"An eye for an eye."(Kevin Hughes) “God help me. Please…oh my God…it hurts.”

The Enforcement Officer ignored the pleas. Instead he turned to the Executor (The person who actually inflicts the injuries or wounds once the sentence is ordained):

“How much time left?”

She looked at the timer she started when she had broken six ribs, punctured his lung, broke his femur in four places, and tore open his thigh to let two broken parts of bones stick out from his leg. She also had smashed out six of his teeth, broken his right orbital bone, and bit off most of his tongue. The exact same injuries he had caused when he crashed into that poor woman…and drove away. She hated “hit and run” verdicts….and the perpetrators. She was indifferent, even callous- in her disregard for his pleas.

“It was thirteen minutes until the Paramedics got to her. Thanks to the Good Samaritan that stopped to help…unlike this pitiful piece of crap here (waving her arm in the general direction of the man writhing in agony just a few feet away). According to the Time Stamp on the body cam, she was fully conscious and aware of her injuries for another nineteen minutes. Nineteen long minutes. Then she passed out in the Ambulance. Testimony from the attending EMT’s state that they were relieved that she passed out. Her screams were giving them nightmares.”

“So when do we load him in the Ambulance?”

She looked over at the waiting Ambulance and crew…who looked at her with quizzical expressions. Expressions that clearly said: “When you tell us, we will transport him.”

She looked back up at the Enforcement Officer.

“She was awake when they moved her. That must have doubled her agony. So let’s move him now, since we know he won’t faint from the pain yet. He can just lay there in the back of the Ambulance until 32 full minutes have passed. Then they can knock him out for a quiet journey to the Hospital.”

If it had been up to her…she would have let the bastard suffer the entire nine weeks that woman was in the Hospital. But the Law is not for revenge, but for equal punishment.

She heard the screams as the man was dragged the thirty two feet the Good Samarittan had dragged he to get her away from the fire in her car. His screams made her smile. He yelled out loud:

“Christ, I am so sorry. Please help me. Give me something for the pain.”

She turned and spit at him:

“You didn’t care when she was laying there hurt, why should I care that you are laying there now.”

It wasn’t a question. She looked right into his panicked eyes:

“You got another seventeen minutes and thirteen seconds boy…and if I had any say…it would be an hour or more.”

The man screamed in agony.

“I am sorry. I will never do it again. Please…believe me.”

She smiled a cold smile.

“Oh, I believe you. Most never do it again…once they have lived through what they did to another person. She didn’t have a choice…so you don’t get one either.”

He wailed in pain.

He wasn’t the first person to be caught under the new: “Eye for an Eye” law. He was just one example of how the Law had been interpreted. He had caused the accident, knew the lady was trapped in a burning car, and drove away. He even had his car washed on the way home and tried to duck tape the front fender too. The Jury deliberated only forty five minutes.

The Sentencing was limited to the time she was conscious until the ambulance came…and until she passed out on the way to the hospital. A list of all injuries was given to the Enforcer who carried the man to his destiny. The exact same spot where he had left her trapped in her car. There they were met by the Executor- who proceeded to inflict each and every injury as recorded on the Verdict. The Timer was started.

He would get the exact same treatment the poor woman did, but only after he gets to the Hospital. After rehab…and all the surgeries. His sentence was over, his license returned. Past experience proved that there were never “second offenses.” Never. He would remember…always.

The Ambulance drove off, preferring that the man should suffer the same bumpy road- while conscious - that the poor woman had endured. The Executor saluted them for carrying their part of the sentence out in both the letter of the Law and the Spirit of it. She would write a commendation letter as soon as she was back in her Office.

The Enforcement Officer waved her into their vehicle. Traffic was bad…but very polite on the way back. Every driver was courteous and patient. He turned and looked at the Executor:

“You know, Mabel, the Drivers seem to be much more careful since the Law went into effect last Spring. I wonder if it is has been that successful with the Mass Shooters. Would you know about that?”

She shivered.

“Oh, yeah Charlie. It is working there too. It is an “eye for an eye”…so the Shooter loses his whole family, and any loved ones…and has to watch them die, or struggle to stay alive. Most folks turn in their psychotic children now …way before they become a Shooter. And Gun Sellers …well, they aren’t to eager to sell guns anymore. I would be willing to bet, there won’t be a gun left in a private home by the end of this year.

Glad I don’t have that Duty though. I couldn’t kill innocents. I will stick with Road Rage creeps.”

“Yeah. Me too. Want to grab a quick breakfast.”

She smiled over at him.

“You know Charlie, this is why all the Executors hope they get assigned to you as the Enforcement Officer.”

He smiled back.

“I know.”

The Ambulance turned off its lights. They could take their time now. It had been thirty two minutes since he sustained the exact same injuries he had caused. They put a small amount of morphine in the saline and put him to sleep. He had served the first part of his sentence. The rest was out of their hands.

Traffic wasn’t bad. People were polite. Courteous even.

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