Just Muse Me: Ouch
Ten injuries you have had.
01. Murphy has a very faint scar on her left knee. When she was three she fell down the concrete front steps of the house and it got cut open. Her mother had rushed her to the emergency room while she had cried and cried. While the doctors and nurses patched her up, she had huddled in her mother’s lap, hiding and sniffling while her mother spoke in soothing tones to her in Spanish.
02. When she was sixteen she broke her wrist during a martial arts lesson. It was her own fault for taking a fall wrong but it still hurt like hell. She had shocked the whole class by swearing and then getting up and getting her things together herself. Her teacher had offered to go with her to the emergency room, but Murphy had brushed him off. She could take care of herself at this point, no one needed to comfort her.
03. Her first lesson on a motorcycle and she crashed it. Her boyfriend at the time had worried about her, but she had only been going five miles an hour and it was more like falling off a pedal bicycle than a refurbished ancient Harley. She scrapped her elbow, got a few bruises and wounded her pride, but her boyfriend had helped her get back on and helped her not to fall again.
04. She really wasn’t good at cooking. It was her first apartment, she was all on her own and finally an adult and what does she do but cut her palm trying to cut a bell pepper. Her dad was going to throw a fit and try to make her move back home if he found out about this. She would cut off her own arm before she would move back in with her dad. She paid for her medical treatment with two weekend’s worth of tips but she got to keep her own place and her dad out of her life.
05. It wasn’t fair that something so little could hurt so much. She cursed at the paper cut and stuck her finger in her mouth. Her ex-husband had laughed at her, though at the time he wasn’t her ex yet. She had told him to shut up but that had made him laugh even more. He got her to take her finger out of her mouth and let him tut-tut her about it. She had been sarcastic and somewhat rude, but he had found it all very amusing. It was amusing enough for him to kiss it and when he had asked if she felt better, she had said yes.
06. The really embarrassing part about slipping on ice outside Harry’s office was Harry’s insistence that he help her inside and take a look at her ankle. She had tried to brush him off, she threatened and then tried to reassure him, but she found herself sitting in his kitchen while he rummaged around upstairs for a first aid kit. She liked the guy, even if he was an odd pain in the ass and his concern was so genuine she propped her chin in her hand and waited for him. She could fill him in on the case while he played nurse maid.
07. Miller looked really desperate. While she glanced at Harry, hoping somehow he could get her out of this, she kept most of her attention on the man with the gun against her throat. She was just waiting to get shot. Miller could shoot her and then shoot Harry without any trouble. Harry’s not armed and she can’t risk making a move with the gun so close to her jugular. They were screwed and at the mercy of a desperate man. What happened next is burned into her brain, even though Harry kept telling her it didn’t happen that way. Munzer shoots himself instead of her and then everything went black. When she woke up in the hospital she had a few bruises and a lump on the back of her head and no idea how she got them.
08. Putting all her attention on the brand was a mistake. If she had been paying attention she would have heard him coming up behind her and done a better job of fighting him off but she didn’t. He grabbed her around the neck, pulling her back and cutting off her air. Surprised she reacted without really thinking about it, pulling at the arm around her neck when she should have driven an elbow in his open side, brought her foot down on his instep and gotten free. None of it happened. She got thrown aside into hanging clothes, coughing through a sore throat. She had to grab her gun before running after him, throat still burning.
09. The second time she got caught from behind she was ready. Her encounter with Munzer in the closet had taught her a good lesson. She would have done all the right things and gotten free except for the knife pressed to her throat. She couldn’t do anything be grit her teeth and bear it. By now she was pretty used to pain and had cut herself with a knife before on accident, but this was a deliberate slow slicing of her skin and it was an entirely different experience. It felt like her skin was unzipping, parting like water for the hot tip of the blade that slowly moved along with delighted patience. She was not just being cut but being marked.
10. Getting shot was a lot more painful than she had ever imagined it would be. Being a cop she had wondered what it would be like if she did get shot and had plenty of stories from veterans to know it was going to hurt a lot but when that bullet tore its way through her shoulder the pain was so much worse. She was really scared for the first time that she might die. There was so much pain, so much blood, it was real, it was scary and she wanted to be three again, somewhere safe and secure with someone to comfort her and make her believe it was all going to be okay.
01. Murphy has a very faint scar on her left knee. When she was three she fell down the concrete front steps of the house and it got cut open. Her mother had rushed her to the emergency room while she had cried and cried. While the doctors and nurses patched her up, she had huddled in her mother’s lap, hiding and sniffling while her mother spoke in soothing tones to her in Spanish.
02. When she was sixteen she broke her wrist during a martial arts lesson. It was her own fault for taking a fall wrong but it still hurt like hell. She had shocked the whole class by swearing and then getting up and getting her things together herself. Her teacher had offered to go with her to the emergency room, but Murphy had brushed him off. She could take care of herself at this point, no one needed to comfort her.
03. Her first lesson on a motorcycle and she crashed it. Her boyfriend at the time had worried about her, but she had only been going five miles an hour and it was more like falling off a pedal bicycle than a refurbished ancient Harley. She scrapped her elbow, got a few bruises and wounded her pride, but her boyfriend had helped her get back on and helped her not to fall again.
04. She really wasn’t good at cooking. It was her first apartment, she was all on her own and finally an adult and what does she do but cut her palm trying to cut a bell pepper. Her dad was going to throw a fit and try to make her move back home if he found out about this. She would cut off her own arm before she would move back in with her dad. She paid for her medical treatment with two weekend’s worth of tips but she got to keep her own place and her dad out of her life.
05. It wasn’t fair that something so little could hurt so much. She cursed at the paper cut and stuck her finger in her mouth. Her ex-husband had laughed at her, though at the time he wasn’t her ex yet. She had told him to shut up but that had made him laugh even more. He got her to take her finger out of her mouth and let him tut-tut her about it. She had been sarcastic and somewhat rude, but he had found it all very amusing. It was amusing enough for him to kiss it and when he had asked if she felt better, she had said yes.
06. The really embarrassing part about slipping on ice outside Harry’s office was Harry’s insistence that he help her inside and take a look at her ankle. She had tried to brush him off, she threatened and then tried to reassure him, but she found herself sitting in his kitchen while he rummaged around upstairs for a first aid kit. She liked the guy, even if he was an odd pain in the ass and his concern was so genuine she propped her chin in her hand and waited for him. She could fill him in on the case while he played nurse maid.
07. Miller looked really desperate. While she glanced at Harry, hoping somehow he could get her out of this, she kept most of her attention on the man with the gun against her throat. She was just waiting to get shot. Miller could shoot her and then shoot Harry without any trouble. Harry’s not armed and she can’t risk making a move with the gun so close to her jugular. They were screwed and at the mercy of a desperate man. What happened next is burned into her brain, even though Harry kept telling her it didn’t happen that way. Munzer shoots himself instead of her and then everything went black. When she woke up in the hospital she had a few bruises and a lump on the back of her head and no idea how she got them.
08. Putting all her attention on the brand was a mistake. If she had been paying attention she would have heard him coming up behind her and done a better job of fighting him off but she didn’t. He grabbed her around the neck, pulling her back and cutting off her air. Surprised she reacted without really thinking about it, pulling at the arm around her neck when she should have driven an elbow in his open side, brought her foot down on his instep and gotten free. None of it happened. She got thrown aside into hanging clothes, coughing through a sore throat. She had to grab her gun before running after him, throat still burning.
09. The second time she got caught from behind she was ready. Her encounter with Munzer in the closet had taught her a good lesson. She would have done all the right things and gotten free except for the knife pressed to her throat. She couldn’t do anything be grit her teeth and bear it. By now she was pretty used to pain and had cut herself with a knife before on accident, but this was a deliberate slow slicing of her skin and it was an entirely different experience. It felt like her skin was unzipping, parting like water for the hot tip of the blade that slowly moved along with delighted patience. She was not just being cut but being marked.
10. Getting shot was a lot more painful than she had ever imagined it would be. Being a cop she had wondered what it would be like if she did get shot and had plenty of stories from veterans to know it was going to hurt a lot but when that bullet tore its way through her shoulder the pain was so much worse. She was really scared for the first time that she might die. There was so much pain, so much blood, it was real, it was scary and she wanted to be three again, somewhere safe and secure with someone to comfort her and make her believe it was all going to be okay.