Running Towards The Abyss

by David Spell

  CHAPTER NINE

  Recovery

  Beth’s room, The Northeast Georgia Technical College, Lavonia, Georgia, Monday, 1630 hours

  Chuck awoke to the late afternoon sun pouring into the room. Sheets containing Beth’s scent covered his aching body. McCain was lying on his right side and he reached down to feel the throbbing wound on his left hip, discovering that he was naked from the waist down.

  He touched the long gauze bandage covering the injury on his hip and buttock. Chuck could feel the stitches under the gauze, a lot of stitches, then was suddenly aware of an intense pounding from his head and face. McCain gently probed his bandaged right cheek, his swollen right eye, and then the top of his head, feeling the dressing taped to his scalp.

  A cool hand touched his left cheek, startling him, and Elizabeth’s beautiful but concerned face was hovering over his own. She sat down next to him on the bed, leaning in and gently kissing him.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you jump. How are you feeling?” she asked softly.

  “Your face and lips will cure anything,” he smiled at her. “Are you OK? What about Alicia and everybody else?”

  Chuck tried to push himself up but the pulsating pain in his head intensified and he lay back down. Beth laid her hand on his shoulder.

  “Slow down. You need to stay in bed. Alicia’s going to be fine. She was banged up a little but you saved another young girl’s life,” Elizabeth said, proudly.

  “What about you? You really shoot those three guys? I’m so proud of you.”

  There was a pause and then she nodded. “I did. I killed all three of them. You trained me well. That’s the reason you’re in here with me. They took the bodies out of your room but they haven’t cleaned the blood off the floor yet.”

  McCain tried to raise himself up again on his right elbow and saw that his pillow was a mess where he had been lying, the wound on his cheek still seeping blood. Dizziness and pain forced him to lie down again. That big punk must’ve hit me a lot harder than I thought, he mused. Chuck took Beth’s hand in his, looking into her eyes, appraising her.

  “How do you feel about killing them?”

  Elizabeth looked away and gave a slight shrug. “I don’t know. What am I supposed to be feeling? I’m not sorry. They would’ve raped me and murdered both of us, and probably Alicia, as well. I guess I’m kind of surprised that I don’t feel more emotional about it. Maybe I will later. I’m just glad you’re OK,” she said, squeezing his hand.

  Chuck nodded. “Don’t worry about not feeling anything. We all process things differently and it sounds like you’re handling it just fine. How many people did we lose?”

  She looked at the floor. “Three dead. Bradley and Todd were killed at the barricade. Kevin and Jermaine were shot as they ran down the stairs. They were part of Mr. Nicholson’s quick reaction force. Kevin’s dead, Jermaine was wounded. He had on body armor and Karen says he’s going to make it. His arm is kind of messed up but, thank God, he’s OK. Another girl, a student, got hit by a stray bullet in her dorm room. Karen says she’ll live but it’s still a serious wound.”

  “I’m so sorry. What about the bad guys? Did any get away?”

  “Mr. Nicholson will come talk to you later. He told me that there were thirteen bodies. He didn’t think anyone escaped.”

  “Is he upset with me?”

  “Why would he be upset with you?” she asked, surprised. “You saved Alicia and almost got killed doing it. Jake said it would have been a lot worse if the sentry team hadn’t confronted the gang before they got inside. But he also thinks you killed at least four or five of them when all the shooting started in the dorm.”

  “I don’t know,” McCain said, slowly, closing his eyes. “I guess I feel responsible. Their leader, that Neil guy, asked for me by name. I can’t help but think that I should’ve done more to prevent this from happening. Plus, I murdered Greg. He was wounded and I didn’t have to kill him, but I did.”

  Beth’s hand touched his face again as she leaned close to him. “I made sure that everyone heard why you did that. Tina was pretty upset at first, but when she heard about the baby, she said, ‘It’s a good thing Chuck took him out so I didn’t have to!’”

  Elizabeth leaned over so she could look into Chuck’s eyes. “A wise man told me recently, ‘You can’t beat yourself up for things you had no control over.’ Or something like that. I was still a little out of it myself when he shared his wisdom with me. That same wise man also said that there are some very evil people in the world. I’m just glad there are men like you who are brave enough to stand up to them.”

  McCain sighed, looking into the beautiful eyes of the beautiful girl seated beside him. Footsteps coming from the sitting room made him look up as Karen walked in, clad in blue scrubs, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

  “Busy day?” Chuck asked.

  “I just caught a little nap on the couch. I haven’t had to work this hard since I was an ER nurse at Grady.”

  Grady Memorial Hospital, in downtown Atlanta, was one of the biggest hospitals in the southeast and was known for its trauma unit. If Karen had worked there, Chuck thought, I’m in really good hands.

  “You worked at Grady? You’ve probably got more experience dealing with traumatic injuries and gunshots than most doctors. I’m feeling a lot better about my chances for recovery now.”

  The pretty nurse managed a smile. “Oh, you’ll recover. You’re just gonna have less of that nice butt to carry around with you.”

  “Karen!” Elizabeth laughed.

  “So how bad is it?” Chuck asked with a grin. “It feels like a lot of stitches. Did you get the bullet out?”

  Karen walked over to Chuck, pulling the sheet down just far enough to expose the injury on his hip. She pulled a pair of blue rubber gloves out of her side pocket and slipped them on.

  “Well, if you had to get shot, you picked a good place for it. Jake said it was a .44 Magnum that got you. I’m no gun expert but I know that’s a big bullet. Thankfully, it just dug a nasty trench down the side of your hip. If it had been two inches to the right, you would’ve lost your leg and probably bled out. If it had been five inches to the right, well, you would’ve lost something else very important.

  “Now don’t get me wrong. It’s a serious injury and we’re going to need to keep a close eye on it,” she said, winking at Beth, “to make sure it doesn’t get infected. The wound’s almost six inches long, over an inch wide, and half an inch deep. It took twenty-eight stitches to close it up. You lost a lot of blood so you’re going to have to stay in bed for a few days.”

  Karen used a piece of gauze to wipe the edges of the bandage covering the large wound where blood had seeped out, and then pulled the sheet back up. Chuck felt her touching the top of his head and then she knelt down to examine his right cheek and eye.

  “You have a cut on the top of your skull and another on your cheek. I used superglue and butterfly bandages to close those up. I hope that’s OK. I think the scar will be smaller on your cheek that way. Looking at your face, though, it’ll just be one more for the collection. I don’t think you’ve got any broken facial bones.”

  “Thanks, Karen. I really appreciate you patching me up.”

  The nurse shone a small flashlight into his eyes. “Elizabeth told me you used to be a fighter?”

  “I was.”

  “You can add another concussion to your list of injuries, too. I saw the body of that kid who beat you. He was huge!”

  “I had wins over bigger guys than him in my career. He didn’t hit that hard.”

  “Ok, Rocky, if you say so,” the nurse shrugged, rolling her eyes.

  “What about Jermaine and the girl who was hit?”

  Karen sighed. “Jermaine’s got two broken ribs and a shotgun pellet hit him in the bend of his right arm, shattering his elbow. He needs an orthopedist. I cleaned the wound, bandaged it, and set it, but that’s about the extent of what I can do here. When it heals, he’ll neve
r be able to flex that arm again.

  “Amber’s the girl who was wounded. She’s in kind of the same boat as Jermaine. She’d come to her door to see what was happening. When all the shooting started inside the dorm, a round caught her in the left shoulder. It’s a bad wound and she needs a surgeon, too. I don’t even know where to start with that one, other than making sure it doesn’t get infected. We’ll do the best we can.”

  Karen turned to go. “I need to go check on my other two patients. Chuck, I know you’d planned on leaving today, but that’s not happening.”

  McCain had already conceded in his own mind that he wasn’t going to be able to look for Melanie until he healed up. The two injuries on his head would heal quickly, but the gunshot wound to his nether regions was going to severely limit his mobility and he was going to need enough time to recover.

  Chuck smiled and nodded, looking at Elizabeth. “I guess you’re stuck with me a little longer.”

  The nurse turned back to her patient. “Since you’re going to be around for a little while, would you mind giving me some weapons training? Mr. Nicholson has offered some over the last few months, but I think I only went once. I didn’t think I needed to learn since we have a security team here. Now I’m thinking that everyone on this campus needs to be thoroughly trained. The results of your coaching Elizabeth were pretty impressive.”

  “Sure, Karen. I’ll let you know when I’ll be working with Beth and you can join us.”

  The nurse nodded her thanks and left to attend to the other wounded.

  A loud rumbling noise came from McCain’s stomach. “Any chance of getting something to eat in this hospital?” he asked his pretty girlfriend.

  Beth’s room, The Northeast Georgia Technical College, Lavonia, Georgia, Monday, 1800 hours

  Jake and Chuck consumed the last of the Evan Williams bourbon as Nicolson told him as much as he knew of what had transpired the night before. They were still trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. McCain was horrified to hear of the manner in which they had found Bradley’s body. Chuck had not been a fan of the young man but felt terrible that Thomas had been murdered in such a brutal way.

  “We recovered their four vehicles, parked up at the entrance. The bad guys even left the keys in the ignitions for us and, of course, their guns will come in very handy. The cost was way too high, though,” Jake concluded.

  “Suggestion?” Chuck asked.

  “Of course.”

  “Let’s have a debrief session tomorrow. Bring in everyone who was involved: all your sentries, Tina, you, Alicia, Elizabeth, me, and anyone else who played a role. A group debrief will help us to build the timeline of what happened, clarify where everyone was, what they did, and will allow us to learn together. It’ll also be therapeutic.”

  “That’s a great idea, McCain. Are you sure you weren’t a Marine?”

  “If I was, I’d be missing a big chunk of my brain right now,” he laughed, pointing towards his wounded buttocks.

  “Ha! There’s probably some truth to that. Do you mind leading the debrief? I’ve never done one of those before.”

  “Sure, no problem.”

  After Jake left, there was a quiet knock on Beth’s door. Chuck could hear two women talking in the other room. A moment later Elizabeth led Alicia to where he lay.

  “I’m sorry to bother you, Mr. McCain. I wanted to check and see how you were doing.”

  “Hi, Alicia! I’ll be fine. I’ve got some good people taking care of me. I’m so glad you’re OK.”

  The young woman seemed uncomfortable, trying to control her emotions. Chuck could see her eyes watering, as she took a deep breath, crossing the room to McCain’s bedside. She bent over, placed a hand on his shoulder, and kissed him softly on his uninjured cheek. Elizabeth guided her to the other bed across from Chuck’s and the two girls sat down, Alicia wiping her eyes on the sleeve of her hoodie.

  “I’m sorry,” she laughed self-consciously. “I wasn’t planning on crying. Thank you for what you did, Mr. McCain. I really think I’d be dead if it wasn’t for you.”

  “You were pretty impressive yourself. That was some good blade work. Did you get your knife back?”

  “I did. Mr. Nicholson even cleaned it off for me. He said we’re having a debriefing tomorrow?”

  “That’s right,” Chuck nodded.

  “I don’t know if I want to relive it,” Alicia said, quietly. “I…I don’t really think I need to be there. I didn’t do that much. It’s too painful and I’d rather just forget about it.”

  “Do you trust me, Alicia?” McCain asked.

  Alicia’s default position when it came to men was not to trust any of them. She had been hurt too many times. This man was different, though. He had shielded her with his own body, even after being beaten and shot.

  “Yes, sir. I trust you,” she answered, looking him in the eye.

  “You do need to be there tomorrow,” McCain told her. “I promise you that when we’re done you’ll feel a lot better. I’ve been through these kinds of meetings before. They’re important to help us figure out what happened and what we can learn, so history doesn’t repeat itself. These debriefings also end up being kind of like a group therapy session.”

  Alicia nodded and looked at Elizabeth. “Okay, I’ll be there. And I just realized we almost lost you twice this week, Miss B! Maybe we all need some group therapy.”

  Beth put her arm around her assistant’s shoulders. “It’s been a rough few days, hasn’t it? And poor Mr. McCain, he’s been shot twice since he met me a week ago!”

  Half an hour later, a weary-looking Nurse Karen came back to check on Chuck before she turned in for the night. The candles that Elizabeth had burning in the room didn’t give off enough light, so the nurse used a small flashlight to look at McCain’s wounds. Another knock at the door admitted Robert Clayton, also coming by to check on Chuck.

  “Oh, hi, Karen, Mr. McCain,” he said, shyly. “I can come back later if this isn’t a good time. I just wanted see how you were feeling and to say, ‘thank you.’”

  “Hey, Robert,” Chuck said. “No, stick around. Karen’s having way too much fun looking at my wounded ass.”

  The nurse punched him lightly on the shoulder and shook her head.

  Clayton didn’t know whether McCain was making a joke or not so he just gave a slight smile.

  “Karen,” Chuck said, smiling at the nurse, “Jake told me that if it weren’t for Robert and his team things would have gone much worse. Robert’s sentries confronted those intruders before they got into the dorm and shot several of them to even the odds a little bit. Then he positioned his team by the front door and they cut down several of the gangbangers when the shooting started. They saved my life, that’s for sure!”

  McCain looked at Clayton and saw that he was blushing. “Really good work, Robert. The only reason any of us survived was because of you and your people. That was great leadership.”

  Robert finally found his voice. “Thanks, Chuck. It was a team effort and I’ve learned a lot from Jake.”

  “I heard you’re also a pretty good firearms instructor, Robert.”

  “I enjoy teaching,” Clayton answered. “I like helping people develop a love for shooting. I’ve worked with Jake, doing a lot of the training for folks here on campus.”

  “That’s great,” Chuck nodded. “Karen told me that she wants to learn to handle a gun, right, Karen?”

  The pretty nurse shot McCain a dirty look, but smiled up at Robert. “That’s right. I hope we never have anything like this happen again, but I know I need to learn to shoot to help protect this place.”

  Robert smiled. “I’d be happy to help you, Karen. Anytime.”

  After Clayton took his leave, Karen turned towards McCain, her eyes blazing. “What was that, Chuck?”

  The big man winked at her. “Just trying to help a sister out.”

  Later, Elizabeth came and sat beside Chuck on the small bed, being careful to avoid his injurie
s, but wanting to be near the man that she’d fallen so hard for. She was ready for sleep, wearing sweat pants, a sweatshirt, and thick socks in the cold dorm.

  “I feel bad that you can’t leave to find Melanie, but I’m happy we get a little more time together.”

  Beth’s hand gently touched the uninjured side of his face. Chuck was silent in the flickering candlelight, his demeanor sober. After a few minutes he looked at the pretty young woman beside him.

  “We need to talk about something,” he said.

  Seeing Chuck’s serious expression, Beth’s face fell and she looked troubled. “What? What’s wrong?”

  “Don’t answer me right away, but I want you to think about going with me when I heal up and leave. It’ll be…”

  Elizabeth’s squeal of delight cut him off. “Yes! There’s nothing to think about. Of course, I want to go with you. You had me worried, Chuck! I didn’t know what you were going to say.”

  McCain managed a tired smile. “If you’re sure…”

  Benton leaned down and kissed him on the left cheek, moving her face around to find his lips. She kissed him hungrily, finally coming up for air.

  “What made you change your mind?” she asked, out of breath.

  “My whole reason for not wanting you to come was that I thought you’d be safer here. Obviously, that was a bad assumption. At least together, I can try to protect you. Or now that you’ve become such a deadly weapon, maybe you’ll protect me,” he grinned.

  Elizabeth looked at him, her eyes wide in the soft glow of the candlelight. “Thank you so much for the opportunity to stay together. I do love you, and this makes me very happy.”

  “You have to promise to keep letting me train you. It’s a dangerous world out there and I want to prepare you as much as I can.”

  “I understand and I’ll do whatever you say,” she answered, gently laying her head against his shoulder. After a few minutes she started kissing him again. “I’m sure that there are a lot of things you can teach me, Mr. McCain.”