21 Guns

Chapter 5

"I can't believe she actually tried to kill herself... I know that she was affected deeply by the shooting, but I didn't realize that it was that bad... She must have PTSD- and it must be really strong. The Dakota that we grew up with would never dream of doing something like that." I finally said to break the silence.

"I told her doctor that I would be here and asked him to come find me when we could see her. He's the same doctor that you had... Oh, and he said that he was going to come check on you when he was finished anyway." Katie informed me. That would be good, because I wanted to ask him when I would be able to leave.

"Hey, have you seen my parents lately?" I asked. I hadn't seen them since I first woke up from the surgery.

"Yeah, they were here while you were sleeping, but they didn't want to wake you up. They had to go to work but said that they would be here as soon as they were done." Katie told me as the doctor walked in.

"How is she?" Katie and I asked at the same time. If the situation hadn't have been so serious, we probably would have laughed at our synchronization.

"Well, she's stable, but she's not awake yet. We thought that it would be best to let her sleep for a while. You can see her when she wakes up." He explained. I took that in. They were able to save her. I felt relieved and thankful to hear that she was alright. We both nodded to show that we understood.

"Now, I would like to talk to you in private, Miss Delacour." The doctor said, looking in my direction.

"Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of Katie. She's my best friend... It'll save me from telling her later anyway. We tell each other everything." I explained. I didn't exactly enjoy being in the hospital, and doctors sort of freaked me out. I knew that I would feel more comfortable with Katie in the room with me.

"Alright, if you're sure... Well, I just wanted to go over your surgery with you. We were able to get the three bullets out successfully. We did, however have to restart your heart twice in the surgery. The first time it only took us a minute, and the second time it took us two minutes. Since your heart was only stopped for a short period of time, it shouldn't cause any problems in your day to day life. I would like to check how your wounds are healing up though. Does blood bother you?" He asked, looking at Katie. She shook her head no and smiled at me. The doctor came over and began removing the bandages around my arm. He checked it over before placing a new one around my arm. He did the same for my other two wounds.

"So, based on how well the wounds are healing up, you should be able to leave in a little over a week, but you'll have to take it easy for a while; at least a month or so... Do you have any questions about anything before I leave to check on my other patients?" He asked kindly.

"Um... Just one... Do you think that I would be alright to go to a concert in four months? Before the shooting I found out that my two best friends were taking me to a Green Day concert for my birthday. I just wanted to know if I would be healed enough by then to actually go." I asked, scared that he would say no.

"Well, as long as you take it easy in the meantime, I don't see why you couldn't attend the concert... I would recommend staying away from the mosh pits and keeping some pain medication on you. As long as you're careful, you should be fine. Oh, and a nurse showed me your video while I was on break... You could go far, you know. Don't give up on music- you are definitely gifted in that area! Enjoy the concert." He said before exiting the room. I smiled widely at Katie as her iPod went off. She hauled it out and started laughing and crying at the same time.

"What's wrong?" I asked concerned.

"Nothing. Everything is great. Better than that even! Green Day just announced what band is opening for them the night of the concert. You'll never believe it!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"Who is it?" I asked with wide eyes. Clearly it was someone we really liked.

"I don't know if I should tell you or make you wait until the night of the concert..." She grinned, a fire of pure happiness burning in her eyes for the first time in over 24 hours.

"Just tell me! I'll just go look it up myself if you don't!" I begged.

"How about I give you a hint? It'll keep you busy trying to figure it out while you're stuck in here." She compromised.

"Fine." I said, drawing out the "I".

"Alright. All I'm giving you for now is five letters. They could be anything to do with the band whatsoever. Alright, here that are: G,M,R,F,B. While you try to figure that out, I'm going to go use the bathroom. Do you have to go?" She asked. Now that I thought about it, I did.

"Yeah, actually I do. Do you think you could help me get up?" I replied. She nodded and came over to help me. The doctor had unhooked me from the machines while he was in here, so it was just a matter of actually getting out of bed. Once I was out of bed, we made our way to the bathroom. We did our business and left.

When we got back to my room, I got back on my bed and laid back down. I closed my eyes for a split second to try to better understand Katie's hint. I saw an image of My Chemical Romance flash behind my eyes, and went with my gut feeling. G,M,R,F,B... Gerard, Mikey, Ray, Frank, Bob!

"The opening band is My Chemical Romance, isn't it!" I exclaimed suddenly. Katie looked at me, shocked.

"Yes! How did you figure that out so fast?" The burning fire was back in her eyes. The shooting had left her mind for a split second.

"NO WAY!" I couldn't believe it! I was going to see my second favourite band perform as well! How could I get this lucky? If I was still considered lucky after what had happened... "It was just a gut feeling I had... I figured out that the letters represented the beginning of their names, and made a guess from there!" I informed her.

"Actually there are two Ways..." She corrected. I rolled my eyes at her before she continued. "I honestly thought it would take you longer than that to figure it out! Now what?" She asked. We decided to lay back and watch music videos until a doctor knocked on the door and entered the room.

"Hello, I hope I'm not interrupting anything." The doctor said cheerfully. We both looked up and shook our heads no.

"Alright, well, I just wanted to let you know that Dakota is awake. I can take you to her room to see her if you would like." He was very kind. We were more than ready to see her alive for ourselves.

"That would be wonderful, thanks." I replied. He grabbed a wheelchair and helped me into it. We went down a few hallways before we arrived outside of Dakota's room. The doctor opened the door and what we saw shocked us.
She was hooked up to all sorts of tubes. Her face had been stained with tears; her face was blank.

"Hey, Dakota, how are you?" Katie asked. She snapped out of her trance and smiled a bit.

"Pretty good, all things considered... I can't believe that just happened... I survived a shooting and a suicide attempt. I promise I didn't want to kill myself! I guess I was just hallucinating... I must be subconsciously paranoid of the shooter coming back, even though I know full well he's dead. God. I never thought I'd say it, but "Basket Case" pretty much describes my life!" she shook her head.

"Dakota, it's-" I started

"Not my fault? Then who's fault is it? The shooter's? I can't exactly blame a dead person!" She sighed, exasperated.

"Sure you can. I'm going to right now." I looked up and cupped my hands over my mouth.

"HEY SHOOTER! THANKS FOR THE WOUNDS! WITHOUT THEM GREEN DAY STILL WOULDN'T KNOW WHO WE WERE!" I paused for a moment. "I STILL BLAME YOU THOUGH!" By the end of my little speech all three of us were laughing. Yeah, some pretty crappy stuff had happened to us, but at the end of the day, it would only make us stronger people. I figured the next few days in the hospital would be half decent... After all, I had a concert to look forward to!