Fake Me To Church

Chapter 14.1 - Lake of Fire

- AHMED -

"This is 9-1-1. What's your emergency?"

Steven was shaking when he answered. "I just—I f-found someone on a...on a fence. She's...really beat up. It's—we're um...we're by the Exxon next to Garrett Loop. Please...hurry. I don't know how much longer she'll make it."

It seemed like only seconds before the piercing sirens began screaming in the distance, their cries accompanied by flashing red lights.

I was still about twenty feet away from Steven and Shelby. I'd come running when I heard Steven scream, but I'd stopped in my tracks after spotting Shelby's body suspended from the fence separating the grass and asphalt of the adjoining freeway.

And I hadn't been able to move. I'd stood frozen, immobile, as I heard ambulance sirens screech louder and louder, as tires whirred fretfully against the gravel beneath them before thick boots crunched tiny rocks underfoot, dashing forward and surrounding Steven. He stepped out of their way and started shaking again.

Finally, I gathered the strength to walk over to where he was, mere yards from the first responders, who were slowly raising a set of wire cutters to clip both sides of the metal protruding from Shelby's legs.

"Careful," I heard one of them say. "Six inches on each side, boys. Keep the legs supported and watch for tissue damage."

I looked away as the first clip was made, the sound of metal slicing metal ringing out as I turned. I winced, then glanced at Steven for the first time.

"You okay?" I asked him, then winced again as I heard another clip of metal.

His gaze was in the asphalt, but he nodded slowly. "I'm fine," he managed, then lifted his eyes slightly. "So...what do we do now?"

Another screeching slice.

"I was—I was just about to ask you the same thing." I lowered my head. "I...I guess we go home?"

He sighed. "I can't, Ahmed."

I furrowed both brows. "Why not?"

"I've gotta..." he trailed off. "There's just—there's something I gotta do. At the hospital."

"Um, okay..."

"Let's follow the first responders when they take Shelby," he offered. "After we make sure she gets there safely, I'll drop you off at home. Or...or I can just take you home now, I guess."

Why does he wanna go to the hospital so bad? "Uh, no, that's okay," I finally answered back. "I'll go with you to the hospital. Might as well see this through, right?"

We waited in the gas station parking lot for another ten or so minutes before the medics managed to safely lower Shelby from the fence and place her on the stretcher. They rolled her to the ambulance and loaded her inside, shutting the door behind them.

The ride to the hospital was a quick one. Every traffic light always seems perpetually green late at night, and this night was no exception. Steven kept close behind the ambulance, so close that there were a few times I thought we might ram it from behind.

When we finally pulled into the main hospital entrance, the ambulance veered to the left, while Steven and I cut to the right to find parking.

The frontmost hospital door was a few hundred feet away from where we parked; and after we climbed out of Steven's truck, we darted to the entrance in seconds, passing through the set of glass double doors as they slid apart to welcome us inside.

****

The waiting area was cold, perhaps a side effect of the automatic door periodically letting in crisp breezes of late-night air a few feet from the mahogany chairs where Steven and I sat. Twin bouquets of cream-colored flowers sat on opposite sides of the door, as if to welcome outsiders rushing feverishly through the sliding glass in hopes of checking in or visiting their loved ones.