Heartless • Evan Buckley

Why didnt this one go boom?

3rd person pov

9-1-1 what's your emergency

Help. It went off. I dont know what happened

What went off, sir?

Grenade

"Fire and rescue. Hello" Bobby called out as they all slowly walked into the house, Chanel stood between her dad and boyfriend dressed in black plants and her uniform, along with her medic bag around her

"I'm back here. Help me" someone yelled but it was muffled

"Some kind of militia nut?" Buck said staring at the life size statue, "I cant tell where the voice is coming from" Chanel spoke up as they walked further into the house

"Back here" he called out as Bobby opened a door, "Oh, thank God"

"Hey" Bobby said rushing over to the dude lying in a chair

"What's your name, sir?"

"Charlie" he said as Bobby began to place pressure on his leg that was bleeding

"Can you tell us what happened, Charlie?" Chanel asked opening her bag

"Damn grenade went off while i was taking it apart" he said as Chanel was checking his heart beat

"Why are you taking apart a grenade?" Buck asked looking at him

"I was cleaning it. Im a collector"

"No kidding"

"You pulled the pin?" Chanel asked examining his leg, "Oh, it aint that kind of grenade. It's a 40-mike-mike. Uh, a practice round for a M203 grenade launcher. I picked it up at a flea market in Brea, part of my 'Nam collection. My screwdriver must have touched the propelling charge" he explained

"Uh, i see metal. A whole lot of shrapnel. Femoral artery has been torn. We gotta get him transported now" Chanel said looking between Bobby and Buck

Yes, she was a doctor and could easily do it but she didnt have everything she needed

"Adult made, age 65, large piece of shrapnel in his right thigh. Femoral artery damage with profuse bleeding, ten minutes out" Chanel explained as they placed him into the ambulance

"Buck, since Nel has to go anyways, i want you to travel with him to the hospital" Bobby said looking at him as Chanel got into the ambulance and began to hook Charlie up

"Copy that, cap" Buck sighed

"Hey, you gotta learn how to play nice. It's one team, Buck"

"Hey, Nash, am i gonna be all right?"

"My boys and girl got you" Bobby said as Buck got into the ambulance next to Chanel

"But you might wanna consider to collecting baseball cards after this" Bobby said as they closed the doors

"I guess you've seen a lot of shrapnel wounds" Buck said checking Charlie's leg as Chanel was checking his vitals, "More than i like to brag about" she said writing stuff down

"Change his dressing's they're soaking through" Chanel reminded Buck, "Hang in there, Charlie. We're almost there" she smiled at Charlie

"Woah, wait" Eddie spoke up looking at the two, "I thought you guys said this was a practice round" he added

"It is" Buck said confused, "You see that cap? Practice rounds have blue caps. Gold caps are live" Eddie said pulling Chanel away from Charlie

"Pull over!"

"Yup, there she is" one of the bomb squad members said showing an X-ray of Charlie's leg, where the bomb was

"He's got a live round embedded in his thigh"

"But i thought it already went off" Chanel said confused, "The launch grenade has two components, gunpower which makes it travel and an explosive charge that makes it go boom" Eddie explained looking at her

"So why didnt this one go boom?" Buck asked placing his arm around Chanel's waist

"It's fitted with a proximity fuse. It's a little smart sensor that tells the cap it's traveled a safe enough distance from the shooter to explode. From his hand to his leg probably wasnt far enough"

"Well, we arent brining him inside a hospital full of people, now with that still stuck in him" Chanel said looking between them

"We called the military for help" the bomb squad dude spoke up

"The military? Uh, you cant do it? You're the bomb squad"

"You cant diffuse a grenade. We need to find someone who knows how to full that thing out of him without setting it off. They're sending someone up from Pendleton. Should be here within an hour"

"No, no, he doesn't have an hour" Chanel shook her head, "I can do it" Eddie spoke as they all looked at him

"She's right, she's the doctor. If he doesn't go to surgery soon, he'll die" Eddie nodded in agreement with her

"You've done this before?" Bobby asked looking at him, "Well, none of the guys i served with were dumb enough to shoot a live round in themselves, but im familiar with the ordnance"

"Im in, ill make sure he's closed up till we get to the hospital" Chanel spoke up, "Im in too" Buck added

"You get the thing out of him, put it in here and get the hell away from it" one of the bomb squad members said passing Eddie a box, the three were getting all geared up

"See you inside" Eddie nodding heading into the amazing, "Chanel, Buck, listen, you dont have to do this" Bobby looked at the two

Chanel finished putting her hair up and turned to her dad as Buck strapped on her gear, "Cant let these idiots do it alone"

"You think im gonna let the new guy have all the fun? Besides, you wanted us to bond. We might end up real close" Buck added following Chanel and Eddie into the ambulance

"How you feeling, Charlie?" Chanel asked checking his IV, "like a world-class idiot. My wife, if she was still alive, she'd be here now saying, "I told you so". Well, maybe she'll be able to tell me in person in about a minute" he replied

"Well, that conversation's gonna have to wait. No body's leaving this life tonight" Buck said switching places with Chanel, she was sat between the two so when Eddie got the grande out she could close his leg quickly

"Start the drip" Eddie nodded, "What branch did you say you were in, Charlie?" he added

"I didnt. I always wanted to be a Marine. I tried to enlist during 'Nam, but i was 4F, an enlarged heart. So instead, i spent the last 40 years teaching seventh grade"

"See there, Charlie. Not all heroes serve on the battlefield" Eddie said leaning closer to his leg, "That's very kind of you to say that" Charlie said falling asleep

"You boys ready?" Chanel asked slipping gloves on, "Yeah"