He tells her once the report is filed, it’ll be assigned to a detective who will go over the details of the case, talk to witnesses, run any descriptions through the database. He tells her they’ll follow every lead to make sure the two men are caught.

If this were any other time, I’d laugh.

The cop will file a report. A detective might even look at the report, but that’s where it’ll stop. Random violence cases, especially the ones with no witnesses and no fatalities, are rarely solved.

I know this.

The cop knows this.

I think on some level Diane knows this, too, but we all go through the motions and play our roles. Who knows, maybe this will be the one time the system works.

Once the cop is gone, the doctor comes back with prescriptions for pain medication and antibiotics. He hands them to Diane and says, “Keep the hand clean and watch for infection. Make sure he takes the antibiotics. If you see anything strange, bring him in.”

Diane tells him she will, and after he leaves, she sits next to me on the side of the bed.

“What did that cop mean about someone holding a grudge?”

“No idea.”

“Is it because of your dad?” she asks. “You mentioned some of his friends in the book. You don’t think one of them saw it and-”

“You’re reaching,” I say. “The two guys tonight were strangers, I’ve never seen them before. They were probably drug addicts who wanted my ring so they could pawn it.”

“But they didn’t take your wallet.”

“No,” I say. “They didn’t.”

“It’s strange, Jake.”

“It is what it is.” I sit up, slow, and point to my coat. “Let’s get out of here.”

Diane helps me with my jacket. My ribs are wrapped tight, and my hand won’t fit through the sleeve so we run the jacket under my arm like a toga. It looks ridiculous, and I can’t help but smile.

Diane doesn’t.

“I just don’t understand why they came after you,” she says. “There were a lot of people in that bar, but they waited outside for you. There has to be a reason.”