Trapped

Part one

The ambulance raced down the highway on a dreary, rainy fall evening in Tampa, Florida.

"Poor boy, he's so young," the female paramedic sighed as she threaded an IV line into the patient's right arm.

Mark struggled to keep awake, trying to figure out what was happening. The last thing he remembered was being at a promotional party. He told Ethan he was tired and was headed back to the Hotel. After saying goodbye, he got into his car and headed down the road.

Mark tried to ask the girl what had happened, the words were formed in his brain, but nothing was coming from his mouth. He was starting to get scared, something wasn't right and he was unsure of what was happening to him.

He felt a little relieved as the ambulance arrived at the hospital. Mark figured he would get some answers as to what was going on. He listened to the paramedics as they prepared to move him from the stretcher onto the cot in the emergency room.

"We were called to the scene and found the patient in his vehicle, off the road, the car had hit a tree. He was unconscious," the paramedic stopped briefly as they counted to three before transferring Mark onto the cot. "He is unable to communicate with us at the present time."

Mark's mind was racing. He couldn't recall hitting a tree or driving off the road for that matter. The paramedic started calling off Mark's vital signs, so Mark was unable to determine still what was going on.

As he laid on the cot, he watched the people around him, touching him, poking him with needles, feeling everything, but unable to move or vocalize the pain he was feeling. A doctor finally approached him and leaned over so that Mark could see her face.

"Hi, I'm Doctor Johnson, I hear you ran your car into a tree," as the female doctor spoke, she was pressing in different areas on Mark's stomach. Mark desperately wanted to cry out and tell her she was hurting him, but he couldn't so she seemed to think everything was okay. "Does it hurt when I press here?"

Mark wanted to say yes, the words were there, but they wouldn't come out, it was like they were stuck in his mouth.

The doctor mentioned some type of medication and as soon as Mark saw the nurse inject it into his IV, everyting went black.

*~*~*~*

Bob's headlights shone onto a vehilce that was off the road, smashed up against some trees. He took his foot off the gas pedal and stopped his jeep.

Slamming it into park, Bob's heart sank. It appeared to be Mark's Jeep. He couldn't get out of his car fast enough. Afraid of what he would find inside the vehicle, Bob swallowed hard. He was semi-relieved when he found that the jeep was empty.

Upon opening the driver's door, Bob immediately panicked when he spotted a large amount of blood on the front seat. Thoughts ran through his mind, trying to think of where Mark was. He prayed that he was found and taken to a hospital.

As Bob turned to walk back towards his car, headlights flashed across the road. The car stopped and Ethan's voice called out to Bob in the darkness.

"Bob? Is that Mark's car?"

"Yeah, he's not in there though, he must---" Bob stopped in mid sentence as his phone went off. Looking down at the message, he didn't recognize the number. "I got a text, let me call this number, it might be Mark."

Bob got into his car and dialed the number. Sure enough, it was Tampa Bay Hospital calling to inform Bob that Mark was admitted as a patient. When Bob tried to get more information from the person that answered his call, she reluctantly stated that was all she could tell him and the he would have to come to the hospital for more information.