and offers his hands to get her off of the floor.

"This person came running in and ripped apart everything… and then came for me, why me James?" Scarlett asks her husband while wondering why this figure came for her.

"I… I don't know honey. Let's get you to the E.R, we need to know if they broke anything on you and where's George?"

"He's with David's wife. I was called into work early, but no one was here when I got in. But George is safe."

"Okay, I have to make a phone call." James peacefully tells Scarlett and pulls his phone out to dial Liz.

"Hello, this is Luna," Liz answers with a happy tone as per usual.

"Liz, it's James. I hope you're done with that crime scene… because I have another one." James answers, gritting his teeth as he tries to remain calm and smiles at his wife reassuring her.

"You are in luck, we're done here. So what's the address?"

"New York, NY 10019, My wife's Clinic."

"Oh fuck okay, on our way now." Liz answers and shouts at the crime lab, "get your nerdy asses movin' we have another crime scene!", "James we'll be there ASAP."

"Good. also, take Bank's street, there isn't any traffic through there." James quickly tips Liz off and hangs up to see Scarlett who now has blood trickling down her nose. "Okay SJ, we have to go to the E.R now."

"Is Silverback gonna run me there?" She wonders as she sways back and forth trying to keep balanced.

"Not with the two plates holding my knee together. I'm driving you." James replies and carefully picks his wife up knowing she won't be able to walk in her current state.

"Oooh, it's like our wedding day all over again…" Scarlett smiles and kisses James on the cheek leaving a blood-stained kiss when she pulls away.

"It would be if you didn't have blood coming from your nose." James tries to joke and opens the passenger side car door with his foot. Putting Scarlett into her beloved blue Honda Accord, he runs around to the drivers' side and starts the Honda to moderately burn the clutch as he wheelspins in a rush to get to Lenox Hill Hospital, but knowing Lincoln Square traffic might begin to stop flowing.

As James flew up to Lincoln Square, his thoughts were true and he was stuck on West 65th street with only one, law-breaking option… to drive through the Lincoln Center's open space and avoid hitting the general public. "Fuck it. Scarlett, honey hold on." James tells his light-headed wife as he makes a hard right, roughly climbs a curb, up some shallow stairs and into the open space of the Lincoln centre, to proceed past students and the general public alike pulling their phones out to post a detective racing a Honda Accord through the Lincoln Center.

"Hey honey, we're going to be Social media stars… for all the wrong reasons." James nervously smiles at his wife, whose nose bleed hasn't stopped and blood is now dripping out of her mouth too. "Right time to Burn this clutch a bit more," James explains as he kicks the clutch to drift the Honda to make it onto Lincoln Plaza, drive straight down and kicks another drift left to avoid a delivery van and onto West 65th street.

"Look honey, it's Central Park, and there is the bandstand where I proposed." James points quickly hoping to keep her brain running, as he presses the throttle down redlining the rev counter in 4th gear to slide it into 5th.

"Oh so it is, you sang to me as well." Scarlett remembers, speaking after not saying a word when James was throwing her beloved car around the Lincoln Center.

"I did… Now, honey, I'm gonna do some not very legal things again." James tells her and she grips her seat knowing what he means by 'not very legal'. As James grabs gears as he weaves his way around cars up East 65th street, his wife's face is getting paler as each minute passes. "I need to be faster… I'll just drive all the way up to 3rd Avenue, even though it's one way." and James sharp turns left onto the road and skims past cars driving the opposite way to him.

"James, why is there a policeman following us?" Scarlett points out the NYPD police cruiser behind them with its lights flashing.

"He's just clearing the way for us…" James answers and speeds up, knowing the policeman will be more cautious driving up here than what James is doing.

"Okay…" Scarlett replies breathlessly as James pulls in front of Lenox hill hospital and climbs out of the car to open her door and pick her up to carry her into the hospital.

"I need help here." James asks and no one moves, "I NEED HELP!" He shouts with anger and tears begin to run down his face as two nurses stop their chit chat and grab a stretcher for James to put his wife on and follow her and the nurses to the E.R.

"Sir who are you to her?" the pair's male nurse asks the shaking detective before him.

"I'm her husband, detective James Silver." James replies and visibly shakes when he says 'detective', as if at that moment, he had enough of his job.

"Okay detective, we will do all we can. Please stay here, or hand the receptionist your contact details and go take a shower." The female nurse tells James politely and points at the teenage female receptionist, sitting idly swiping through a dating app that was reflecting on her copper rimmed glasses.

"Thank you." James replies with no smile and a worried tone, but goes over to the receptionist, "Excuse me?"