Boomtown

by Lani Lynn Vale

  He got in one punch before I took over. I let out all of my aggression by punching him over and over in the face. By the time James pried me off of him, he was barely recognizable. His face was a bloody mess, and I relished in the fact that he may have a crushed cheek bone and eye socket on his left side. Max walked up to him and kicked him in the ribs, and then bent down to get what information he could out of him.

  “Got him, Cap.” James said to me.

  I shook off his hold, and moved further away from him, standing next to the door. I could hear the sirens and crunch of tires pulling up outside on the gravel, and I wanted to make sure I was far away from him when the cops finally made it inside.

  Once the cops were in it became a flurry of activity. The other men who were outside were loaded up into the cruisers with guards standing sentry watching over them.

  Malcolm was given medical treatment by the paramedics, and then loaded up onto a stretcher. I watched him cautiously, because I felt he was really laying it on thick with the paramedics. I hadn’t hurt him so badly that he couldn’t walk, and knew that he was up to something.

  Just as I was about to inform the young cop that he should cuff him to the gurney Malcolm reacted with a flurry and had the cop’s gun in no time flat. He pulled the smaller of the paramedics in front of him, and had the gun pointed at her temple. Everyone around him backed off to give him some room when he demanded it.

  I had my .45 out and pointed at his head, just like everyone else was doing. Unfortunately I didn’t have a shot. Malcolm pulled the young woman in front of him just right, and put his back to the open bay doors of the ambulance.

  “Let her go.” I demanded of Malcolm.

  “You are not ruining this for me. I go out my way.” Malcolm replied.

  One of the younger cops started to make a move to Malcolm’s right, and instead of Malcolm taking his gun and pointing it at the cop, he turned the gun and pointed it straight at me, smiled and fired. I heard another gun discharge at almost the same instant, but it was too late for me.

  In the seconds before the gun fired, I locked my eyes with Malcolm, but didn’t see him. There were over fifteen people in the open area in front of the warehouse, but I didn’t see them. I was seeing Cheyenne’s eyes. I was seeing two fat chubby little girls with golden ringlets surrounding their smiling faces. I was seeing Cheyenne walking down the aisle. I knew I wasn’t going to make it, and I prayed harder than I ever have prayed before.

  I felt the bullet slam into my neck, and it threw me off of my feet. I landed on the ground, but didn’t feel the impact. I tried to raise my hands to my throat, but my arms wouldn’t cooperate. Warm blood was running down the sides of my neck and into the hair at my nape. I closed my eyes, and opened them again to see Max standing above me. He was saying something to me, but my mind didn’t comprehend. I watched as there was a flurry of activity around me, but slowly I lost the ability to keep my eyes open. I was so tired.

  JAMES

  11:47 P.M.

  Jack, Gabe, Max and I were standing at the end of the hall nearest the operating room door when Cheyenne came running in. I turned and watched her come. My heart hurt for her. Ember and Elliott were at her side making sure she didn’t fall, but she only had eyes for me. Her face was tear stained, and she was shaking like a leaf. I opened my arms when she got close and she hit me with such force that I had to take a step back. I wrapped my arms around her and held her rocking slowly.

  “How is he?” she said into my chest.

  “He lost a lot of blood, honey.” I said to her. ”He was shot in the upper chest, through his clavicle. It nicked an artery, but we got to him quick-“

  Cheyenne suddenly lost her footing and would have fallen to the floor but I was able to catch her. I looked down, but her eyes were rolling back into her head.

  “Cheyenne!” I screamed.

  She was taken from me and laid down on the floor; nurses were all running to us, asking what was going on. A doctor that was at the nurse’s station came and dropped down to his knees, a gurney being pushed by another nurse following slowly behind. They loaded her onto the gurney and I watched as a second person that I dearly loved was taken away from me.

  My head hung and I noticed that I was kneeling in another pool of blood. Now I was wearing Cheyenne’s and Sam’s blood on my clothes. I pulled myself together and stood. Everyone was standing around like they weren’t quite sure what the hell to do. I turned to Max who had his hands clasped above his head a look of shock on his face.

  “I’m going to go with her. Keep me updated.” I said to him.

  He nodded that he understood, and I took off in the direction that they had taken her. The floor we were on was the emergency surgery floor, and they had taken her back to the only open operating room that was available according to the nurses that were left at the nurse’s station. She led me around the corner parked me right outside the operating room door.

  “Wait here.” She said. “I need to see if you are allowed to go in.”

  I leaned against the opposite wall of the door and hung my head.

  The saying you never know what you have until its gone started running through my head. Cheyenne was such a great sister. She was annoying at times, but I loved her.

  I remembered walking her down the aisle at her wedding. It meant the world to me that she let me do that she asked me to. I would have given anything to have our father there to do it like it was supposed to be done, but when she asked me something in my battered heart mended.

  I arranged to have the father-daughter dance with her. Sam’s mom set it up with the DJ to play I Loved Her First by Heartland. Cheyenne was leaning against Sam at the end of the bar talking to our old CO. I walked up to Cheyenne and asked her to dance with me. She smiled and walked onto the dance floor with me, and I gave the DJ a nod. Cheyenne gave me a small watery smile when she heard the lyrics, but it wasn’t until the chorus that she really let go.

  But I loved her first and I held her first

  And a place in my heart will always be hers

  From the first breath she breathed

  When she first smiled at me

  I knew the love of a father runs deep

  And I prayed that she'd find you someday

  But it still hard to give her away

  I loved her first

  When the word father was about to be sung, I whispered into her ear brother instead. By the end of the song there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. The next song was also another slow song, but I stopped and took her face into my hands.

  “I love you, Chey Chey. I am so happy for you. You are one of the most amazing women on this earth, and Sam is lucky to have you.” I said to her, and then kissed her forehead.

  I smiled for the first time since this whole incident started earlier this evening.

  I took a look around and noticed the curtained off area across the open area that had one patient being monitored, I assumed from just having surgery. I was just turning around when the door to the right of Cheyenne’s door swished open and Sam emerged on a hospital bed. I walked up to him and saw that he had a breathing tube down his throat, one IV coming out each arm. He had a gauze pad covering the bullet wound. His color was definitely a lot better than the last time I saw him.

  I flashed back to when Malcolm had pointed that gun at him. He was just standing there waiting for the inevitable to happen. Malcolm had pulled away from the medic far enough that I could get a clear shot, so I took it. I was too late though. He’d gotten one shot off a split second before I’d gotten mine off.

  I turned hoping that Sam would still be standing, but he wasn’t. I ran over to him. Max, Gabe and Jack beat me there by a few seconds. Gabe had his fingers poking into the gaping wound that the bullet had ripped through his collar bone. Sam’s blood was spreading out in an ever increasing puddle on the floor, and I prayed harder than I had ever prayed before.

  Seeing him now gave me a little life back. I let out a relieved breath. T
he nurse that was wheeling him out saw me, and smiled.

  “He is doing well. He was nearly awake when we started wheeling him out, he should be awake soon.” She said.

  “Where are you taking him?” I asked her.

  “Just over there, recovery. He should be there for around an hour or two just to make sure he won’t need any more emergency surgery. Once he is nice and stable, then we will take him up to the third floor. He won’t need the ICU, so he will be in the main recovery wing.” She answered.

  “His wife is in here.” I gestured to the other OR with my head. “Can you let him know when he wakes up? He will want to know.” The nurse nodded, looking concerned.

  The other nurse that went in to check to see if I could go in with Cheyenne came back out and walked up to me. She gave me a sad smile and my stomach dropped.

  “The doctor doesn’t think it’s a good idea for you to come in. She isn’t doing so well; they were just about to take the babies out when I went in there. If they are doing well, then they will bring them out for you to see them, and then take them to the nursery to get checked over.” She said,

  “Can you go in there and tell her that her husband made it out of surgery fine?” I asked her.

  She nodded and went back in.

  So I waited.

  It wasn’t but ten minutes, but it felt like a lifetime waiting for more news. I glanced over at Sam to see a nurse talking to him at one point, and it looked like he was moving his hand, so I assumed he was awake. I turned back to the door of OR-3 and watched it until the nurse emerged with two wailing babies in a clear plastic box that was pushed on top of a metal cart.

  I smiled wide when she finally made it to me. They were perfect. Each was red faced, and had one hell of a scream. They were both wrapped in blankets with pink writing on them, and each had a pink and white knit hap perched on the top of their heads. I reached over and ran my knuckle down one cheek, then the other’s cheek. Beautiful.

  “Cheyenne is doing much better. They were able to get the bleeding stop once these two were out, and they are sewing her up now. She should be out within twenty minutes or so.” She said brightly.

  “Can we take them over so Sam, their dad, can see them?” I asked her.

  In answer she smiled and started wheeling them over in his direction. The motion of the cart made the twins stop with their harpy screams, and they looked around wide eyed. Once close enough I could see Sam alert, and his eyes were directed straight at me. He hadn’t noticed the cart the nurse was pushing, but it didn’t take him long. His eyes trailed down and saw the two babies in the cart. His eyes widened and I could hear the heart monitor start beeping a little faster.

  I smiled wide when I got to him and said “Well you did good, old man. They are perfect!”

  I turned to the nurse and asked her if it would be all right if to let Sam hold them. She looked torn for a few seconds, but seemed to come to a decision and lifted on of the babies up, placing her on the bed in the crook of Sam’s arm on the uninjured side. The nurse then curled Sam’s arm around, and placed the other baby the opposite direction, with her head resting in Sam’s hand.

  I have never seen Sam cry, and I’m not saying he did cry, but he seemed to have something in his eyes. Probably still leftover sand from when Malcolm threw it in his face earlier. He looked awestruck and a little blown over.

  The nurse took a hospital band out of the baby bed and walked around to Sam’s other side and clipped it on his wrist. I noticed now that her name was Julie.

  “What’s that for?” I asked her.

  “This is the ID band that says these babies belong to him. It shows that he is the daddy. We will take them back to the nursery to get cleaned up here shortly, and when we bring them back to him, we will have to match the ID band on his hand with the one on theirs.” Julie answered.

  Sam’s eyes caught mine and I could tell that he wanted to know about Cheyenne.

  “Can you tell him how she is?” I asked Julie.

  “Cheyenne was being stitched up when I left. She’ll be wheeled out here as soon as she wakes from the anesthesia. Then we will place her in this stall next to yours.” She said with a nod to the right side curtain.

  Another nurse came up to us and said bitchily, “Julie! You are not supposed to do this. This is against hospital regulations.”

  I turned my eyes to her and glared.

  “Actually, there are no specific rules in this case. It states that if a father is present, then the children are to go to the father. This is the father. It’s not his fault that he can’t actually accompany them, so I am letting him see them. This other man, is the brother, and he will go with them when I take them to the nursery. The father has already signed a release form for it. That will be all Janet.” Julie said primly.

  The release form was news to me, but who was I to argue. I looked over at Sam to see him not paying us any attention. All of it was focused on the two new lives that were cradled in his arm.

  The nurse left us alone for a while and I sat at the end of Sam’s bed and watched them interact. Sam couldn’t do much moving, but he could hold them with his one good arm. Julie and another nurse came back fifteen minutes later. They walked up to his injured side and Julie started giving out instructions.

  “Okay. Here’s what we are gonna do. I am going to accompany this man to the nursery with these two precious babies.” she nodded at me “And we are going to get them all cleaned up. While we are doing that, Cindy here will take out Sam’s breathing tube, and we will wait for Mrs. Mackenzie to recover. Then we will move you all to the Maternity wing to one of the family rooms. There we will watch over all four of you to make sure you are all doing well. Sound agreeable?” Julie asked.

  “Sounds good to me. Does he need to sign anything before we go?” I asked her.

  She nodded and gathered the babies, placing them into the basket. They were asleep, but as soon as they were moved they woke up with screeching wails. She placed the pen in Sam’s right hand and the paper and clipboard to where he could scratch his name out. Once done, we all parted ways with plans to meet back here once they twins were checked out and cleaned up.

  SAM

  1:43 A.M.

  I watched them walk away. My two girls. They were absolutely beautiful. Now all I needed was Cheyenne. I felt horrible that I wasn’t there with her when she needed me the most.

  The nurse that stayed with me, Cindy, took my vital signs. A doctor sauntered up and picked up the chart that was at the end of the bed.

  “Everything seems to be looking great, Mr. Mackenzie. The bullet passed through your clavicle and broke it, clipping the artery that runs underneath it. The bullet exited through the fleshy part at the top of your arm. You were lucky. It missed your lung by a mere four centimeters. If that had happened you wouldn’t have been feeling so well right now. You ready to have that tube removed?” he asked.

  Apparently it was a rhetorical question because he went to the tube that was down my throat and started the process of peeling the tape from my face.

  “Cough out when I start pulling, it will make it easier.” He instructed.

  I coughed and the tube was pulled out of my throat. I started a coughing fit that shot fire through my left shoulder.

  “When Cindy checks the incision, we will place your arm in a binding that will keep you from moving it. It will make it feel better-” he was saying, but I wasn’t listening anymore because Cheyenne was being wheeled to the bay beside me. Her eyes were fluttering, like she was awake but not quite coherent.

  “How is she?” I rasped.

  “She is doing great! She was alert in the operating room and seems to have just fallen asleep. Oh! Never mind, she is awake again. Seems that the sound of your voice woke her up right fast!” The male that was locking her bed in position beside mine said.

  Her head was turned to me and her eyes locked with mine, and then filled with tears and started trailing down her cheeks.

  “Sam.�
� She whispered.

  “So, you took the easy way out and had them by C-section, huh? You owe me twenty bucks.” I rasped to her.

  We made a bet a couple months ago that she would deliver them naturally. I said no way was she doing it naturally, and most likely she would be having a C-section and be high on the good drugs.

  A blinding smile over took her face and she said, “I love you.”

  “Love you too, Cheyenne.” I said back to her.

  I passed out as soon as I saw Cheyenne’s eyes close. I didn’t know how long I was asleep before I felt moving. They were wheeling me to an elevator.

  “Where are we going?” I asked the orderly who was pushing me.

  “Maternity wing. You will be the first male patient.” The orderly laughed out.

  “Sounds good to me.” I said.

  It wasn’t long before we arrived in a very spacious room. Cheyenne was in the middle of the room, and they wheeled me over to her right side and locked me in. I refused any pain medication, so they took out one of the IVs and left the other in so it could get some antibiotics. Cheyenne was still asleep, so I just watched her sleep.

  It wasn’t long before James and the babies arrived, accompanied by Nurse Julie that seemed to hang on James’ every word. I laughed. Only James could pick up a girl in a hospital.

  Since Cheyenne was still sleeping, they wheeled the girls over to me and placed them in my arm like they did earlier. Nurse Julie left, and James walked over to his sister and kissed her on the forehead. It made me a little jealous because I really would like to give her a kiss right now.

  A nurse came in and kicked James out so she could check Cheyenne’s bleeding, and he said that he would go get the other’s and be back shortly. I watched as the nurse checked her over. Cheyenne woke while she was doing this, and looked over to me and she smiled huge.