I got on the phone and called everyone alerting them that we had an all hands on deck situation. I then called the blood bank and advised them to have o negative blood on standby. I helped the other nurses to get the four bays cleaned and changed over and we just waited. It was only a few minutes but it seemed like an eternity. My chest was hurting from holding my breath. I kept having to remind myself to breathe. I stood there ringing my hands together with anxiety as I began to hear the sirens approaching.
The chief of surgery was standing beside me and reached for my hands before asking, “Are you okay?”
I looked up and nodded my head in the yes motion.
The door swung open and the first patient a female in her late thirties who was hanging on by a wing and a pray. She had taken a severe beating. She was rushed into the O.R. along with a general surgeon and his team. The police officer an older gentleman was wheeled in with several gunshot wounds to his upper body and was taken swiftly upstairs by the chief of surgery and his team. Right behind him, a young girl was wheeled in with obvious head trauma. Her features were familiar. When she reached out and grabbed my hand, I realized that she was the young lady from the department of social services. It was Alyssa. My heart was on the floor.
“Take care of my little brother please,” she asked before she was taken back. Her face was swollen and streaked with tears. This was the first time the young lady had spoken more than two words to me.
I nodded my head again in the yes movement. I was praying for the best but prepared for the worst. When the gurney with the Omar was rolled in, we rushed to it. It was surrounded by police officers and Darren had his hand over a wound around the child’s abdomen. I replaced my hand with his and advised that we had him. I looked up making eye contact with him but he seemed to be frozen in place. I said to him again with a little more force, “We got him.”
As we rolled the Omar back to the elevator, the fifth gurney came through with the shooter. The sheet was already pulled over his head.
We worked for hours on the Omar and finally got him stabilized. I washed my hands and pulled off my face mask. I went and checked on all four patients who were all in recovery. As I walked out of the recovery room, I pulled off my scrub cap and walked into the employee locker room. I leaned against the wall and sank to the floor and buried my face into my hands and cried. This man had destroyed his family and for what. I knew the numbers on this situation all too well. In the great United States of America, one- third of its women are the victims of criminal domestic violence. We have more shelters for animals than women and children who find themselves in a violent situation. I continued to sit there on the floor as all the information I knew about criminal domestic violence flooded through my head. Alaska, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Missouri, Arizona, Georgia and Tennessee where the top ten states in regards to domestic violence. After a long moment, I wiped my eyes with the back of my hands. I walked over to the sink and turned on the water, then grabbed a handful of paper towels so I could clean my face.
Just as I was finishing up, Lamar walked through the door.
“We saved them all,” Lamar said.
“Amen to that,” I said back releasing a pent up breathe. I wish we could have helped in some way before all of this. I talked to her the other day, I missed it,” I said beating myself up.
“This is not on you Shanice,” Lamar said as he approached me and began to rub my back.
“You started a relationship with her that day. She felt safe enough to come down to the Help Center with her baby brother. Kids are often told not to discuss family business with people outside of the home. This is not on us. I won’t allow you to do this to yourself,” Lamar finished and was quite it for a few minutes.
“Look our shift was over hours ago, let’s go look in on the victims and go grab something to eat,” Lamar suggested.
On cue, my stomach started to grumble. I did have enough class to be shame faced but only for a minute because Lamar doesn’t know how to let things slide.
“I will take that as a yes,” Lamar said walking towards the door, with me following.
“Oh this may not be the time to tell you but Darren is still in the waiting room,” Lamar added.
“Oh my God. I totally forgot he was out there. He is probably waiting on news regarding the injured officer? Not to mention Omar and Alyssa, he has got to be feeling the weight of this just as badly as we are,” I said.
We walked into each of the rooms and I checked vitals on each of the patients. They were all resting comfortably. I recited something that I had learned for myself as I walked into each of the rooms.
“You are a blessed and highly favored child of God. You are beautiful and wonderful made, even the number of the hairs upon your head are numbered. No weapon formed against you shall prosper. You are made to be the head and not the tail. To lend and not borrow. You are blessed when you go in and blessed when you go out. You are blessed in the city as well as in the country. Everything that your hand touches will turn into a success. If God is for you, who can be against you, I recited from memory over each of them as I went from room to room.
Sometimes people needed a blessing spoke over their lives. I can remember a time when I was in the mist of my storm and those same words were spoken to me.
~Shanice~
Help others to achieve their dreams and you will achieve yours. –Les Brown
As we walked up front, I could hear a woman speaking in broken English. She was upset and the ER registration personal wasn’t being very compassionate.
I quickened my pace, so I could help defuse the situation.
“What seems to be the problem?” I asked.
“Apparently she either has an illness that needs to be treated or a family member here that needs to be treated, but I don’t know because she speaks broken English,” the receptionist said nonchalantly.
“Have you called upstairs to have a bilingual representative sent down to help with this situation?” I asked to see if the receptionist had attempted to follow protocol.
“No, not yet,” the receptionist said letting out a sigh.
“I can help,” advised Darren as he stepped up and took charge of the situation.
He placed a comforting arm around the elderly lady and began to speak with her in rapid Spanish. When he had gotten the information that he needed, he turned to me and began to explain.
“This is Mrs. Sanchez, she believes that her daughter and grandchildren came in several hours ago by ambulance. She hasn’t heard anything at all and she desperately wants to know how they are,” he finished as he still consoled a now weeping Mrs. Sanchez.
I positioned myself were I could talk to Darren who needed to translate what I was saying back to Mrs. Sanchez and where I could make eye contact with her, which would hopefully convey how sincerely sorry I am before I began to speak.
After a few more pieces of conversation, I realized that Mrs. Sanchez was in fact Omar and Alyssa grandmother.
“Please convey to Mrs. Sanchez that she has my sincerest apologizes on the behalf of myself and the hospital. Please let her know that her daughter and grandchildren all survived their surgeries. They are all in the ICU recovery area right now. It would be about an hour before anyone is allowed to see them. They all have a long road to recovery but we are hopeful,” I finished.
Darren relayed what I had said back to Mrs. Sanchez.
A smile broke through the tears and Mrs. Sanchez was very thankful. As I finished Maribel a bilingual nurse from another floor was approaching.
“Hello Shanice, Lamar called upstairs and said you needed my help,” Maribel said as she joined us.
“Thank you, honey indeed we do,” I said as I explained the situation to her. Can you order Mrs. Sanchez a food tray from the cafeteria before it closes and make sure that she gets to see her family within the hour?” I asked.
“Who is going to pay for that?” the receptionist asked from behind the de
sk still with too much attitude.
I let out a sigh, “Whatever she needs give it to her, open her up a tab in my name,” I said clearly frustrated.
“Miss High and Mighty, is not going to have a job tomorrow and she too stupid to know it,” Lamar said to anyone who was listening.
Little did he know she was about to leave out of here tonight I thought to myself. Maribel took over the care of Mrs. Sanchez. I called Dominique and asked her if she wanted to pick up another shift and how soon she could get here. She informed me that she could be there within the hour.
I walked over and told Lamar that I was going to have to work for another hour and that I would have to take a rain check on our dinner.
“I will go around the corner and pick us up a plate and just sit here with you. Just grab a drink for both of us,” Lamar said.
“My man,” I said to him teasingly.
I walked over and had a few words with the receptionist about her patient care skills and informed her that she could have the rest of the evening off. I further explained that I was placing a formal complaint in her file, which would have to be reviewed before she would be allowed to come back.
To my amazement she didn’t argue, she gathered her things and walked out.
I started to clean off the desk and triage patients as soon as I got back settled in. People never cease to amaze me. Why would you take a job that required you to serve all people when you hold hatred in your heart against a fraction of the populations, be it black, brown, red, yellow or white? Why?
I made a fresh pot of coffee for the police officers who were still waiting in the lobby. I decided to fix Darren a cup and take it to him personally. I didn’t think to offer him food when Lamar had gone to grab us something. When I am in the hospital I tune out everything and everyone.
I walked up as casually as I could and reached him the cup. Darren hadn’t introduced me to any more of his co- workers other than Sam. So I didn’t know if we were keeping things low key or what. He accepted it graciously and also reached for the creamer and the sugar.
“Thank you, that is very kind,” he said looking up to me.
His eyes were now just as haunted as mine had been when we first met.
“It was the least I could do, thanks for your help back there as well, I appreciate it,” I responded.
“No problem,” Darren said casually.
“Are you okay?” I asked him looking between him and Sam.
He shook his head no. I wanted to hold him but instead, I took a seat beside him and just held his hand for a little bit.
“How are you holding up?” he asked me making eye contact.
“I am holding on,” I reassured him.
We sat there in silence for a little while before I released his hand. I needed to go check on the other patients.
“If you can, let the other officers know that there is a fresh pot in there if they want some coffee. Thanks again,” I said as I walked back to the desk.
~Darren~
Never look down on someone unless you are helping them up. -unknown
Sam leaned over and said, “Man you don’t even drink coffee. How have y’all been together for four months and she doesn’t know that?” Sam finished.
“Like I said before, I do now,” I said opening the packets of sugar stirring them into the coffee before I added some creamer.
Sam stood and began to chuckle as he walked to get him a cup of coffee.
I blew into my cup of coffee. It had been a hard long day.
None of my training at the academy had ever trained me for what I walked into. Nothing in my criminal justice classroom had prepared me for the mayhem and dismemberment I had seen in that house today. It wasn’t too hard to imagine the fit of rage that Omar’s dad had worked himself into. I grew up in a home with a mean drunk for a father as well. There were plenty of nights that my dad just had to walk it off. He had abused our mother, and us only if we got involved, but nothing as violent as this. I fired the shot that put Omar’s father down. I would have to go to counseling for two weeks and be on desk duty while I complete it. I had never killed anyone and it was hard watching the life fade from his eyes, I thought as I took the first sip of my coffee.
***
Oh my God I thought to myself. Just when I didn’t think the day could not get any longer. I could hear them before I say them. My mother and my sisters. I stood as they grabbed everyone’s attention walking in with their arms full of food. My mom was talking in rapid Spanish and English combination.
“Hijo, you don’t drink coffee?” my mom said as soon as she approached.
I picked up my cup and looked over to see if Shanice was paying any attention and of course she was. To make matters worse Sam sprayed a mouthful of coffee out of his mouth laughing at me.
“I do now, mom,” I said returning my gaze back to my mother, who had followed my gaze and was taking in Shanice.
“Oh, what are you planning on doing, drinking coffee for the next forty to fifty years because she made it? No, be honest. Tell the young lady you don’t drink coffee already and maybe she will bring you an orange juice, you’re favorite,” mom said simply.
“I think you already did,” I said flatly.
“Ah, don’t take that tone with me, your sisters and I prepared some homemade steak and chicken fajitas for you and your friends. This horrible story is all over the news,” my mom said with a pout.
“I am very grateful mom. We all are. Thank you for being considerate, “I said.
She fixed plates for everyone and watched us dig in and then helped us to clean up our mess. Shanice had eaten with Lamar and was gathering her things to leave.
“Hijo, your lady friend is getting ready to leave. She is a lovely lady and you should introduce her to me,” my mother said.
I got a piece of gum from my sister and walked up to Shanice as she was leaving. I took the items that she was carrying and told her that I would like to walk her to her car.
She nodded her head and began just to walk.
“You have a large family,” she said more as a statement rather than a question.
“Yeah, sorry about that,” I responded.
Shanice chuckled softly.
It sounded like music to my ears.
“It was no problem at all, but your mom is a handful,” she responded.
“Tell me about it, you haven’t even seen the half of it,” I said enjoying the good nature of our conversation.
“I bet,” she said still wearing a smile.
“She wants to meet you. Do you mind coming over and allowing me to introduce you to them. I mean you should meet my sisters as well,” I asked with my nervous in my throat. I knew she wanted to take things slow and this might be a deal breaker.
“I would love to meet them. I look terrible but I can go and speak, that won’t kill me,” she said as she smoothed her scrub top down the best that she could.
“You are beautiful just the way that you are,” I responded sincerely.
~Shanice~
You Are Stronger Than You Think
We went over and talked his family after he made introductions. His mother Maria was a beautiful woman with a warm spirit. She was obviously proud of her son. His sisters Penelope and Carmen were younger versions of their mother. They were fun loving and enjoyed teasing their brother.
We made plans for me to join them for a family dinner and said our goodbyes.
When I arrived home, the emotions from the day came crashing down on me. When I am enclosed within the four walls of the hospital it is important that I have my feelings turned off. Normally after dealing with a criminal domestic violence situation, it reminds me of my own. This time my heart just hurt for that family. I still could not shake the feeling that I had failed Alyssa and Omar.
I kicked off my shoes and gathered my things for a shower. Once the hot water began to cascade down and around my body, hot salty tears also began to fall down my cheeks unchecked.
&nb
sp; When the water began to run cold, I climbed out and completed my grooming. I dressed in a light pink satin nightgown with the matching underwear.
I looked at my phone and there was a message from Darren.
D.C.: Are you okay, baby?
Me: No
D.C.: What do you need?
Me: You
D.C.: I am on my way
Me: K
I sat the phone back down on the bedside table and lay across my bed until Darren arrived.
When I opened the door, he was standing there. His chestnut brown hair was wet from his shower. He was dressed in a white t-shirt and basketball shorts. I walked straight into his out stretched arms and he accepted me.
We stood there in the door way and he just allowed me to be broken and scattered for just a moment. He sheltered me and consoled me. At some point, he picked me up and carried me inside, while using his foot to close the door. He carried me through the house and laid me down on the bed. He walked back out of the room and turned off all the lights and locked up the house for me.
When he came in the room he took off his shoes and climbed in on the opposite side of the bed. He held me close to his body.
He told me that he was the one who had fired the kill shoot on Omar and Alyssa’s dad. He felt like he had no choice and that it had been a righteous kill. None the less it was his first shooting in the line of duty and it weighed heavy on his heart.
I turned around in the bed until we were facing each other and I hugged him as hard as I could. I wanted to comfort him like he had comforted me. I forgot that I was wearing a thin night gown and that he would be able to see my response to his body been pressed to mine.
This was not my fantasy. Yet my body was stirring to life and so was his. For some reason I really wanted to go all the way with him tonight.
Fallen Angel From Revenge to Redemption Page 5
