Memories of Tragedy

My palms start sweating as I hear the heavy footsteps approach the bathroom.

It never hits you that it doesn’t take much to kill you until you have a moment that tells you otherwise. This is that moment. The footsteps begin to get louder and louder then suddenly they start to fade. He turned around. Coming from the door on the right is a female voice trying to beg the shooter not to kill her. Moments later a shot rings out as a high pitched scream pierces the quiet musky air. I’m next.

The shooters footsteps flee the room, silence is the only thing left. Minutes go by until I contemplate leaving the bathroom. When I finally muster up the courage more dull footsteps begin to creep into another room, this time the sound comes from the left side. My grandmother’s room, the room that my friends are currently hiding in, and trying to be out of the range of harm. I can hear beefy hands turning over papers and books and chairs, looking for his next victim. Before I went to the bathroom I saw that my grandma was pretending to be dead while Aubrey is laying silently under the hospital bed with Natalie hiding in a nearby closet. Another shot rings out while another scream breaks the stiff hospital air, this time the voice behind it is more familiar. Aubrey. By the sound of it he has found her. My breath starts to quicken coming out of my mouth, trying so hard to be quiet but turning out the opposite. I just wanted to come visit my grandmother and it is turning into a mass murder at an innocent hospital. This whole thing feels like a book that just came off the fiction shelf, something that I never thought could happen to me. Almost like I will just wake up in a couple minutes and I will be in my bed safe and sound. I don’t hear anything more, just silence, nothing but silence. I will just wait a couple more minutes until I know the shooter is out of the room, then I will inspect the damage from the catastrophe.

“He almost killed me!” Whispers Natalie. “He was walking towards the closet I was hiding in, when Aubrey made a noise. A noise loud enough for him to take his attention off of the closet and try to find the human that the noise came out of.” She takes a deep breath and lowers her voice. “That’s when he looked under the bed. He pulled her out from underneath the bed by her ankles. Didn’t even let her say one little thing, he just shot her.” Her voice started to turn into a sob. “It should’ve been me you know that right.” It wasn’t a question.

“You don’t know that. He could’ve been doing anything, he probably wasn’t even going to go to the closet. Some things you just don’t know.” I try to reassure her. “Is he gone?” The question lingers in the air for a minute.

“Yeah, I saw him walk out of the room through a crack in the closet door. Acting like nothing ever happened.” It doesn’t seem real until I slowly walk to the door and open it, uncovering light and the crime scene around me. My grandmother is sitting up in her bed, her skin pale along with her colorless eyes. She slowly turns and gazes at me with tear filled eyes and points. A couple feet down lays Aubrey’s body. All the color has left her body already, her eyes have turned to stone. She looks somewhat peaceful, until you focus on the pool of blood surrounding her firm body, exposing her entry wound. The wound was located a little bit above her heart, it looks like it took a direct hit to one of her artery’s. Instantly dead, no suffering. I can’t take the scene anymore. I quickly but quietly make an attempt for the door. Not knowing if the killer was still in the building or not, I’m not taking any chances. I peer around the corner. Nothing. I peer around the other corner. Nothing.

“Coast is clear.” I say as I turn around and reach for Natalie. My gaze meets my grandma’s tired and worried eyes. “Help will come soon Gram. We just have to make it out alive first.” I say the last sentence under my breath. Natalie grabs my hand as we walk out the bulky hospital door. “I’m not quite sure which way to go.” I say looking left and right trying to make out signs at the end of the hallway. “If we take a left it will turn into the ICU,” Before I finish the rest of my sentence Natalie interrupts. “What is the ICU?”

“It stands for Intensive Care Unit, but that’s not important right now. We have to find our way out and get help.” While walking down the hallway I peer into each hospital room, most of the rooms were locked up or evacuated. There were few that had a devastating view, tables turned upside down, blood dripping down from the bullet that made its mark on its target, todays newspaper lying on the tray attached to the bed untouched. We get to the end of the hallway. Checking left and right again just to make sure we don’t have any unpleasant visitors. “Clear.” I whisper. Just as we turn into the hallway to the right, we see a man walking out from one of the hospital rooms. We duck behind a case cart, that hides needles, bandages and other things doctors need on hand. Natalie swears under her breath.

“Somebody there?” His voice was stern yet shaky. At that exact time a male surgeon walks out into the hallway and stops dead in his tracks. His name tag reads Riley.

“Sir, you don’t know what you’re doing.” Riley holds up both his hands palms out. He spots us and makes eye contact but quickly looks back at the shooter to make it seem like it is just him and the gunman.

“I know exactly what I’m doing. I am here to seek revenge at the surgeon who killed my sister. What’s his name,” Please don’t say Riley’s name. “Dr. Truluk. Yeah that’s him, the one who killed my sister. As you have probably noticed, whoever gets in the way of my plan will be shot. Especially a surgeon like you.” Maybe Riley will be safe. Just as that thought crosses my mind he points the gun at Riley and doesn’t hesitate at pulling the trigger. Another shot strikes as loud as thunder with another lifeless body falling to the ground. I don’t know how much more I can take. A little scream escapes my lips as I slap my hand over my mouth to cover up the noise. I could’ve just blown our cover. The shooter walks down the other end of the hallway and takes a right.

“We need to get out of here as soon as possible.” Natalie says while staring at the dead body of a successful surgeon.

“You don’t think I’m trying?” My voice starts to get louder. “I would want that more than anything right now!” I get up and my legs feel like cement blocks. Stuck on the carpet and unable to move. Its all in my head. As i try and force my legs to move faster and faster, it feels as if time is not on our side.

~~


My heart drops. “The light isn’t on.” I say staring at the elevators. This is one more thing that has failed us today. “That means the elevators aren’t on. And we have to find the stairs that lead us down to the lobby.” I see signs hanging from the ceiling that say ‘stairs.’ “Over here!” We run down the hall, not paying any attention to our surroundings. I push the door as hard as I can and it opens. Success. We race down the stairs and halfway down we see the same face as the gunman looking into the staircase from a floor exit door. You have got to be kidding me! We duck right under the window so he doesn’t see us. Moments later we get up and run with everything we have down the stairs to the lobby. Natalie pushes the door and it swings open. Finally. The sun glares into all the windows that make up for walls on the entrance of the hospital. We wait for our eyes to adjust as police cars come into view. Natalie and I walk out of the hospital and onto hot cement. Everything goes black and my legs collapse as EMT’s surround me.

~~

“How did it make you feel, when you found out Aubrey was dead?” My new therapist Olivia Knight asks. I don’t like talking about the hospital shooting. It brings up some pretty messed up memories. Memories that I just don’t want to explain.

“At the time it didn’t phase me. I was more worried about keeping Natalie and my grandma alive. Which I think I did a pretty good job at it.” Like I said before, I don’t like talking about it.

“Well that’s all for today. Thank you for your cooperation.” I nod and head out the door. I walk down the old fashioned maroon staircase and onto the sidewalk. Taking deep breaths as I slowly walk to my little 2010 blue Aveo. I unlock the driver’s side door and get in. The sky is starting to fade to dark as I drive home. A couple minutes later I arrive home.

“Hey honey.” My parents say in unison. The house smells like freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

“I hope you don’t mind that I made you a little snack for being brave today.” My mom says while she scoots a small plate of chocolate chip cookies and a small glass of milk towards me. Nailed it. This is why I love my parents. The plate feels warm on top of my hand as I make my way towards my bedroom.

“Thank you!” I yell down the hall. A shower and sweatpants sound good right about now. My legs lead me to my closet and my hands reach for light grey sweatpants and a light orange t-shirt. I walk into the bathroom and put my selected clothes in a pile on the floor. I walk over to the shower and feel the warmth slipping through the gaps between my fingers.

~~

“I wasn’t the one who told her she could go to the hospital in the first place!” My mother’s muffled voice has pain in it.

“Oh! So now this is all my fault! Apparently I can’t do anything right for this family!” My father begins to say something then drops it. They have been going at it for an hour now and it is eleven thirty at night! I’m getting out of here. The glass door leading outside is unlocked. I throw on a sweatshirt and head out. Cold and sweet-smelling air touch my face and blow my hair away from my face. Much better. Loud noise comes from the bar across the street, I walk over to check it out. As I walk through the door I can smell intoxicated frat boys, who are being loud and obnoxious. One small table in the middle of the bar is open. I walk over to it and sit down. For a couple minutes I don’t do anything, I just stare at the chaos happening around me. Since I’m too young to order a drink I look at the snacks, but someone else has got me covered. A waiter comes over to my table with mozzarella sticks.

“A gentleman has ordered these for you. Eat up, it is our specialty.” He flashes me a smile and disappears into the back where the kitchen is. Gentleman? Where can you find a gentleman at this social gathering with underdeveloped male brains. The first bite is amazing. The cheese is gooey and melted to perfection. Holding the cheese together is the breading, it is a light brown with a touch of darkness which means it is cooked to excellence. It really is their specialty. After I finish the appetizer I get up from the table as a man walks up to me. He’s dressed in a torn sleeve, plain white old tee and worn out light wash jeans.

“So were they good?” His voice sounds harsh but natural.

“Yes, thank you.” I try to make an exit but he just follows me out. “What are you doing?” My voice comes out stern as I turn around and make eye contact with him.

“My name is Matt. Nice to meet you.” He reaches his hand out and grabs just higher than my wrist. I try to pull away but he is definitely stronger than me, the force he is putting on my arm hurts.

“Let me go right now.” I holler at him.

“What, you expect to give me nothing after getting free mozzarella sticks? Because that’s not how it works.” Now I see where he’s going with this. With my free hand I try to elbow him in the stomach. He groans. “It ain’t gonna be that easy.” Matt tightens his grip on my arm. “Why don’t you just come with me without fussing. Please and thank you.” He tries leading me to his pickup truck.

“No.” I say struggling to get away from him.

STILL WORKIN ON IT BUT WHATDYA THINK?