Page 3 of Chasing Sunrise

Mr. Marshall patted Mike’s shoulder. “It’s over, son.”

Paramedics entered, and the cop motioned them over. One approached Mike, and Hanover, a paramedic who bowled in a league with his parents, approached Kasey.

At seeing them, Mike finally looked at Kasey. “What happened?”

“Nothing.” He knew how sensitive Mike was and downplayed the bullet wound. And he knew he’d done the right thing in not leaving Mike and going for help. Because if Mike had gotten badly hurt or killed, Kasey would never have forgiven himself.

Mr. Marshall squinted at the blood on the floor from Kasey’s injury. “Let’s go to the ambulance, huh?” He said to Mike. With the paramedic’s help, they got Mike up and led him around so he didn’t see Kasey’s blood. Before they exited the storeroom, Mr. Marshall looked at Kasey. “I’ll call your folks and tell them to meet us at the hospital.”

“Thank you.” Streaks of firing pain shot up from his calf. He stilled. He’d never move again if possible.

Hanover took the cop’s place in front of him. “Shit. You’re in a puddle of blood.” He shouted instructions, and within a minute, another paramedic appeared with a gurney. They maneuvered Kasey until he was face down on the gurney. With his every move, every breath, he wanted to groan in pain but didn’t want to look like a wimp. Cold sweat chilled his skin.

“I have to cut your jeans.” Hanover ripped the fabric. Thankfully, he didn’t jostle Kasey’s leg at all. “How are you not howling? The whole bullet is in there.”

“Explains why it feels like I’ve been stabbed with a branding iron.” Kasey buried his head in the pillow, praying to pass out.

~

Once the paramedicsstarted an IV, Kasey got immediate relief and breathed easy. At the hospital, he was transferred from the gurney to a bed. The orderlies wheeled him to x-ray and then to the CT lab. After the tests, they brought him to an ER room. Well, it couldn’t be considered a room since it had one solid wall and three curtained ones. There was a light, a blood pressure machine, and other hospital equipment inside. His parents were there when he arrived, along with his best friends, Dre and Zack. The blue curtain and fluorescent lights made them look pale and sickly.

Attention on his friends, he asked. “How did you know to come?”

“Mike called me,” Zack replied.

A young doctor came in wearing yellow scrubs and red-rimmed glasses. “I’m Dr. Derek.” He studied the tablet in his hand. “Kasey, have you always been an athletic guy?”

“Yes,” everyone in the room answered.

The doctor looked up and smiled. “The reason I ask is because the bullet is completely embedded, but your superhuman-developed calf muscles prevented it from penetrating deep enough to hit bone or your arteries. Is his athleticism from you, Dad?”

Kasey’s father shook his head. “His mom’s the jock.”

“My mistake.” Dr. Derek bowed toward Kasey’s mother. “Respect.”

Ever the ham, Mom grinned.

“So, no surgery,” the doctor said.

“What a relief.” His dad sighed.

“I’m sure Kasey appreciates you being here, but you’ll have to leave while we remove the bullet and stitch him up.”

His friends nodded at Kasey as they left.

“I’m staying.” His mother sat in the only chair.

Dad waited by the curtain opening.

“Mrs. Hunter,” Dr. Derek began. “I understand you’d like to stay. The truth is we don’t have the room. I’ll need at least three nurses in here while I remove the bullet.”

“I’ll stay in the corner here out of the way.”

Dr. Derek went over and spoke to her privately.

She frowned, got up, and kissed Kasey on the cheek. “We’ll be in the waiting room, honey.” Dad opened the curtain for her and followed her out.

“What did you say to her?” Kasey asked.

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