Monday Evening
Scott was quite the car conoisseur. He knew a lot of sport cars that could move at 100 miles per hour. But none of those sports cars could rival the speed of his heart right now. A man had basically shot a patient, walked down to the entrance, blew it up along with some police officers, and left. Many people were caught by the explosion of that grenade. Some dead, some severely injured, others traumatised, like him. He'd never in a million years thought he'd experience something like this. He covered his face with his hands. He was shuddering and breathing loudly. Now, he knew what a panic attack felt like.
"Hey, are you okay?"
A soothing voice sifted into his ears. At this point, anything other than a man with a gun was soothing.
"Uhh hey?"
A female voice. It reminded him of his sister when they were still kids. He, like the rough klutz he was, sprained his ankle, she took care of it and sang to him. The single most important event that inspired him to be a life saver. A soft palm touched his shoulder. He tilted his head to see who it was. It was a female.
"Are you okay?" The woman said. She wore scrubs so she was most likely a docotor here.
"I…I'm fine." Scott said. His voice vibrated faster than his electric toothbrush. He couldn't even maintain eye contact with the woman that was standing in front of him. She took a seat beside him.
"Right, I'm Fine too." She said and huffed.
"You're new here right?" She asked
"Yeah." Scott answered.
"Look, we're all terrified…." Scott didn't hear anything else she said. He was lost in his own thoughts. He met the murderer moments before the massacre. Maybe….
"That would be crazy right?" The woman punctuated her rambling with that question.
"Scott," Aaron called out as he entered the emergency room.
"Over here," Scott said and stood up. His legs were trembling, wobbling even. He strengthened his legs.
"Are you okay?" Aaron asked.
"Yeah."
The hospital was empty. The only people that remained were the three of them and the police. The police arrived about ten minutes after the murderer left. They were looking for witnesses, anyone that saw the murderer, anyone that could describe him. Most people were too scared to remain at the hospital, patients and doctos alike. Stable patients with readily available family members or siblings were taken home, doctors and nurses fled the hospital. They were the only people that agreed to tell the police something. So they were asked to wait in the emergency room. He hoped that when they were called upon for that witness speech, the dead bodies would have been removed. If they weren't, then he was certainly on course for a PTSD.
"What about you Chloe? You doing alright?"
Chloe exhaled "I'm...holding on"
"Scott are you sure you're okay?" Aaron asked. Again. The questions weren't helping in any way. His legs began to tremble beyond his control so he sat down on the chair again.
"Yeah, I'm good" Scott tilted his face down. He could feel their stares.
"The cops have called on us. Let's go" Aaron said and walked out. Chloe stood up.
"C'mon, let's go"
He never knew how difficult it was to raise one leg from the ground, plunge it forward and then raise the other leg and repeat the action. He felt like a baby learning to walk again. Every part of his body trembled. They got to the main entrance of the hospital, or what was left of it. The place was destroyed. The explosion of the grenade had rendered this part of the hospital ravaged. The police officers cordoned the place with a yellow tape. Do not cross – police investigation, the tape read. A police officer on the other side raised his hand and waved his wrist indicating they should cross the tapes and come and meet them. They walked over the tapes and out of the hospital. Part of Scott wanted to run away, run as fast as he could back to his house and cuddle up in his blanket, forget as much as he could about what happened today and wake up fresh tomorrow. But reality was, he had to do what he could to help the police catch that murderer. They were escorted by the police officer into a tent set up in front of the hospital. They were each questioned thoroughly and were asked to go home. Scott took a cab and went back to his apartment. Moments after arriving his phone rung. It was his sister, Maisie. He answered.
"Oh my God, Scott are you okay?!" Maisie yelped from the phone.
"I'm fine, Maisie."
"Oh thank God! I was so worried when I heard Hargreaves Hospital was bombed,"
"I'm fine. I wasn't in the range of the explosion"
"Oh my God" Maisie started sobbing.
"It's okay Maisie, I'm fine. First thing in the morning I'll go straight to mom and dad's and then you can come home and we'll just…"
"Okay…Okay" Maisie tried to supress her tears.
"Good night okay, just try and sleep. I'll be fine."
"Okay, good night" Maisie said over her tears
"Don't tell mom and dad okay, I don't want to stress them tonight. I'll tell them tomorrow"
"Okay, Scott" Maisie said.
Scott hung up the phone, took a shower and curled up in bed. He tried his best not to recap any of the horrific things that happened that day while he shut his eyes. Soon he fell asleep.
Monday Evening
SALVATORE HAD arrived his home. He went straight into the shower. He loved showers, simply because it was one of the only times he was alone, with his thoughts. His thoughts would rank second in his list of best friends. He could plan his whole day within the five to ten minutes he was in a shower, he could make die hard decisions, he could bask in a good moment of his life. His thoughts usually went down the hierarchy when they brought forth dreadful memories. Dillon Tucker. He wondered where he was. He came out of the shower, dressed in his sleeping robes – boy, had it been a long time since he wore those. Usually, his night routine was to pray the rosary, read his Bible, and then round up with some more prayers before going to bed. Well, that was still the plan. He picked up his rosary, knelt by his bed and began to pray. Praying was one of the first things, Salvatore remembered doing as a child. It came naturally to him. He felt incomplete without prayer. He felt incomplete without God. His student Dillon had once challenged a Bible verse.
'I am the way truth and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me' – John 14:6
His question was this : Why did God bring us into the earth and decide that those who didn't follow his way would be condemned to eternal suffering in Hell. Humans never asked to be brought to earth. But they are brought in anyway and are automatically subjected to the trials of life. Is He just toying with humans or does he hate us. He answered the boy's question by qutoing John 3:16
'For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life'
'We are all God's children. He loves you so much and he loves the world which he has created. That is why he has sent you here. To save the world using his way. His way is love and kindness. Anything apart from his way is wickedness and evil.' The boy nodded strangely and left his office. He could never quite fathom the boy's mind. At times, he wondered why the boy chose to be seminarian. After a good one hour meditation on his Bible, he prayed and laid in his bed. It was him and his thoughts again. He'd been thinking about Dillon a lot lately. The boy was an orphan, who had he run to. The Rector had once told him that Dillon had settled down in a small country off the border of America. Mellville. Perhaps he could give him a visit. Yes. That's what he would do. He would visit him if nothing but to find out why he deserted the seminary school. He'd made many mistakes in his life none of them repealable. This was maybe one he could fix. Besides he was suspended indefinitely. What was he supposed to do with all this time.