Danger, Danger, Danger

Lilian Dwyer knew that Andrew was in a bad mood when he walked in the door, but couldn’t have known how bad things would get this time. He threw his jacket on the table and put his hands on his hips.


“The cable bill is not paid, you dummy!” he shouted.


The bills were always his responsibility, but this was not the time to point that out. She just came over to comfort him, like always. Slowly she ran her hand over his chest. It usually soothed him. It didn’t always make her avoid a beating, but it worked sometimes. He slapped her hands away and grabbed her upper arms, shaking her violently.


“Don’t you touch me!” he howled, “You know your place.”


He pushed her against the kitchen table so hard, the wind was momentarily knocked out of her. Slowly she stood up. “Honey, it will be alright. The bill is not due for a week. There’s plenty of time to get to the bank.”


“And when are you going to do that. I’ll tell you. NEVER! THAT’S WHEN! I know you need looking after, but I am so tired of your constant excuses!” he shouted, slapped hard across the face and turned to a drawer behind him. He rattled around inside and came out with a large butcher knife. He turned around, walked over to her and brandished in her face.


“Please Andrew, just calm down,:” she said quietly.


In a much too quiet voice Andrew said, “ Maybe you need a real lesson this time, Lil. Maybe one you see every time you look in the mirror. Or, maybe you are no use at all, my little stupid love.”


Something snapped in Lillian then. She had done nothing and he was with a knife to her face. She grabbed the handle and tried to wrestle the knife away from him. He was so strong, but she managed to bring her knee up into his groin.. His sneer turned to shock. He dropped the knife. With one thrust she drove the knife into the soft flesh of his shoulder, He howled and fell to his knees.


Lillian looked in shock at him kneeling holding his bleeding shoulder.. The knife fell from her hand. She grabbed a tea towel and shoved it at him and ran to the phone. Her hands shook as she dialed the three digits.


The operator ‘s voice was so calm, “Please state the nature of the emergency.”


“I’ve just stabbed my husband. I need an ambulance,” she said in a monotone. She dropped the phone as the operator shouted for her to stay on the line.


After an eternity the ambulance and the police were there. The constable saw the bruise forming on her face and put a blanket around her as they loaded Andrew onto a gurney. He was loaded into the ambulance and the constable drove her to the hospital behind it. She was totally quiet during the trip.


In a small room at the hospital, the doctor saw to her bruise.


“How’s Andrew?” she asked.


“We’ll find out soon, Lillian,” was the doctor’s answer.


The doctor finished and the constable sat down beside her, “It’s obvious he attacked you ma’am. Would you tell me what happened?”


“A bill wasn’t paid,” was all she said. The cop nodded sadly to the doctor.


Another doctor came in. He looked at Lilian.


“Your husband will be fine ma’am. It was simply a flesh wound. We’ll keep him here for a few days. “


A few days. “Can I go?” she asked the constable.


“Yes ma’am. Just stay around in case we have more questions. “


She nodded and went to the pay phone. Andrew never allowed her to carry a cell phone.

She first talked to Andrew’s mother, “Andrew is in the Emergency Room at the Health Science Complex.”


The voice on the other end was caustic, “What did you do this time, Lillian?”


Immediately, Lillian hung up.


Her next call was to her mother, “Hi Mom. Something’s happened and I’ll be home in a few day.”