Rest, Dear Bunny
Bullets….
Bullets…
Bullets…
Bullets flying over…
Bullets rained like hailstones. There was more than one active shooter and they opened fire at the sight of law enforcers.
My eyes narrowed to one of the emergency exit doors. I opened my radio. “This is Saltzman. I have a clear view of civilians at the emergency exit at the east of the building.” I scanned my surroundings. “There is no shooter at sight. I will proceed. Over.”
I turned to my fellow officers and Officer Burke nodded, so I took my chance to approach the emergency exit. Bullets started to rain again when I was near the door, which made me close it. The civilians were trembling at the barrage of mini explosions.
“I am Detective Josie Saltzman. Is anyone here hurt?” My eyes scanned the shaken hotel guests. One person raised their hand as the child tried not to cry. “Let me see.”
“Bullets were flying, Detective. I don’t know where his parents are, I just grabbed him.” Said the adult who raised his hand earlier. “Is he gonna be ok?”
“He has no bullet wound, so he probably just got nicked by one.” My mouth tugged into a smile as I lifted the boy’s face. “You are so brave and so strong. Just keep holding on. Ok?” I opened my radio. “This is Saltzman. There is an injured child. Black hair. Brown eyes. Asian descent. About nine to eleven years of age. Possibly due to stray bullets. How fast can first aid come? Over.”
The radio buzzed. “How long can you hold out, Saltzman? Over.”
The civilians gasped and I was face to face with one of the shooters before I could respond. I drew my gun at him, but my standard issue glock looked flimsy against his semi-automatic. “Drop it.”
The radio buzzed. “Five out of six identified shooters are down, Saltzman. We can dispatch first aid to your location in three minutes. Be alert for the sixth shooter. Do you copy?”
I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. My eyes set on my assailant. The shooter had a sad depth to his crazed eyes. His hands trembled ever so slightly. “You are the only one left, kid. Drop the gun gently and surrender.”
“Then what? Rot in jail?” He chuckled, but there was fear in his laugh. “I didn’t kill all those people just to die like a bitch.”
The radio buzzed again, “Saltzman, aid in coming any minute now. Do you have eyes on the sixth shooter?”
It all happened so fast. I was standing. Then I wasn’t. A metallic taste haunted my tongue as a flurry of muted voices and blurred lights moved about.
But one voice stood out among the rest.
“Josie!” And it's as if the skies parted clear, Hope's face was now in front of me. I was lying down on my back as her shaking hands cupped my face. “Josie! Oh God!”
Someone snatched her away and my brain finally registered my surroundings. The familiar bustling and panicked walls. The creepy lights activated by motion. The LED signage that glowed red.
EMERGENCY ROOM.
“Hope! Calm down!” Lizzie's voice entered my ears very faintly. My neck craned to the side and witnessed my sister trying to hold back my wife. They were both in their doctor’s coats. I wanted to call out to her, but only a groan came out of my throat.
“Josie? Josie? Can you hear me?” A pen light shined in my eyes. “Stay awake ok?” Is this Aunt Elena? My eyelids started to weigh heavily all of a sudden.
“Josie! No! Don't close your fucking eyes!”
“No. No. No. Stay with me Josie. Prep OR 6! STAT! Gunshot wound to the left shoulder area!”
Darkness finally consumed me as the chaos faded into nothing.
Beep…
Beep…
Beep…
My eyes fluttered open, face to face with a sterile white ceiling. Throat was raw as I took in the walls that surrounded me. A faint groan escaped my lips followed by a gasp from someone else. I could feel fingers faintly combing my hair as my eyes tried to focus on the face of the person in front of me. “Oh, bunny. You were always a jumpy child.” When the chuckle entered my ears, my mind was able to decipher who was talking to me. “I should’ve expected that you’d jump in front of a bullet.”
“D…ad…?”
“Don’t force yourself, bunny. I’ll call your sister.” Dad limped to the door. “Excuse me? Could you please inform Dr. Saltzman that the patient in 291 is awake? Thank you.” He limped back to me when the door closed.
His hand ran through his graying hair as he sank down the chair beside me. I could see the worry in his blue-ish green eyes. “Captain Donovan called me. I…” He sighed. “I thought I was about to inform your Mom that… I thought… That we were going to lose you like how we lost your Daddy.”
Tears threatened to spill from his eyes. “Ric was a good cop. His methods were sometimes outlandish, but he was a damn good cop. I should’ve expected his daughter to be the same.” He held my hand. “I know the danger that comes with a job like this. I experienced it myself. Went to many funerals. I don’t even want to count how many. Can I be selfish?” His gaze met mine again. “ Please don’t be one of them, bunny. A child should be the one to bury their parents. Not the other way around.”
A tear fell from my eye as Lizzie burst through the door. “Josie…” She squeezed my hand. “Don’t scare us like that!” Her hands trembled as she shined her pen light in my eyes.
“Excuse me, Minnie.” Dad stood up. “I’ll just be at the cafeteria. Do you want anything?”
Lizzie shook her head, “No thanks, Dad.” He nodded in response before he limped outside the door, his cane clacking down the hall. Then Lizzie cleared her throat.
“Do you know who you are?”
I nodded. “Josie…Saltzman…”
“Do you know what time of day it is?”
“Ni…ght.” I coughed and she held a glass of water to my lips.
“Drink slowly. Ok. Can you wiggle your toes?”
I swallowed the pain in my body as I focused on wiggling my toes.
“Can you lift your leg?”
It was not that high, but I was able to.
“Can you follow my finger?” Lizzie moved her index finger from side to side and my gaze followed. She breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God!”
“Hope?”
“Mom dragged her back to your house so she could take a shower. She wore the clothes with your blood on it while you were at surgery.” Wait… What? “In the years I’ve worked with her… In the years any of us worked with her, she was always so composed. Even in the most challenging surgeries.”
Lizzie looked down and sighed. “That was the first time we saw her like that.” She finally looked up to me. “When we were called to help the ER with the shooting victims, she was in her typical Mikaelson professionalism…until you were wheeled in. It was as if a dam broke and she didn’t calm down until you were out of surgery and she could finally hold your hand.”
“T…he…” I coughed and cleared my throat. “The kids?”
“Here.” Lizzie held a glass of water again to my lips. “Still with Hope’s parents. If they hadn’t called, no one would’ve convinced your wife to leave your side. That bitch fucking loves you. Don’t ever scare us like that ever again.”
“It was my job Lizzie.” I croaked. “Besides, having a few hours of uninterrupted sleep was actually nice.” I smiled at my attempt at humor.
“Bitch, you’ve been in and out of consciousness for two days!”
“What?” I blinked.
“You gave Hope a thousand mini heart attacks! Probably!” Lizzie buried her face in her hands. “God, you're stubborn!” Her phone buzzed. “Oh…” Was all she said before typing a response.
“What?”
“Your wife fell asleep at home. Mom’s staying there so she’d have company. She says ‘Hi’ by the way.” Lizzie turned off her phone and placed it in the pocket of her doctor’s coat. “You should rest more. Don’t move your left arm too much.” Lizzie left to tend to her other patients.
My gaze fell to the handkerchief near my hand. It… belonged to Hope. I grabbed it and brought it to my face. The cloth downed her perfume and probably my blood. A smile tugged on my lips. She was here, watching me, taking care of me. Did she eat while waiting for me to wake up? I wish I could remember whatever she could’ve told me while I was unconscious.
“I remember the days when I would scare your Mom like that.” Dad chuckled as he re-entered the room, setting his cane down and sitting on the chair again. “Rest, dear bunny. You need it. Don’t worry. I'll be watching you.”