Richard Stephenson - Collapse

Roscoe sobbed like a child. “Is she dead?”

“No, thank God she was wearing her vest. A few of the pellets hit her in the shoulder. Let’s pray they didn’t hit an artery; that’s her only chance. Elizabeth! Talk to me! C’mon!”

“How bad is it?” whispered Elizabeth.

“Dear Lord, woman! You scared the shit out of me!”

“Well I’m sorry, I was shot you know,” she managed a thin smile.

“Can you stand up?”

“I think so. Jesus that hurt so damn bad!”

Max managed to get her to her feet and helped her over to a chair. She sat down and touched her shoulder, wincing at the pain. “First you kiss me and then you try getting a look at the girls? Shame on you, Max, I’m not that kind of girl.”

“Real funny. Take the vest off; we need to see the damage.”

“Aren’t you just being fresh? Turn around, Roscoe. Stop crying, sweetheart, I’m fine.” The frightened mechanic wiped his cheeks and turned around.

Max helped Elizabeth unbutton her shirt, and he unfastened her vest and took it off. She was wearing a tank top and a bra. Max tried his best to remain professional but he couldn’t help but notice her perfect breasts.

“You’re blushing, Maxwell. Try not to hurt yourself; I’m sure you’ve seen boobs before.”

“Will you please stop, for crying out loud? You’re not making this any easier!”

“Sorry, bossman, I’ll be good.”

“Roscoe, we need to stop the bleeding; find some towels or rags or something!”

“Make sure they’re clean, please!” shouted Elizabeth.

“How you doing? You feel dizzy or light headed?

“No, just feel like I was run over by a bus.”

Roscoe returned with some clean towels from the break room. Maxwell took them and tenderly wiped away the blood. He could see two small holes just under her collarbone. “Can you move your arm at all? Try bending your elbow.”

Elizabeth bent her elbow and moved her forearm slightly. She wiggled her fingers and tapped her fingers to her thumb. “I think I’m okay. I can start to raise my arm but it hurts too bad.”

“That’s good, hold still.” Max leaned her forward in the chair and checked her back. “Both the pellets went clean through, so we don’t have to worry about getting them out, which is a good thing. We just need to get the bleeding to stop. Roscoe, find me a first aid kit. If you don’t have one in here, check one of the patrol cars.”

“Holy shit! What happened in here?” Max turned to see a group of rain-soaked people standing in the doorway, wide-eyed and slack jawed.

“Any of you trained in first aid? Nurse? EMT? Anyone?” Max was not getting their attention; they were shocked at the sight of the dead man at the bottom of the stairs.

“Hey! Listen! HEY!”

“Uh, yes sir, officer. I’m a pediatrician. I live down in Galveston but I came up here to help my sis…”

“Shut up and get over here!” Max screamed.

“Be nice, Maxwell. I’m sorry for my boss here, he’s a little freaked out right now,” Elizabeth smiled at the woman who had just spoken up. “Hey! Perv! What are you looking at! Stop staring at my tits before I come over there and slap you!” Elizabeth was glaring at a man in his late twenties who was practically drooling over her. Once he realized that she was talking to him, he turned his head the opposite way.

“Ma’am, I’m sorry I yelled at you. Please come and help me. The rest of you get in and close the door! If your vehicle is gassed up, you should hit the road while you still can; otherwise, please sit in the next office.”

The woman walked over to Elizabeth and looked at her injury. “Apply steady pressure on both sides. We need to get the bleeding stopped. If we can’t, we’ll have to stitch her up.”

“Can we move her?” asked Max.

“You haven’t been outside for a bit, have you sir?” the doctor asked.

“No, why?”

“I wouldn’t drive out there if I were you. The rain is so heavy you can’t see much more than a few feet in front of you. The wind is blowing so hard I’d be afraid it would blow a car off the road. The power is out for as far as we can see. We’re better off in here.”

“We don’t have much choice. We can’t stay here; this building is so old it’s gonna come down on top of us eventually. We have to get to the high school. I have a command post set up in the east wing near the gym. We’ll be safe there.”

“If you say so, we need to get moving now. I’ll stay with her but I need someone to help me.”

“Roscoe! Get in here and help the doctor!”

Roscoe entered the room and stared at the ceiling, trying as hard as he could not to look at Elizabeth’s chest. He bumped into a desk and grunted.

“It’s okay, Roscoe, don’t hurt yourself. Get over here and help this nice lady.”

Once Roscoe took Max’s place, he walked to the doorway and counted three people. One was the perv that had been staring at Elizabeth; the other two were city employees whom Max had deputized that morning. “Okay people, it’s time to go. We have to head to the high school as quick as we can. Elizabeth, Roscoe, and the doctor will ride with me. The rest of you need to find a truck or an SUV and pull up to the front door. Let’s go!”

Max went outside in the wind and rain and was almost blown off his feet. The pelting rain stung like the spray from a thousand BB guns. He managed to find his SUV and pulled it up to the front door of the admin office. One of his deputies pulled up behind him in a full sized truck. They managed to get Elizabeth into the back seat and kept pressure on her gunshot wounds. Once the group was loaded up and ready to leave, Max said, “OK, just follow me and take it nice and slow. The high school is just a few blocks from here, should be there in two or three minutes.”

Once they were on the road, Max immediately began to question his decision to leave. He had to turn the wheel as far to the right as it would go to drive into the wind and stay on the road. Anytime the wind decreased or shifted slightly, the SUV would lurch to the right, coming dangerously close to the flooded ditch. He had the floodlights, the search lights, and the emergency lights on just to see a couple of feet in front of him. The SUV was being pummeled with flying debris. The rear passenger window was slammed by something and the window cracked. Thankfully the window didn’t shatter, but the crack was splintering and growing by the second. They managed to make it to the high school and pulled their vehicles right up to the double doors of the gymnasium. They entered the gym and quickly headed to the locker rooms.

Max closed the doors and looked across the gym floor. Roscoe was carrying Elizabeth in his arms. He ran up to Roscoe. “What’s wrong? Is she okay? Elizabeth!”

“Boss, I think she just fainted. We took two steps in the door and down she went.” Roscoe continued to walk to the locker rooms. “She’s still breathing, but the pain must have been too much for her.”

Max took hold of her hand and checked her pulse. Steady and strong. Roscoe was right, she just fainted. They all managed to get inside the locker room. Max turned on the battery-powered lanterns so they could see. Roscoe gently laid Elizabeth down on a cot and the doctor looked over her injuries.

“What’s the diagnosis, doc?” asked Max.

“Just what I was afraid of, the bleeding hasn’t stopped. I’ll have to stitch her up. Her pulse is steady and her breathing is fine. Good thing she fainted. It’ll make these stitches a lot less painful for her.”

“Good. Check that cabinet over there, should have everything you need.” Max took a deep breath and sat down in a chair. He reached into his pocket, pulled out the pill bottle and took inventory. Ten pills left. His hip and knee hurt worse than usual. He kicked back two pills and put the bottle back in his pocket. He was going to run out of pills very soon. He had a full bottle at the police station and another full bottle at his house. He was furious with himself for forgetting to grab one of them. His house would soon be underwater and he could only hope that the police station withstood the wind. He needed to figure out something quick. He looked to his left to see the doctor working on Elizabeth. He walked over to the supply cabinet and started digging around.