The Greener Field

Tragedy and Freedom

When Sarah regained consciousness, she realized it was only a short time that she had been passed out. This became evident as she looked up to see that the paramedics were just carrying the victims of the tragic event out of the upstairs apartment. She had no idea who it would be, though she remembered hearing there were 'two down' in the aftermath of the shooting.

A second ambulance was just rolling up next to the first, and Sarah bolted from Gunther's car toward them both. First down the stairs, was a gurney being carried by two first-responders in white uniforms. The victim was totally covered by a sheet and Sarah watched in horror, realizing this person was no doubt deceased. Her curiosity became too much for her as the possibility of it being either Carrie or Gunther became real. She ran to the gurney's edge, where before either paramedic could stop her, she reached over and pulled the sheet away from the victim's head.

Staring up motionlessly, with glassy eyes and his mouth open, was the grotesque face of Derek Iverson—the man who had been her torturer and subject of her worst nightmares.

"Please! Stand back!" One of the paramedics shouted at her, as he pulled the sheet out of her hand and re-covered the dead man's body. "Please, lady . . . give us room to work here!"

She turned to see the second gurney more carefully being brought down the stairs. One of the men was holding a plasma bottle and connecting-tube above the victim. He also seemed to be compressing a hand upon a wound. Knowing it could only be Gunther, Carrie or the young girl, Sarah held her breath until the stretcher was fully in her sight. Seeing the hair of the person trailing off the gurney, and knowing its color all too well, Sarah screamed and ran forward.

"Carrie! Carrie!" 

She moved closer and stood next to her unconscious friend while the uniformed men were opening the back doors of the ambulance.

"Please, ma'am . . . We've got critical knife wounds here. Let us get the victim to emergency! We've done all we can as a first response up there."

"Is she . . . will she . . . ?"

"Please ma'am!"

At that moment, Sarah opened the side door of the ambulance, climbed in and sat in the passenger seat next to the gurney area.

"Lady . . . we're sorry. Only if you are family . . . you can . . ."

"I am family! Let's go!"

The men quickly secured Carrie into the gurney bay, put her fluids bottle onto a ceiling hook, and one of them stayed next to her applying pressure to her back and what could only be her critical knife wounds.  The flashing lights were activated and the wail of the siren was deafening as they sped out of the parking lot toward the freeway.

As they frenetically drove through traffic, Sarah reached under the sheet covering Carrie and found her friend's limp and weakened hand. She held it tightly, while looking helplessly into her pale, expressionless face.

At that moment, Carrie opened her eyes. For several moments she seemed to be focusing on Sarah.

"Hey, Little Sis . . ." she said weakly.

"Come on, Carrie! . . . They're getting you to the hospital. . . You're going to make it! Don't give up!"

"Gunther was great," she said in a slight whisper, her eyes closing again. "He saved the girl . . . and almost me too . . ."

"Carrie . . . Keep your strength!"

"Your demon . . . is dead, angel." There was the hint of a smile. "We both made sure of that."

"Don't talk Carrie! . . .You need to just . . ."

"No. Just this . . . something we said about being foolish . . ."

"Please, Carrie. Please!"

Her eyes blinked, struggling to open again. "Our problem is solved . . . between you, me and Gunther."

"Carrie, NO. NO!"

"Promise. . . you'll never stop being foolish."

"Carrie, please!"

She could see that with those words her friend had either slipped back into unconsciousness, or at that very moment succumbed to the deepest of all sleep. In those desperate moments she could not tell.

* * *

When Gunther appeared several hours later at the hospital, he found Sarah  sitting disconsolate in the waiting room. He had also been informed of the sad news that Carrie had not recovered from her injuries. Wordless, they just embraced and tried to hold back the tears which would not cease. After moments of silence, Sarah noticed Gunther's hand was heavily bandaged.

"Believe me . . . I did all I could when Iverson attacked her from behind the door with a knife."

"I know," she said quietly. "It was one of the last things Carrie told me. I owe both of you so very so much!"

He just held his head down, clearly crushed by the loss they both were in the depths of.

After what seemed an eternity of silence and tears, Sarah reached up and held Gunther tightly  in her arms. 

"Are you alright? . . . How badly are you injured?"

"It's my heart that's most afflicted," he quietly said, trying to hide his bandaged hand. His blue eyes finally found hers with a look of sincerity. "As you know, I loved you both."

Sarah nodded sadly and looked out the window at the darkening sky outside the hospital. 

"You're going to need someone to drive you back to your car," he said solemnly, wiping his face with his uninjured hand

 Sarah could find no word to answer. 

"And beyond that," Gunther said, seeming to recover, "someone to get that apartment of yours back in shape."

She looked up at him and thought about what he was implying. About a life for both of them following the tragedy.

"You see, Sarah. Now that I've completed my promise of revenge for my sister's death, I'm uncertain about the days ahead. Maybe they can finally be filled with peace."

Sarah thought about what he said. She was about to cautiously temper the innuendo about any possibilities beyond that terrible day—yet stopped herself. For it was due to what Carrie made her promise in the ambulance. Accepting that Carrie-like optimism, which always gave her a wait-and-see approach to everything. 

Now, as the two drove out toward the last lingering glow over the vast Pacific, Sarah could only think of how life unexpectedly comes and goes. And in the midst of it all, hands out such perplexing fate. In her case, from an immense tragedy came freedom from fear and the promise of lasting affection.

* * *