3 am; joji miller

1.5

     The evening had gone from amazing to shit in the amount of time it takes to shoot a bullet. I wound up in the back of an ambulance, holding George's hand until we got to the hospital.
  
     They wheeled him in on the stretcher. They were asking me questions, but I didn't know anything they were saying. Eventually they had someone who knew english come and talk to me.
  
     "Okay, what happened?" The man asked me. They had taken George into a room, but kept me outside.
  
     "It all happened really fast. We were being chased by these men and we somehow found ourselves on the roof. One had followed us up and he shot George. Now please, let me in," I begged and reached for the handle to the room.
  
     We both went inside the room to find the doctors giving George some anesthetic, but he was still awake at the moment. I walked to his side and held his hand. "I told you, you're going to be okay," I whispered to him softly.
  
     He didn't say anything, he just nodded. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. A tear had fallen down my cheek. The doctor that translated for me put his hand on my shoulder. "You're going to need to wait outside," he said softly. I nodded.
  
     "Do you have a phone I can borrow?" I asked. He nodded and lead me out of the room and to the front desk. There wasn't anyone sitting there at the moment, which was fine because it meant I had more privacy. The man left and I picked up the phone. The problem was trying to remember the number.
  
     I dialed in some numbers, hoping I had it right. The phone rang and I anxiously waited for someone to pick up.
  
     "Hello?" A voice asked from the other end of the line.
  
     "Ian, thank god I got the right number," I said and let out a sigh of relief.
  
     "Rose, you okay? What happened?" He asked with a lot of concern in his voice.
  
     "It's George. He was shot. He's going into surgery now."
  
     "What...how the hell did that happen? Are you okay? Is he going to make it?"
  
     "You're asking me a lot of questions that I can't really answer. We were out at dinner and when we left, George noticed that we were being tailed by a couple of the guys. We somehow ended up on a damn roof and then there was one up there and George got shot and..."
  
     Ian cut me off. "Okay, okay, Rose, breathe. Just breathe. Everything is going to be okay. George can survive this, and so can you."
  
     Ian always sounded so reassuring and it was so nice being able to talk to him. He always was able to calm me down.
  
     "God what would I do without you?" I asked. I put my elbow on the desk and my head in my hands.
  
     I heard him huff a small laugh. "You'd probably be having a panic attack right now."
  
     "You're probably right. Have you sent all of our stuff yet?" I asked, trying not to think about the surgery.
  
     "Yeah, Max and I sent it about an hour or so after we got off the phone with you the other day."
  
     "Thanks. We should be seeing it soon then, I guess."
  
     "Yeah. So, how was the evening before all of this happened?" Ian was trying to change the subject and get my mind off of things as well.
  
     "It was nice. He brought me to this little outdoor cafe. It was really sweet. We spent a while there and got to know each other a little better. And earlier today, we had a marathon of Stephen King and Rob Zombie movies," I explained. My mind was bouncing back and forth between the good and the bad of today.
  
     "That sounds like it was fun. Did you do anything else?" He asked.
  
     I was going to answer but I heard someone call out for me. "Miss! Come quick, please!"
  
     Panic flooded my system. "Ian, I've got to go," I said suddenly. He began to question but I had to hang up. I put the phone back and ran to George's room. He was in his bed, screaming in pain.
  
     "Did the anesthetic wear off already?!" I asked and ran to George's side. I grabbed his hand and he grabbed mine. He was holding my hand so tightly, but I didn't blame him. The doctor told me yes. They had been looking for the bullet, and it looked like a scene from The Walking Dead.
  
     "How does this even happen?!" I frantically ask the doctor that can actually understand me.
  
     "I don't know. I've only seen this happen once before, but they weren't in the middle of something when it happened," he said. I continued to look at George, who was silent for a moment, but screamed out again.
  
     "F...fuck!" He yelled out and squirmed in pain. The doctors worked quickly to get more anesthetic in his IV. They eventually managed to hook the needle in the chord that was connected to his veins.
  
     George looked at me, knowing he was gonna fall asleep again. "Don't leave the hospital..." he said softly before drifting off to sleep again. I know he was just looking out for me, but I don't know why he'd think I'd leave the hospital while he's in here. I bent down and kissed his forehead.
  
     "Alright, come on," the doctor said to me. He put his arm around my shoulder and ushered me out of the room.
  
     "Can I at least get your name so I actually know in case I need to call you for something?" I asked as I sat down in the chair in the waiting room.
  
     "Everyone just calls me Doctor S. If you need anything, just let me know. Hey, and don't worry, our doctors are very good. He's gonna be okay. I know he'll do everything to fight it, I mean, he'll have you to wake up to," Doctor S said and smiled softly at me. I smiled back and appreciated his words of positivity. He walked off, probably needing to go and help a different patience.
  
     I put my elbows on my knees, and my head in my hands. I had a pounding headache. All of the stress of everything, the arrest, the chase, the trip, the shooting, now this. I don't know how the hell my head hasn't exploded yet.
  
     I had my eyes closed, but I heard someone sit down next to me. I didn't think anything of it until they wrapped their arm around my shoulder.
  
     I looked at the person, and I almost had a heart attack. One of the men is sitting next to me. He has his arm around me. It was one of the guys from earlier tonight. I wanted to yell out, but I knew that I shouldn't. It would end badly for me and for George.

     He chuckled at the fear that was shown on my face. He leaned close to me and began to whisper into my ear. "You're coming with me. I won't take no for an answer. If you don't, it will be George that suffers."

     "Hasn't he already suffered enough," I hissed back, through clenched teeth. He chuckled again, with an evil grin on his face. I guess all of them have those terrible, awful, evil grins that stay burned in your mind. 

     "Come on sweetheart, we both know you don't want to make this mistake. Think about it," he said, tightening his grip on me. I tensed up at the improved strength in his touch. I inhaled deeply and nodded. He stood up, pulling me up with him, quite harshly, and escorting me to the front door. 

     As we were walking out, I could Dr. S calling out my name. I did my best to ignore him, but hearing his voice made the tears begin to swell up in my eyes. I promised George that I wouldn't leave, but I didn't have a choice. I just hope I'm not getting myself into more than I can handle.

     But what's the chance of that. Of course I'm getting myself into more than I can handle. When is it not more than I can handle.