Love | R.L. (R5)

Chapter 10 -The Failed Attempt-

I sat there for a moment until I realized I had felt no pain. I opened my eyes to see Rydel pointing the gun at my mom. Her face showed no expression as she stood there staring at her. I looked around and noticed Ross laying on the ground. “Ross!” I yelled as I started crawling closer to him . Rydel had looked over at me from my sudden outburst. “Ross” I said again.  I was sitting beside him and I could tell his body was tense. I slide my hand under his back when I felt something warm and sticky. My eyes got wide when I realized where the bullet had gone. “Rydel call the ambulance!” I screamed at her. Her face turned to horror and she pulled out her phone. I looked back at Ross and slide my hand around his back until I found the wound below his shoulder then I pressed hard against it to slow the bleeding which made him tensed again. “Its going to be OK” I said to him as I stroked his hair with my free hand. I heard Rydel hang up and noticed her kneel on the other side of Ross.

“There on there way” she said. I nodded and looked up at her. I noticed tear fall down her cheeks as she stared at her brother. I looked back down at Ross to see him looking at me. He opened his mouth to try to say something but all that came out was coughing.

“Don’t speak” I said to him. All went quiet as Rydel and I sat beside him. His eyes drift from me to Rydel then from her he just stared into the sky. Suddenly the silence was broken by a door squeaking behind me. I turned my head to find Ratliff and Rocky standing in the doorway. They scanned the scene until they’re eyes landed on us.

“What happened?” Rocky asked as he took a few steps closer to us. I opened my mouth to reply but was interrupted by a faint siren. The ambulance are close I thought. I looked back at Ross and noticed his eyes were slowly closing.

“No! Ross! You have to stay awake!” I shouted at him. I grabbed onto his shirt and held onto it as I shouted at him. I felt a tear run down my cheek as I watched his eyes slowly close. I leaned down so I was closer to his ear. “You can’t leave me!” I whispered “I love you.” I leaned forward and put my head against his then I felt him get heavy on my arm. Lifting my head I realized Ross had his eyes closed and he was unconscious. “Ross” I whispered hoping he would wake up but his eyes stayed closed. I layed my head on his chest and closed my eyes. I was hoping this was all a dream. That I would wake up and everything would be OK. All of a sudden I felt something touch my hand. I opened my eyes hoping it would be Ross but it was the paramedics. Two men were kneeling on the other side of Ross. One of them grabbed my hand to pull it off his shirt. I let go and sat up they then lifted Ross off my arm and onto a stretcher then wheeled it him back to the ambulance.

I just sat there and watched them take him away. Then I felt something on my shoulder and looked up to see Rydel standing beside me. She held out her hand so I grabbed it and stood up. I looked up at her face and notice her eyes were red. She leaned forward and gave me a big hug. When we broke apart she nodded over to where Rocky and Ratliff were standing. Then she turned away from me started walking over to a police officer. I stood for a moment then started walking over to the boys. When I got closer Rocky reached out and pulled me into a hug. I rested my head on him and started to cry harder. He patted me on the back and held me tighter. It wasn’t long before Rydel had finish talking to the officer.

“Lets go to the hospital” she said when she got over by us. Rocky let go of me and we started walking around the building over to the bus.

“So what happened exactly?” Ratliff asked. Rydel started explaining but I tuned her out. I really didn’t want to relive it. Instead I just concentrated on walking. It wasn’t long before I heard my name being called.

“Alex?” Rydel said again trying to get my attention.

“Huh? What?”

“Umm... Your mom was taken to the same hospital if you want to go see her?” she said. I looked at her as anger blow out of me.

“What! Why would I want to go visit her! I hate her!” I shouted at her then I broke away from them and ran the rest of the way to the bus. When I got to it I didn’t wait for the door to open. I squeezed through it and pushed the curtain open.

“Hey what took so long?” Riker said making me jump.  I could barely see through my tears so I didn’t see him sitting on the couch. I ignored him anyway and walked to the bathroom. There I washed my hand off and looked up into the mirror. I looked at myself hoping I could just vanish. That darkness would pull me under and take me away from this world. I closed my eyes hoping, wish, that it was just a dream but when I opened them again I was still looking at my miserable self. I sighed and left the bathroom. I walked over to the couch and sat at the opposite end from Riker. He looked at me confused “What's wrong?” he asked. Just then Rocky and Ratliff entered the bus. They sat down in the chairs across from me without saying a word. Rydel came in last. She sat down beside me just as I felt the bus lurch forward. I leaned my head on her shoulder and closed my eyes. “What is going on?” Riker exclaimed again “And where is Ross?” At that I started to cry again. Rydel rubbed me on the back and put her head on mine.

“Hush It’ll be OK” she said to me.

“What did I say?” Riker asked.

Rydel looked at him. “Ross is at the hospital” she choked out.

“What!” he yelled. Rydel nodded then she closed her eyes and all went quite. I opened my eyes in time to see Riker walk past me and disappear into the bedroom. I sat there and waited a few minutes but he never came back out. Confused, I stood up and walked to the bedroom. Riker was sitting on the bottom bunk leaning up against the wall. I walked over and sat down beside him. “I failed” he said with a sigh.

“What do you mean?” I asked looking over at him.

“I promised our mom before we left that I would protect everyone but I failed.” He paused for a moment. “I should have been there to protect him. I should be in the hospital not Ross.”

I didn’t know what to say I just rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. All was quiet as we drove down the highway to the hospital.  He’s gone, was all I could think, he’s dead.