Surrounded
I slowly awoke to a blare of sirens. As I opened my eyes, all I could see was darkness. I was either sweating heavily or it was raining. My body ached so badly, I could barely move a muscle. I blinked a few times, but the darkness persisted. I finally managed to get my right arm positioned over my head and pushed against the darkness. “He’s alive”, I heard someone yell. “Don’t touch him”, another voice blurted out. I then realized I was under a blanket with sirens blaring and smudges of red and blue off in the distance. To my right there were people running toward me. To my left, was a man on his knees with two people encircling him. I tried to stand, but my strength escaped me and I buckled under the weight of my body. “Stay down”, I was told. There suddenly were two or three people poking and prodding on me, opening and closing my eyes, and putting something over my nose and mouth. I was certainly not use to this kind of attention. I looked back over to the man on his knees and began to make out that he was handcuffed, and the two men surrounding him were police officers. He wore a dark slicker and a knitted hat with a ball cap covering it. The reason why became apparent, as I felt the cold rain hitting my face. The rain began stinging my face like I was standing at the front of a ship at sea. Still trying to get my bearings, I looked around as I was hoisted into the air. I could now see snow on the ground, maybe two or three feet, and what looked like a skating rink. I couldn’t focus on the people carrying me, but they did wear some kind of uniform. I could make out the man kneeling on the ground much better, so I turned my focus back to him. There was now another man standing in front of him looking down in a domineering way. A detective maybe? There was no love lost between the two as the detective looked to be interrogating the man. As I kept staring, my attention was turned to the scene behind them. There were three or four, could be more, what looked like hospital gurneys, surrounded by people dressed in white tunics. I guessed there were more like me except the ones carrying me were dressed in blue pants and white shirts. As we reached a vehicle, I could make out that it was an ambulance with shouting blue and red lights. Orders were being barked as I felt the stinging on my face increasing. I heard someone say, “That’s all we need is sleet right now”. I suddenly realized how cold I was and that the blanket that was on me was only soaking my body with this frigid precipitation. I wish I hadn’t come out tonight.
Why did I come out?
“Get a dry blanket”, someone said. Thank the Lord they noticed. My head was slightly elevated and when they took the wet blanket off, I noticed I was wearing running shorts and a T-shirt. My knees, elbows, and the palms of my hands were so badly scuffed and torn up that I must have fallen or been in a fight. But what troubled me more was that I had no socks or shoes on. My feet were red and blistered, as if I had been running in this miserable weather for quite awhile.
I could still make out the kneeling man and what appeared to be more gurneys being taken down into a ravine. I squinted hoping to make out more, but the ambulance door was being closed and we started toward what I assumed would be a hospital, with voices saying something about IVs and STAT. My last remembrance before closing my eyes was my T-shirt being cut off of me and round suction cups being placed on my chest. But what startled me the most was that my T-shirt appeared to be soaked in blood.
When I awoke, I was laying in a hospital bed being held down by restraints. I had IVs in both arms and was hooked up to an oxygen tank. Well, I assumed it was oxygen. The room was quite sterile; no windows, curtains, telephone, or nurses call button. Just a hospital bed. I could hear thunder, and if I strained hard enough I could hear rain, then sleet, back to rain. At least the room was warm. But restraints? The last thing I remember, before awakening in the sleet and snow and being shuffled off to wherever I am, was sipping a nice snifter of warm brandy in front of a cozy fireplace with a nice cigar; smoke whiffed through the air. But now, I could only imagine what my true condition was, both physically and mentally. Too many questions and not enough answers. I tried to conserve my energy by engaging sleep again, but too many thoughts were flooding my mind.
