Page 4 of Chasing Sunrise

“I told her you didn’t need your mother ogling your ass.”

He laughed. “You did not.”

“No, I didn’t. I told her I suspected you were being brave in front of them, but I needed you to be able to tell me if something hurts. Which is true. If you feel anything, don’t play the tough guy. Tell me, because you shouldn’t experience any pain with what I’m going to do. Not today, at least. It might hurt like a bitch tomorrow.”

Twice while being worked on, Kasey jumped from a spike of pain. Each time, Dr. Derek quickly responded, “I got you, Kasey,” and the pain instantly vanished.

When done, a nurse brought in two police officers who wanted to hear his account of the robbery. The doctor raised his brows. “You up to it?”

“Sure.”

The nurses left and one returned with his mother and father. Dr. Derek remained by the bed. Kasey described what transpired. He couldn’t believe he’d lived through what he was explaining. He wondered how Mike was handling it.

The police listened intently. When they left, they insisted if Kasey needed anything to give them a call and requested to see his parents outside the room. After they left, Dr. Derek said, “What you went through was traumatic, Kasey. I’d like you to speak to Dr. Youst.”

“I’m okay.” He’d just given an account of everything and didn’t want to relive it again.

“Let me rephrase. Dr. Youst is on her way. We require all shooting victims talk to a trauma specialist.”

“I can still go home tonight, right?”

“Like I told you earlier, we’ll monitor you for a few hours. If your vitals stay normal, you’ll be released.”

“Okay.”

“You want your parents here when you talk to her?”

“I don’t care. They heard the account I gave the cops.” He wanted to get it over with and go home. He was hungry and needed a shower.

A hot young woman entered the room. Her brunette hair fell in curls to her shoulders, and she wore a white lab coat. She looked at Dr. Derek and then peeked at Kasey. “How are we doing in here?”

“Kasey, this is Dr. Youst. The prettiest doctor in Texas.”

Her blue eyes sparkled. “Dr. Derek has a crush on me.”

“Who can blame me?”

“I’m sure you’re tired of people questioning you, Kasey, I’m just here in case you’d like to talk about anything. I spoke to Mike Marshall, and he explained you walked in on him being held at gunpoint.”

“I didn’t walk in on it. I saw and heard the guy demanding Mike open the safe. For a minute, I thought about going for help. Then he hit Mike and I came forward, acting like I didn’t know what was happening.” Kasey repeatedly pointed and flexed the foot on his uninjured leg.

“That was very brave. You want to tell me how it felt or what you’re feeling now?”

“I’m okay.”

She held quiet. Dr. Derek patiently waited as well.

Kasey wasn’t sure what to say. He’d been frightened and wondered if they’d make it out of the store alive.

But they had, and he was fine.

~

Sitting in the backseaton the drive home from the hospital, Kasey listened to his mom jabber the entire time. Evidently, her way of dealing with the incident was to talk. She complained about guns and violence.

At one point, his dad reached over and grasped her hand. “Honey, having laws is great, but they can rarely fight crazy people.”

“Or desperate ones,” Kasey added. “The guy said he needed money.”

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