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She tugged his shirt and shook him—his mind was foggy. Sam began crying, and he saw blood on her hand as she brushed a tear from her eye. He looked into her eyes, but he couldn’t say anything. He felt confused and suddenly very cold. Then, he felt nothing at all.
* * *
Oh no, no, no, no. What on earth happened? It felt like they laid there for a week. Gray wasn’t moving. No one was coming to help him get up, what was happening? She shook Gray and tried talking to him. Her ribs hurt and she struggled to breathe and pain shot through her when she moved.
She shook him. “Gray, baby, wake up. Please, please wake up.”
She felt something sticky on her hands and looked at her fingers over Gray’s head. Blood! Oh, God, no … Those were gunshots she’d heard! Panic seized her.
“Gray, please, please stay with me. Please don’t make me live without you.”
Sobbing Gray’s name over and over, she begged him to wake up, to stay with her.
Finally, Tank was there taking Gray’s pulse. Sam watched, horrified, as tears streamed down her face, praying that Gray would live. She begged God to keep him with her.
Shane slowly pulled her away from Gray so they could help him. She cried in pain as he moved her. Shane lifted her shirt and examined her, but she couldn’t take her eyes from Gray’s pale face. Tank pulled a first aid kit from the back of the SUV and was barking out orders to someone.
She heard crying from a distance but didn’t know who it was. Soon sirens wailed and came close, then shut off. There were people all over the place—David was there, the police, the ambulance. Gray was surrounded by paramedics and she was pulled away and put on a stretcher, crying that she needed to be with Gray.
“Hey, I need you to calm down.” She looked into Jamie’s sad face. He brushed her hair away from her forehead and cooed softly to her.
“They’re taking you both to the hospital. As soon as you’re both checked over, you’ll be together. Stay calm, Sam, so they can focus on Gray.”
She nodded her head slightly; it was the only thing that didn’t hurt. She turned her head to look over at Gray. They were running with him on a gurney toward the ambulance. Oh, my God, it must be bad. She began crying again, wincing in pain, but she couldn’t help it. She could hear people talking to her, but she couldn’t process what they were saying or who was saying it. Finally, she felt a kiss on her forehead.
“Mom, please calm down. They’re taking you to the hospital with Gray. We’re all right behind you, okay? We’ll see you after you get checked out. Please stay calm so they can examine you.”
37
“Mrs. Kinkaide?”
She looked up and tried to stand, but the man shook his head no and held his hand up for her to stay sitting.
“I’m Dr. Dickson—Mr. Kinkaide’s surgeon.”
She smiled weakly. “How is he, Dr. Dickson?”
She had two broken ribs from Gray falling on her. It hurt to take a deep breath or to move, so she was trying to stay still and calm, but this waiting was killing her. She needed to see Gray and to know he was going to be okay.
“He’s fine. The bullet hit him in the upper shoulder, glancing off his shoulder blade. It didn’t travel past that point. Fortunately, the shot was from far enough away that as it hit his shoulder blade, it was already slowing down. Good thing it was dropping in height too; it could have hit him in the head.”
Sam sucked in a sharp breath and was instantly sorry she did—ouch.
“No repairs were needed to his shoulder blade, but it will be sore for a few weeks. Tissue damage to the muscle around the shoulder blade was minimal, but enough that repairs were needed. He’ll be able to move his shoulder normally after healing and therapy. We'll be doing some light therapy in a couple of days to keep his muscles from atrophy. His lung was pierced by a broken rib. That was repaired and he will be very sore for a while, but he’s breathing on his own. Do you have any questions, Mrs. Kinkaide?”
She nodded. “When can I see him?”
Dr. Dickson leaned forward and smiled at her.
He patted her knee. “When he wakes up in recovery, he’ll be taken to a private room. A nurse will come and get you at that time and take you to his room. I would say about forty-five minutes or so.”
Mary sat to her left and rubbed her left shoulder as the doctor spoke with them. She was sure it served as a distraction for Mary and gave her something to do. She was grateful for the contact. They’d been separately whisked away by ambulance to the hospital, put through x-rays, and bandaged tightly. She insisted on waiting with the rest of the family and not being admitted to the hospital. The emergency doctor only agreed because she would be in the hospital waiting for Gray to come out of surgery, and if she needed anything at all, there was an ample supply of nurses and doctors to help her.
Jessie came to stand behind her and touched her other shoulder. The others in the room stood close to hear the doctor. Sam heard low voices and looked around to see all the family members there waiting for her. She was so grateful for these people.
The door opened, and David Haggerty walked through it. He was ashen and looked weary. He knelt in front of her. “I’m so damn sorry, Sam … I failed you and Gray.”
Her brows knit together. “David, you didn’t fail us. Please don’t feel that way. Thanks to Tank and Shane, Gray is alive.”
