Crossroads

Ch. 45: Tribulations

INDIA JUST GOT SHOT!

Cameron's words replayed in my head. I sat in the waiting room at the hospital. My legs shook uncontrollably and my head rested on the wall behind me. My eyes were closed as I kept reliving the moment I saw the love of my life laying unconscious on the concrete drowning in a pool of her own blood. This couldn't be happening right now. I had to be dreaming. There was no way India was in an operating room fighting for her life. Just no way.

Why didn't I stay? I should have stayed! I could have protected her. I just left her out there because I was upset that she hit me. So what she hit me? I shouldn't have cared. I shouldn't have left. Why did I leave?

We had been waiting for three hours now and I was absolutely sick to my stomach. I opened my eyes slightly. Just enough to see Maria in the corner praying. She was on the clock when India was brought in so she was dressed in her scrubs from her shift. She held a bible in her hands and she recited some of her favorite verses quietly. John sat next to her holding one of her hands. Kendall and Stephanie sat two chairs over as Kendall's head leaned on Stephanie's shoulder. Stephanie was staring off with tears in her eyes still. She must've been traumatized by what she had witnessed. She was a good girl. Innocent girl. She didn't know anything about gun violence and harm. She wiped at her eyes and began pushing the stroller that Ashton laid in back and forth. He must have been awake and she needed to keep him calm.

Cameron was being treated for a gunshot wound in his arm. The bullet made a clean exit through the other side of his arm. He would just need a sling for a little while.

I felt such a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach like someone had a grip on my intestines and was wringing it around. I was literally living a nightmare.

I stood up abruptly. I didn't know what to do with myself. I hated sitting around and waiting to hear anything. I began pacing and I mumbled to myself as I tried to tell myself that everything will be okay.

"Daniel, sit down, son. She needs you to be strong. We all need to you to be strong." John said as he stood up and approached me.

"I can't do this. Why aren't they telling us anything?!" I asked hysterically. "I need to know if she's okay. I can't just sit here like this. I can't!"

John put a hand on my shoulder to stop my pacing. My chest heaved up and down as I stared into his bloodshot eyes. It was obvious he was in pain. We all were. He took his handkerchief from his suit pocket and and wiped at my eyes and my slightly runny nose.

"You listen to me..." he pointed a finger in my face and spoke in a low tone only the two of us could hear. "Hold yourself together. Right now we need to be strong for not one, but two people, okay? You keep your composure. Because when she gets out of this, I need you to end that son-of-a-bitch that did this to her, okay? You will end this bullshit once and for all. You hear me?"

I nodded with my fists balled at my sides. "I promise. On my soul, I will."

"I love you, boy. This is not your fault. Okay? Now relax. You're only making Maria anxious and uneasy."

"I can't relax. I feel sick, man." My voice cracked as I finished that last sentence.

"I know." He pulled me into his embrace and hugged me soothingly. "I know."

I was sure everyone could hear me crying but I didn't care. This girl meant the world to me and I would lose myself if I were to lose her. I was barely making it day by day having already lost my parents and my uncle. The fact that it's been hours with no update scared me. I've seen plenty of cases where that usually follows up with the words "I'm sorry. We did everything we could".