I am awakened by a very bright light, the room is seemingly flooded with it. However I do not remember leaving the curtains open last night, nor did I forget to turn off the power. Once the initial grogginess wears off I notice that I’m not in my shitty Skin Row apartment anymore. This place is a lot cleaner, that’s certain.

I let my eyes wander a bit: there are a couple of framed pictures on the walls, depicting landscapes devoid of any signs of civilization. The room appears to be symmetrical in its design with a pair of chairs and tables on the right and left side.

There are two beds, I’m currently occupying the one closest to the opposite side of the door. The next thing I notice is an infusion stand on my right side, holding a pair of bags with different colored liquids connected to one of my arms. I’m definitely in a hospital.

Wait, why am in a hospital? I remember spending last night with Fang, we were making up over that nasty fight we had shortly after this fucked up prom-night. While I’m trying to recover my memories I notice a large bulge where my left leg should be. I carefully lift the blanket and notice a thick brace covering the very same limb.

Suddenly everything is clear again and I’m cursing reality for being so goddamn cruel to me. Fang shot me… hell, she shot several people. I remember the corpses as well as Naser staring at me with his life-fading eyes. The last thing I remember is me collapsing after seeing Fang jump off the school roof. My god, how many hours have passed since then?

My next thought is to check my phone for information: for one, I wanna know what day and time it is; second, I wanna check the news for anything on the incident. However there’s no immediate trace of my personal belongings, all I’m wearing is a hospital gown.

Trying to stand up to search the room is out of the question, my leg is in no condition for this. Hmm, no crutches either. How the hell do these people expect me to go to take a shit then? Just as I spot the buzzer next to my bed I hear an agitated man shouting outside.

“I’ve been waiting since 3 hours now! How much longer will this take!? I need to see my son!!” That gruff voice… it seems very familiar. The next thing I hear is a familiar female voice trying to calm him down. “Ripley dear, let the doctors work. They’re trying their very best to help dear Naser right now, don’t let out your frustration on the kind staff.”

There’s no doubt, these are Fang’s parents. Did I hear them just talk about… Naser? Wait, did he actually survive!? So they’ve been operating on him since the last three hours… this means the incident must be still quite recent. I guess it must be afternoon by now, probably between 1 or 2 PM. Well, at least that settles the mystery regarding the current date and time.

Anyway, I still wanna check the news and for that I’ll need my phone. I proceed to press the buzzer connected to my hospital bed, holding down the button for at least 3 seconds. After half a minute a green parasaur nurse appears. “Did you need something?” No time wasted on asking for my well-being. “I was wondering where my stuff is. You know, like my phone for example?”

The parasaur nurse lifts one of her arms to point at a closet on the opposite side of my bed, right next to the door. “We stored your personal belongings in there as well as your clothing. Is there anything else I can help you with?” – “Well, yeah. I’d like to have some crutches. Surely you have noticed the massive brace on my left leg.” – “I advise against moving around on your own, your surgery only was a couple of hours ago.” Oh I see, they made me wait for at least an hour before operating on me. How thoughtful of them.

“So how am I going to go to the bathroom then?” – “We have prepared tools which you can use for that, they’re right under your bed. You should be able to reach them with either arm.” At least they didn’t put a fucking catheter inside my dick. “Could you please do me a favor and give me my phone at least? Surely you can imagine how extremely boring it can get in here.” The nurse lets out a sigh and turns her back to me as she checks the closet for my shitposting device. After half a minute she finally retrieves it from inside my folded pants. “Thank you.” The nurse wordlessly leaves the room.

I immediately check the battery life on my phone just to see it hover at around 22%. Damn, that’s not good. I guess I’ll have to call that nurse later again just to get this thing charged up. I check for any missed calls, surprisingly no attempts from my parents. I guess they didn’t check the news yet, or so I hope. I load up Snootle and type in three searchtags. “Volcano High Schoolshooting”.

The very first search result confirms what I already knew, most of it is very vague. No student names or pictures, just a short report highlighting the time and date of the shooting as well as the efforts of officers and emergency workers to save and treat the affected. Hmm, strange – no mention of any suicides. Wait, they’re saying that one of the students was saved in a spectacular way by jumping off the roof and landing inside an emergency net…? That same student was taken in for further questioning!?

Thank god, Fang is still alive… FANG. IS. STILL. ALIVE. I feel how the relief from this revelation rejuvenates my broken body, I’m almost tempted to run out of here but I immediately vanish the thought. My left leg is fucked up, and I still have no crutches. Damn, this seriously blows.

I just hope that Naser pulls through, for Fang’s and his parent’s sake. It’s not too late to save both of them. Please god, be merciful one more time.

 

 

My agitated gaze returns to my wife, she’s looking at me with compassion while keeping her serene expression. She’s so brave and I love her even more for it. She caught up with me after an hour while I was still waiting for any confirmations regarding Naser’s state.

Naturally she’s as worried as I am but she doesn’t show it as much in front of other people. I told her about the talk I had with Lucy, her expression was dead serious when I mentioned her initial plan to take revenge on her bullies. But for now we’re focused on our son, his condition couldn’t be any more serious. However the fact that he has been fighting since 3 hours now tells me that there’s still life inside of him. He simply can’t die now, not after enduring so much.

“Dear, why don’t you take a seat? You should rest a bit.” I’ve been walking through the same corridor over and over again, hoping to catch the glimpse of a doctor or a nurse with news regarding Naser’s state but so far nothing. I finally give in and sit down next to her.

At first I try to remain silent, but my thoughts are wandering back to Lucy and what she told me in that interrogation room. “Samantha… there still was something Lucy wanted to let you know. She still loves you… both of us… she’s truly sorry for making us worry.” – “Oh dear… Of course she does. She’s our sweet Lucy after all. I still can’t believe she wanted to… hurt… these students. I’m very sad that she felt like she couldn’t talk to either of us about her bully problem...”

Suddenly a white feathered raptor stops in front of us, I didn’t notice him at first. At a closer glance he must be one of the doctors working here. “Mr. and Mrs. Aran, I presume?” – “Yes, we’re Naser’s parents. Can you tell us how our son is doing?” – “He’s doing reasonably well for someone who had a bullet pierce his body. We were as thorough as possible and arrived at the conclusion that the bullet went clean through his body. The gun must have been fired from a very close range. However he did lose a considerable amount of blood, we’ve been trying to replenish his bloodlevel. I was hoping you would be able to help me with a blood donation.”

“But of course, doctor. Anything for Naser. Lead the way.” I rise from my chair while holding onto Samantha’s hand, we’re now both following the doctor down the same long corridor which I’ve been painstakingly analyzing these last three hours. We finally stop at a door with the label “D.004” on it. The doctor slowly opens the door, silently beckoning us to enter.

I spot Naser on top of an oversized hospital bed with several tubes connected to his body. He seems to be still asleep, the exhaustion as well as the anasthetics are surely the cause of that. I carefully approach his side, my eyes are pointed at his face while I whisper to Samantha and the doctor. “Do you have an estimate on when he’ll be able wake up?”

“The anastethics inside his body should last for at least 2 more hours, afterwards we’ll have to see how he’s doing. My earliest estimate would be at around 4 PM. But we can’t force him, his body needs all the rest it can get.” – “Of course. We are very grateful for what you’ve done so far.” I can spot slight traces of tears forming around Samantha’s eyes as she reaffirms my gratitude towards the doctor. “Now about that blood donation…”

 

 

Me and Samantha have been intensely watching over Naser since an hour so far, our occasional whispers serving as the sole distraction from the crushing silence in this room. My desire to embrace my son is considerable, my sole way of coping with these urges is to direct my affections at my wife. Moments like these truly make me appreciate having Samantha at my side. Suddenly my phone starts vibrating. This definitely has to be about Lucy. I need to take that call. I excuse myself while leaving Samantha alone with Naser.

After stepping out of the room I pick up the call. “Yes, this is commissioner Aran. Who am I speaking to?” – “Sir, this is officer Darren. I just wanted to let you know that the Federal Bureau of Investigation just called us a moment ago, they want to meet you in your office - in exactly an hour.” Damn, that’s a lot earlier than expected. Wait, am I really going to miss out on Naser waking up because of this!? I try to suppress my frustration as I speak the following words. “Thank you, officer Darren. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Looks like I have no other choice but to talk to these bastards. I never liked these guys from the three letter agencies, far too snobby for my taste and with very little respect for those under them. I carefully enter my son’s hospital room to let Samantha know about the meeting. “Don’t worry dear, I’ll watch over dear Naser for both of us. Now go help Lucy, she needs you.”