The Best Medicine Read Free

wasn’t sure why she felt such an intense need to share that information. Maybe it was because she felt insulted by the cop’s insinuation that she wouldn’t be informed enough to know the name of the most common type of assaultchopper. Maybe it was because such an insinuation felt like a slap in the face because Lauren made sure she knew
everything
that even had the slightest bit to do with Cooper. Or maybe it was because he only saw her as a drunken moron, and was therefore probably making all sorts of negative assumptions about her upbringing and family. Whatever the reason, it was important to Lauren that he knew at least that one bit of truth about her. “Second of all, the window was a complete accident. Maybe you should go talk to the jerk who put his hands all over me in the bar. That’s what caused this mess in the first place.”
    “Josh touched you? I’ll kill that motherfucker.” This time, it was Simone’s voice that echoed in Lauren’s ears, and she couldn’t help but smile. Her girls always had her back.
    The cop jerked Lauren’s handcuffed wrists, spinning her around to face him. He was older, maybe the same age as her father, and looked weary as all hell. He probably had to deal with shit like this all of the time: self-involved twentysomethings who didn’t have the sense God gave them. Lauren found herself feeling a bit of remorse that she was the one causing all of this chaos. He looked at her for a beat, as though he were trying to figure something out about her. When he finally spoke, his voice was low. “Do you want to press charges on someone, Lauren?”
    Lauren felt her chin quake the slightest bit. The emotion of the night rolled itself into a ball and settled in her throat. She took a deep breath, forcing the tears down. She wouldn’t cry. Lauren hated girls that used emotion to get out of things. She was better than that. Stronger. Ifshe had broken the law, then she’d accept the consequences for it. “No.”
    He leaned slightly toward her, his voice softening. “Are you sure?”
    The truth was, other than grabbing her arm and making her uncomfortable, Josh hadn’t done anything to her. Not really. Ultimately, she’d been the one who’d kicked
his
ass. Not the other way around. “Yes. I’m sure.”
    “Okay, then,” the officer sighed. “I’m going to put you in the back of this car, and then you’ll be taken to the station.”
    Lauren nodded her head and let the officer put her in the cruiser. The fight had drained out of her. All that was left was overwhelming exhaustion.
    “Don’t worry, girl. We’ll bust ya out!” she heard Cassidy yell through the window.
    Lauren turned her head and offered them a weak smile before the cops pushed the girls and the rest of the crowd away from the vehicle. She suddenly felt embarrassed. She was too old to be behaving this way. She may have still technically been attending a college, but that didn’t mean she had to act like a college kid. She sat in the backseat for about ten minutes before the officer who had cuffed her climbed into the driver’s seat.
    As he got settled and turned the ignition, Lauren found herself speaking. “You want to do something for me?”
    The officer sighed heavily. “Nothing would bring me greater joy,” he responded.
    Lauren couldn’t help the laugh that burst from her.
    “What?” the officer asked.
    “Turn on the lights and sirens. If I’m going to get arrested, I want to at least look like a badass doing it.”
    The cop shook his head. “Kids,” he muttered. But as soon as he pulled away from the curb, he flipped both on.
    *   *   *
    Lauren was processed and then put in a cell with a middle-aged woman named Eleanor. Eleanor was evidently a
huge
fan of bath salts and tequila. After she tried to climb the wall, exclaiming that she was Spiderwoman, the cops came in, strapped her to a chair, and wheeled her away. Unable to resist, Lauren had uttered, “Bye, Eleanor. Make good choices,”