My Kind of Town
Punch drunk
>> Queen's Medical CenterWhen the HPD Internal Affairs guys left after interrogating him about the events of last night, solo bike officer Quinn Ah Sun was like a boxer who had just taken a shot to the solar plexus, doubled over, and then taken a ripping uppercut to the chops. He may have been lying in a hospital bed, but he was definitely wobbly -- dazed and off balance.
The punch that knocked the wind out of him was the call minutes ago to his cousin Lily, who refused to speak with him and told her maid to tell Quinn he could "go straight to hell." The venom in her voice was obvious.
The uppercut to the head was the IA guys' contention that, after shooting the creep who had been trying to rape Lily's maid, Quinn followed when the guy jumped through a window and kicked the living crap out of him. Which was clearly impossible because Quinn had blacked out from loss of blood.
But that wasn't stopping the usual anti-cop activists from claiming police brutality and unjustified use of a firearm. And of course, the IA guys added, the media was jumping on the "story." So his career was in jeopardy.
Quinn knew that one day he'd have to get off his bike, but in his mind that day was still years and years away.
Losing the love of his life was bad enough, but he couldn't bear the thought of losing the right to mount up on his big BMW bike and make the streets of Honolulu safer.
Quinn heard a knock on the door and Florence Nightingale walked back into his life. Actually it was the nurse who'd been here earlier, who simply by checking his temperature the old-fashioned way -- gently touching his forehead -- and by adjusting his sheets had given him an emotional lift. The way she smiled at him now had the same effect. Suddenly Quinn didn't feel so wobbly, or so alone.
"It's time to change the dressing on your leg," Nina Ramones said, masking very well the excitement she felt. This patient was going to receive the very best care possible, as all of her patients did.
But Nina was recently divorced, and already tired of sleeping alone every night. And she knew that patient Ah Sun was quite single. So he would get the best care possible, and then some.
For the first time, Quinn noticed that she was more than a beacon of goodness. She was also very attractive -- Filipino and something else, with round facial features, full lips and a button nose, and she was round in all the places he liked a woman to be.
"It's really nice to see you again," Quinn said.
Don Chapman is editor of MidWeek.
His serialized novel runs daily in the Star-Bulletin
with weekly summaries on Sunday.
He can be emailed at dchapman@midweek.com