Shots Fired!

Chapter Eight

Now...

"Can you hear me? Aubrey, can you hear me?" Hen is the last person I expect to hear. My eyes flutter and struggle against the agressive sunlight to get a clearer picture of her face.

"H-Hen?" I manage. 

"Hey, sis. Yeah, it's me. How are you feeling?"

"Christopher!" My heart is racing, breathing heavy, I force myself up but she pushes me back down.

"Bre, settle down. I need you to relax. You've taken one hell of a beating."

"I- Hen, the kids! How are my kids? Where are they? Hen! Where are they? Christopher-"

"He's fine." She states firmly. "It's you I'm worried about."

I let my eyes adjust enough to register I'm in the back of an ambulance. I stare at her confused. 

"You were shot." She reminds me. "A few times. And you've taken some trauma to your head. It's a damn miracle you're alive."

"Where. Are. My. Kids." I growl.

"Eddie has them." She curls her fingers into my palm. "They're okay."

Two plump tears roll down my cheeks. She gives me a weary smile. "How bad is it?"

"Bad." She sighs. "At least twenty dead. Sixty two wounded. And counting."

"N-no!" I sob. "Nonononono!"

Everything inside of me turns black. My emotions come spewing out in a flurry. I feel like dying. Twenty dead? Sixty-two wounded? Why, God, why?

"Stay with me, Bre. I need you here. Focus on the good. You saved your kids. You fought like hell and won. You did that."

"What?" 

My brain scrambles. I remember fighting, I don't remember winning. If I really won, I'd be with my kids. Huddled up in the safety of our room. Not here. Strapped to a gurney. 

"Baby, when we found you in that room, we couldn't believe it. Here are two grownass men. Cowards. Hiding behind masks. Backpacks full of weapons. Guns, bombs, knives. Hell, we even found a katana- and here you are. Some skinny white girl, stabbing them with scissors and ripping off chunks of their flesh with your teeth. You didn't want to die."

"That's enough, Hen." Athena steps into view. Her face is hard and unwelcoming. Or maybe she's just as shocked and sad as I am. Our eyes meet and she frowns. "You've been through hell." She tells me. "And you survived. It doesn't make it fair. Doesn't make it easy. But you did it."

"Did I-"

"Kill the bastards?" She finishes. "No. No, you didn't."

Somehow, that makes me feel worse.

"They're in critical condition. I'll have some questions for them once they wake up."

"Me too." I whisper. She nods.

"If you hadn't done what you did- call Eddie and then fight those two men- there's no telling how this could have ended. Aubrey, you saved a lot of people today. I know you'll be thinking of those you lost, but try to remember you're a hero."

"But-"

"Stop. Stop, baby. Don't do that to yourself. You did good."

I nod, but it doesn't stop the tears from sliding down the sides of my face. I can see the pain clearly on Athena's face. I know she's sparing me some of the details. But I can feel it. I can feel how bad this is. I know how bad this is. I lived it.

I should have died with it.

"Thena, I've got to get her to the hospital. Do you mind?" Hen cuts in.

"Not at all." She sighs. "I've got to see the extent of the damage. Lord help me."

With that, she hops out. Hen squeezes my hand again, "Eddie and Christopher will meet us at the hospital," she says ever so softly, "I've already contacted your cousin. She knows to meet you there too. Just try to relax, okay?"

How can I?

After all this...

I don't know if I can ever "relax" again.

Vote | Comment | Subscribe