A Difficult Day for a Friend

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been taking Japanese lessons from my favorite monster. That is, I was, up until a month ago.

She gave me a call to let me know that she was on her way home and that I should meet her there. There were police everywhere when I pulled up to her house about thirty minutes later. It looked like they were centered on her neighbor’s house, so I wasn’t too worried. As I walked to the door I saw a policeman go through first. I stopped at the open doorway. There were several police officers walking around inside and I didn’t want to burst in unannounced.

I looked down and saw a pool of blood on the ground.

My heart froze. I wasn’t sure what it was at first. I’ve done a lot of work at haunted houses. It almost seemed fake. It was too red and there was too much of it.

One of her roommates beckoned me in. I walked in and saw her other roommate passing by unscathed, leaving only Barrie unaccounted for. I saw her as I turned the corner, sitting at the counter, clutching an Ice pack to her face. My whole being let loose a sigh of relief. She was injured, but she was alive. Judging by the lack of frenzy, she was expected to stay that way for a while.

She had gotten home not long after she called me. As she was getting her keys to unlock her door, she heard a gun cock behind her. The guy hit her twice in the face with the butt of his gun and ran off with her purse.

It was the middle of a sunny day, in the middle of the neighborhood. Also, as a reminder, Barrie’s 6’3” tall. The stones on that man.

She knelt bleeding by the door for some time after the guy ran off. That’s where to pool came from.

We waited for the police to finish and took her to Grady, a nearby hospital with a reputation for an exemplary emergency room. It would have to with all of the violent crime in the area. Roaming the halls of the ICU was like being in a well-lit torture chamber. The moans of the grievously injured mixed with the smells of urine and bleach to create a sense of abject unease.

She waited in her waiting room for hours and she was never seen. Eventually her mother took her to a different hospital.

I should explain, though, that I don’t just call Barrie a monster because she is freakishly tall. She is also freakishly tough. Her skull was fractured, but not nearly as bad as it would have been if she was a normal human. She is also inordinately strong. Not only can she lift her blue ox above her head, she never let this ordeal slow her down too much, even left untreated in a hospital.

Thatta girl.

One month later and she’s almost completely healed… and we’re starting our lessons back this week.

Love you, Kaiju-senpai!