• He seemed to be kind. He seemed to be in love with her. Nobody suspected anything. Nobody expected this.

    The call came in at exactly 6 p.m.

    tab The couple had returned home from dinner and Cat had bumped into the coffee table. This caused Zach's ash tray to drop to the ground and break. As soon as Cat heard the crash she new he had too. She quickly picked up the pieces and tried to hide them. It was of no use though; he had heard it and knew exactly what had broken.
    tab "You stupid clumsy woman!" he yelled as he swung another of his bruising blows onto Cat's delicate skin. The woman crawled away from him, tears streaming down her face already. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, please forgive me. I'm so sorry, I can fix it," Cat stammered out quickly. "Don't even bother; I'm through with you," Zach yelled in rage and he let loose more blows.
    tab Her screams aroused Ms. Kenya's suspicions. She was the couple’s neighbor ever since they'd moved in and she had heard ruckuses before but never this bad. Through the past two years Ms. Kenya had befriended Cat, but still the young woman refused to tell why the house was filled with screams and crashes. This time Ms. Kenya quickly ran to the phone and called 911. As the receptionist was asking the usual questions the screams faded away. When Ms. Kenya hung up, she feared she was too late. The poor old woman was too afraid to go over there and check it out, though. She feared Zach had a weapon of some kind; little did she know that all he had was his fists.

    tab The police came quickly, followed by an ambulance. Zach was brought out of the house in hand-cuffs and Cat was reeled out on a gurney. Ms. Kenya was by the door and followed it into the ambulance. As the vehicle turned on its sirens and started for the hospital the medics tried all they could to keep Cat alive until they arrived.
    tab Finally the ambulance reached the hospital and the unconscious Cat was rushed in. The old Ms. Kenya tried to keep up but she couldn't. When she lost sight of the gurney and the doctors that whisked the young woman away, Ms. Kenya left to find the waiting room.
    tab The doctors were buzzing all over Cat trying to find all major injuries. X-rays showed several broken bones, the most serious of all were broken ribs. Cat was given a CAT scan that showed a lot of head trauma. Things were not looking to be on her side.
    tab After hours of waiting the doctors came out to Ms. Kenya. "Are you related to Ms. Catharine Monet?" the doctor asked. The old woman shook her head, regret creasing her already wrinkled face. "No, I'm not related to her, but she doesn't have any family at all. Well, at least no direct family, most of them died. I'm her neighbor… and her best friend," Ms. Kenya said, her eyes shining. The doctor noticed that she was near tears and decided to tell her what he had to say, "Catharine came in with a lot of broken bones and head trauma. I'm afraid that all we could do was fix her rib bones and some others but the brain damage is irreversible; it was too severe." Ms. Kenya could sense what the doctor wasn't saying; Cat was never going to wake up. The old woman broke down, "How could this be, how can such a nice woman be in this kind of situation? Lord, how could this be?"
    tab The doctor said the usual condolences and walked off. Ms. Kenya sat there on her knees crying out for divine intervention and justice on Cat's behalf. After an hour, in which Ms. Kenya never moved from her spot, she stood up and walked into Cat's hospital room. "I'm so sorry Catharine; I should have known what was going on…I should have helped you sooner. Oh, God, why didn't I help you, why was I so naïve?" the aged lady whimpered as she patted Cat's hands. Tears cascaded down the aged face and landed on top of cold, unmoving, hands. Cat looked as if the angel of death had already taken her, but still her chest moved with breath thanks to a machine.