Chapter 20

Zack had come in as planned at 2:00PM. He told me that he had been able to get a hold of most of the group at his school. I could tell that he was still a little tense and worried about what had happened yesterday. But as the afternoon progressed and nothing happened he began to unwind. I was worried about leaving him at the store alone but he told me that he would be fine. We both were busy as I was working on some paperwork while Zack straightened out the shelves.

At 5:00 PM I went to pick up Matt and Timmy. They were both in the drama club and had practice for a play after school. Timmy was working as a prop man and Matt was operating the lights. I did not like the fact that they were staying after so late, particularly as it was dark by 5:00PM this time of the year. So I told them wait in the inside with their teacher till I picked them up.

Steve and I had talked with the principle and teachers earlier in the week when Josh had ended up in the hospital. With the incident yesterday and Mitch's history towards Matt, I did not have any trouble convincing them that they needed to take extra steps to ensure their safety.

When I pulled up into the student drop-off area I parked in one of the short term parking spaces and walked up the entrance. I knocked on the main door next to the office and waited for someone to come and let me in. It turned out to be the assistant principle Mr. Johnson. He shook my hand and invited me to take a seat in the office and he would check and see if they were finished with rehearsal or not. He went back behind the counter and went on the intercom and checked with the teacher. It turned out that they were just wrapping up. He turned to me and said, "They will be here in about 5 minutes, can I offer you anything?"

"No thanks I'm fine." I said with a smile.

It was not long before both of them showed up at the office and we left for home.

In the car the conversation started out being all about the play and then turned to Josh with Matt asking me if I had any more news about him. I had to tell him that I had not heard anything more and that put a damper on conversation for the rest of the trip home. When we got back to the shop Matt and Timmy thanked me for the ride and went upstairs to watch a movie.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur as we waited on customers and, watched out for members of the youth group who might not have gotten the word about the change in plans. About 10 minutes after we let the last customer out I heard a loud crash. It took me a moment to figure out what had happened. Someone had thrown a rock or brick through my front window. Then I heard a loud bang and felt something tug at my arm. I dove for the floor all the while franticly looking hoping that Zack was ok.

I was face down on the floor behind the counter and I could not see Zack. As I lay there I felt the ridges in the matt digging into my arms and my ribs ached. I must have hit them when I fell. It was only then that I noticed that my right arm was wet and my shirt had blood on it. It was weird I did not feel a thing till I saw the blood then my arm started to ache. It was a dull sort of an ache that is till I tried to use it then a sharp pain shot up my arm. I gasped and stopped. I said a quick prayer that Matt and Timmy would stay upstairs and not walk into the middle of this.

 Gingerly I eased my cordless phone off my belt with my left hand and called 911. They promised to have a patrol car there immediately. I warned them that at least one shot had been fired and then I hung the phone up. Then I carefully held my arm against my chest and tried to slide along the floor to the end of the counter. I wanted to make sure that Zack was ok but I did not want to call attention to where he was until I was sure we were safe. It was not long before I heard the wail of a police car approaching. Almost immediately my phone rang again it was the police wanting to know if it was clear inside. I told them that as far as I knew whoever had done this had not come inside. The door was still locked and you could not walk over all that broken glass without making a lot of noise. Then they asked me where I was and I told them.

That’s when I called out to Zack and said “Zack hon are you ok?”

“Yeah I’m ok it all happened so fast Mr. Brooks. Are you alright?”

“Yeah I am fine.” I did not mention the arm he was scared enough that was clear from his voice. I figured that it was not much of a wound anyway.

It was another minute or two before I heard someone call from outside.

Then I heard someone shout. “This is the police. Mr. Brooks are you both ok?” I’m a little banged up but ok. Did you catch them?”

“No we did not. But I’ve called in backup and we will be interviewing everyone on the block to see if anyone saw anything.”

Just then the door from upstairs opened and I heard Matt yell “Uncle! Are you ok? What happened?”

I tried to pull myself up off the floor but it was not easy with only one arm working correctly.

I called out to the police officer, “That’s my nephew and his friend. They belong here.”

Matt came sprinting around the counter and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw me. A look of horror was on his face and he screamed “UNCLE! OH MY GOD! What happened? Somebody help him, he is bleeding.”

When the Officer heard that he said “Son be careful stay back away from the window we don’t for sure that it is safe yet. Mr. Brooks we are going to break out the rest of the glass in your front window and come in that way so don’t be alarmed when you hear it.”

I still could not see the front of the building as I had given up on standing up. To tell the truth I was feeling a little sick and light headed. Zack had joined Matt and Timmy with me behind the counter. Even though they had warned us the sound of the rest of the glass being smashed out startled me. It was only a couple of seconds till I heard the EMT’s come in. Matt was just standing there crying. Timmy had his arms around his waist and was talking softly to him.

I looked up and said, “Timmy take care of him for me please. Call your dad and have him come and pick you both up. I am probably going to have to go and get this looked out.

Matt don’t worry hon it is not as bad as it looks, I promise.”

I did not like the way Matt looked at all. I could tell he was in shock and terrified for me. His sense of security that I had fought so hard to establish was shattered. I turned to Zack and said, “Please call Dr. Woodlief and tell what has happened and get Matt an appointment as soon as he can see him. Zack, if they take me in to have this looked at, would you please have Timmy’s dad bring them to the hospital.”

“Sure Mr. Brooks I will stay with them till he gets here and then tell him you said to bring them down.”

“Thanks Zack you are a great friend.”

“OH GOD! Zack have them check to make sure that none of the support group were hurt outside.”

“I will let them know. You just relax and let the EMT’s look at you.”

Zack got up to go talk to the police officer and the EMT’s quickly moved in beside me and squatted down beside me. I knew both of them. They were partners and had been together for about 5 years now. Both of them had worked as volunteers with the youth group before.

Jane the older of the two spoke first. “Well Joe, you sure know how to get peoples attention don’t you.”

I could see the concern in her eyes but she was keeping it light for the kids benefit and I was thankful for it.

“Yeah I seem to, that’s for sure.”

Janet her partner spoke up and said, “Sorry about the shirt I need to cut it away from the wound area. Why don’t you lay back down here for a moment so we can check you out?”

Then they carefully laid me down and went to work on me. Jane was checking my pulse and blood pressure and Janet was cutting my shirt off of me.

It was weird but for a second I was pissed off about the shirt. Things felt so unreal to me. I felt disconnected from it all. I was getting sick again and I managed to say, “I don’t feel good.”

That was the last thing I remembered before everything went black.

When I came to I was completely disoriented for a minute and I tried to sit up but I could not. That’s when I realized that I was strapped on a gurney and was in the ambulance. I tried to figure out why I was in the ambulance and then I remembered.

Janet leaned over me and said, “Joe you are ok. You were in shock from your wound and passed out. I promise you that you are going to be ok. It is just a flesh wound. They will probably just sew it up and keep you for a couple of hours and let you go home.”

“Thanks Janet.”

Every bump in the road was sending pain shooting across my ribs and arm. I could feel the sweat on my face in spite of the cold.

She noticed and gently wiped my forehead with some gauze.

“I know it hurts just hang in there we are almost to the emergency room.”

I was grateful for her taking the time to talk to me and distract me from what was going on. It seemed like an eternity but could not have been more than a couple of minutes before I felt the ambulance pull up the ramp and stop. They quickly opened the back doors and took me out and wheeled me inside and they rolled me directly into the back. I could not help thinking that it was the fastest service that I had ever received at an emergency room. Then I got a little scared, as they did not take you directly back unless something was wrong.

A moment later someone leaned over me. I could hardly see them with the bright lights shinning down on me. They spoke and said, “Mr. Brooks I am Dr. Weber and I will be treating you.

All the while he was undoing the bandages on my arm. He took a quick look and said, “Sandy will be your nurse she needs to ask you a few questions and get you hooked up to the monitors, then we can start to treat you.”

A women dressed in scrubs leaned over and said, “Hi Mr. Brooks I am Sandy and I need to ask you a few questions ok?”

“Sure.”

“Do you have any health conditions that we need to be aware of?”

“High blood pressure.”

She jotted down something and said, “Are you on any medications for the high blood pressure or for your heart?”

“I take a beta blocker for my blood pressure. But nothing else.”

“How has your blood pressure been since you have been on your medication?”

“It has been fine, my doctor has been pleased with it.”

“Good, do you remember your readings?”

“No I don’t I’m sorry. But I do remember he said they were fine.”

“Are you allergic to any medications?”

“No.”

“Ok Mr. Brooks lets get you hooked up to this monitor. So we can watch things from the nurse’s station. If you need me just push this button and I will come and check on you.”

She finished hooking up the leads and said Dr. Weber will be back in just a few minutes.”

“Thanks Sandy.”

“Your welcome Mr. Brooks.” She smiled at me and then left.

It was about 15 minutes till Dr. Weber came back in and said, “Ok Mr. Brooks lets take a closer look at the wound area.”

Gently he removed the bandages that the EMT’s had put on me but it still hurt when they pulled away from the wound. I winced and he noticed and said “Sorry about that Mr. Brooks I almost have them off. Things look good here they did a good job on this but it is a little too deep to leave like this. Mr. Brooks we are going to give you a local anesthesia, when that has taken affect we will give you some stitches to close up them up.”

“I asked, “You said two areas?”

“Yes the bullet grazed your right side and then entered biceps and exited the triceps muscle of your right arm. The one on your ribs is closer to a deep scratch but the one on your arm is much deeper. That is the one that will require stitches.”

He had me move the arm for range of motion and tested for any nerve impairment. Thankfully everything seemed fine with my ability to feel. If anything right now I was feeling too much.

The nurse brought over a syringe and he said, “This is going to sting a little Mr. Brooks.”

When he had finished I grimaced said, “That was an understatement it hurt like hell.” 

His eyes twinkled and he said, “Yeah that is lie number 8 on the Doctors list of things we tell patients.”

I found myself liking him. He was the kind of guy who was efficient but still took the time to try to make the patients feel better. I laughed a little in spite of myself and that made my ribs hurt some more. I groaned and said, “Please don’t make me laugh.”

He just shook his head and said, “I will be back in a few minutes to finish up. It will take that long for the local anesthesia to work. Oh and that is lie number 3 on our list.”

I heard him chuckling as he walked out. Sandy just shook her head and laughed.

“Is he always like that?”

“Yep. He is one of the nicest doctors that I have ever worked with. You don’t see many like him anymore. He will be back in a few minutes and we will get you all fixed up.”

She left the room and for the first time since the window shattered and I got shot I had a few minutes to think. It had all happened so fast that I had just moved from moment to moment. Now I was alone and everything came crashing back.

For a moment I was back at the store I heard the crash of the window and felt the bullet hit me again. I fumbled for the call button but before I could push it Sandy came through the closed curtain and said, “What’s wrong Mr. Brooks.”

I tried to control my breathing, which had become ragged and said, “How… did you know?”

“Oh you are hooked up to the heart monitor. I could tell from the change in your pulse that something was wrong.”

“I’m sorry Sandy its just that this is the first time since all this happened that I had a few moments to stop and think. Then it hit me. Someone had tried to kill me. I guess I panicked. Now I feel stupid. You must see far worse cases every day and here I am keeping you from caring for more serious cases than mine.”

She looked at me and said, “In the first place Mr. Brooks if someone had shot me I would be a basket case. It is perfectly natural for you to feel what you are feeling so don’t worry about it. It wont be long now. You are next in line for Dr. Weber to see.”

It was only a few minutes but it seemed drag on forever. That left me with way too much time to think. In the background I could hear the steady beep of the monitoring equipment. I already hated the sound. I started thinking of clever ways of destroying it. That at least kept my mind off of things I was not ready to face. That diversion lasted for a couple of minutes but the monotonous drone of the machines quickly faded from my consciousness. 

My mind turned to darker things. Our home and business had been vandalized and, someone had tried to kill me.

Somehow I had to figure out a way to make Matt feel safe again. All of this was playing into his deepest fears. He was a strong kid and I hoped and prayed that he would be able to withstand all of this. My hope for him was not to just survive but to thrive. I wanted him to be able to have all of the things that I did not have. On an emotional level I wanted him to have a sense of security and of love. From that foundation I wanted him to be able to go on and achieve his dreams.

I was so deep in thought, that I was startled when Dr. Weber came back in.

He said, “You should be good and numb by now Mr. Brooks.”

Sandy followed him in with a tray with the sutures and other medical supplies.

I looked at the tray with some distaste and half kidding said, “So you brought in your torture equipment this time.”

He laughed and said, “Yep it has been too slow around here today and I have used up my quota of supplies. They will dock me if I don’t find some use for them. So you are the lucky recipient of them.”

I rolled my eyes and said, “How lucky can a guy get.”

Dr. Weber was very efficient and he had me stitched up in just a few minutes. It was strange watching someone sew you up and not feel it at all. The only sensation was of pressure as he pushed the needle through.

When he finished he looked over his work and said, “Mr. Brooks I have done the best I could do here. But I am afraid you are going to have a scar from this. If you want I can refer you to a plastic surgeon to make it less noticeable.”

“I don’t think so Doctor. I am in my late forties and, I don’t think it will be necessary, but thanks anyway. And Doc thanks for all of your help. You made this a lot easier on me by treating me like a human instead of some number.”

He looked surprised but pleased and said, “Your welcome Mr. Brooks.”

He looked down at the chart for a moment and then said, “I am going to give you two prescriptions to get filled by someone tonight. The first is for pain; we will give you one to take here before you leave. You can take another in the morning and one tomorrow evening if needed. If you still are in a lot of discomfort after that call your primary physician and he can call you something in.

This other one I am giving you is to calm you down if you need it.”

He noticed my expression and said, “Mr. Brooks please don’t try any macho crap on me. You have had a really traumatic experience and it is likely that you will suffer some after effects from it. I am not saying you have to go home and take this. I am saying if you need it take it.”

“I blushed and said, “Thanks Doctor Weber. You are right. I will take it if I feel its necessary.”

“Well that about does it. There will be instructions with you discharge information on wound care. I will be sending a copy of the medical records to your primary care physician so he can take over from here. Take care Mr. Brooks.”

With that he walked out and Sandy said, “Mr. Brooks is there anyone we can call to bring you some clothes. You need a new shirt and, you will need a coat or a blanket to put over you.”

“I don’t know if anyone is at home. They might be here at the hospital by now. Could you check and see if a Matthew Samuels, or a Timmy or Steve White, are in the waiting room.”

“Sure I will check for you.”

“Thanks Sandy.”

“Your welcome.”

She left to check and in a couple of minutes she came back and said, “You have some visitors Mr. Brooks.”

She smiled and moved the curtain and Matt, Timmy and Steve all stepped inside.

Matt was the first one to come in. I noticed that Timmy and Steve held back to let me have a minute with Matt. I gave them a grateful look and Matt moved to the side of my hospital bed. I could see that he had been crying and lifted my good arm and pulled him into a hug. He grabbed me in a tight hug and I winced but did not say anything. We just cried together.

Gradually he stopped crying and looked up at me and said, “Uncle I was so scared when I saw you lying on the floor with all that blood on you. I thought you were dying…”

He stopped, as he could not go on.

“It’s going to be ok Matt I am fine. I only needed a few stitches to fix things up. I can go home in a few minutes if we can get me a blanket to put over me.”

Steve spoke up and said, “Don’t worry Joe we brought you a bathrobe and jacket to lay over your shoulders.”

“Thanks you guys.”

“It’s the least we could do Joe.”

Matt sat on the edge of the bed and Steve and Timmy stood by the end of the bed. I felt a lot better knowing that Matt and Timmy were safe. It was one thing to be told they were ok it was another to see for yourself.

We all sat there for about an hour before my discharge papers were finished and we could leave. As I was being wheeled to the ER exit it suddenly dawned on me I did not know where were going to stay tonight. I did not feel safe with the front of my store all smashed in. I was going to have to have someone board it up as well.

I tuned and looked at Steve and said, “What about my store. The whole front display window is broken out. It will have to be boarded up. I don’t think we can stay there tonight. I don’t think Matt or I would feel safe.”

Steve said, “We are all staying at my parents house tonight and, don’t worry about the store. It is a crime scene and no one will be allowed in there till tomorrow. There are police stationed there to protect the area. Tomorrow you can have the window fixed.”

I did not need to ask why we were going someplace other than their house. It was obvious that Steve was afraid for all of our safety.

“Are you sure that we wont be too much of a burden Steve?”

“No. They are out of town and, I called them and they offered. I took them up on it and to be truthful it makes it easier on me to know that you all are safe and together. That way I can do my job and help catch these bastards before anyone else gets hurt. Now I don’t want to hear another word about imposing.”

“I reached up, squeezed his arm and said, “Thanks Steve.”

He just nodded and opened the car door for me. . Matt pushed me up to the side of Steve’s car and I carefully got into the front seat.

My mind was still jumping all over the place and I said, “I will need to call my insurance company and notify them. Then I will need to call the glass shop and order a new window. Hopefully they can do it the same day. But I wont hold my breath.”

“Don’t worry about it Joe. I will help you with any calls you need to make.

The drive to his parent’s house took about 45 minutes. By the time we arrived the pain medication had kicked in. I don’t know what he gave me but it sure worked. I was so out of it that they had to help me into the house. Steve had me sit in a recliner while he got beds ready for all of us. The he helped me into a bedroom. It shared a bathroom with another bedroom. He told me that he would leave the door cracked to his room so I could call him if needed anything.

As he was leaving I thanked him. He nodded and left the room. Matt had been sitting by the bed came over and gave me a hug.

And he asked me “Uncle do you want me to sleep in the chair in case you need something?”

“No hon I will be fine Steve is going to be sleeping across from me. You go get some sleep. I will be fine I promise.”

He gave me one last hug and left with Timmy.

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 © Joseph Men 2004