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Samuel
“I havea meeting with my real estate broker tomorrow. I’m considering purchasing some property on the south side of the city. There is a block of two-family flats that are slated for demolition.”
“What would you do with the property?” Xavier asked.
Xavier and I were leaving the courthouse after a swift judgment on behalf of our client, a small pharmaceutical company that was being bullied by one of the larger drug companies.
“I’m not sure. I’m thinking about building some affordable housing. Maybe put together a program to help families get into the houses at a low fixed interest rate.”
“I like that idea. You could work out something with the small local banks to provide the loans. Then the firm could…”
I was listening to Xavier, but something in my peripheral caught my attention causing my blood to rush and prompting me to action. A hooded person was running towards us pointing a gun.
“XAVIER, GET DOWN!”
I pushed Xavier down onto the courthouse steps just as I heard something whiz past my ear. That whiz was followed by a quick succession of what felt like fireballs ripping through my body.
“AHHHH!” I cried out in pain. I knew I had been shot.
Hearing commotion all around me, people screaming, car tires screeching and sirens blaring, I was paralyzed but could feel Xavier underneath me pushing to free himself. I wanted to move, but my body seemed…heavy. I was unable to lift myself.
Xavier pushed hard enough to free himself, subsequently pushing me onto my back.
“El! El!”
I heard him calling my name, but the searing pain was utterly unendurable. It felt like someone threw a match after dousing me with an ample amount of an accelerant, setting my entire body ablaze.
The intense, constant throbbing in my head made me dizzy and nauseous. I closed my eyes in the hopes that some of the pain would be relieved.
My lips involuntarily shook with the tale-tale sign of being cold, but that sensation never reached my brain because the only temperature I felt was heat.
A great deal of pain emanated from my right side. Moving my hand there to access the damage resulted in me seeing a dark red, almost black liquid covering my hand.
Is that my blood?
“It’s okay, El. It’s okay,” Xavier said as he held my head in his hands.
“Yeah,” I strained. “It’s okay.”
“What the hell! El?” I heard Ray say before he came into view. He kneeled beside me, pulling off his suit jacket and using it to apply pressure to the wound on my side causing me to wince in pain.
“SOMEBODY!” Ray called out in a panic. “CALL NINE ONE ONE!”
“We got you, El,” Xavier said while tears rolled down his face.
I glanced up and saw blood coming from his shoulder. I couldn’t process it totally, but it appeared that he had been shot too.
“El, man. Hold on. The ambulance is coming,” Raymond said.
“Stay awake, El. Keep your eyes open. Breathe,” Xavier instructed.
I nodded and focused on breathing in and out, keeping my eyes open and staying awake even though all those tasks were getting harder by the second.
“X…” I said.
“Save your strength, El. It’s okay.”
“X…” I tried again. “I don’t know if I’m going to make it.”
