KAT'S POV
I was pushed to the side by Chris as the gangster pointed the gun towards us. As I was fell down, I heard the sound of gunshot firing. I swiftly got back up to pull Chris to my side but froze when I saw blood splash all over me. I was brought back by the screams and shouts of George and Susan.
When I looked at Chris, I saw blood gushing out from his chest. "No." I shouted as I went to his side. He had a pale face and white lips. He had fainted from pain inflicted from the bullet.
My heart started to pound fast, as I started to breath rapidly. My head started to spin as I felt nausea but my body didn't move, I was numb. I heard Susan shout at me, so I looked up. I saw her pressing down on the wound with tears coming out her eyes.
When she saw me look at her, she said 'Call 911'. Hearing this, I snapped out of my fear as I fumbled to take my phone. I was clumsy and dropped the phone but hurriedly took it again and dialed 911.
As the call connected, I said to her in dry and husky voice about the situation. Then I dropped the phone down as I went to help Susan.
GEORGE'S POV
Me and Richard were one step back following Susan and Kat. As we were approaching Chris, we heard a loud bang and were startled. Then it dawned on us that something bad happened as we both sprinted towards our friends.
When we reached there, I saw Chris on the floor with Susan pressing on his chest as blood pouring out from his chest and the gangster had the gun on his hand with an evil grin. My face contorted with rage as I glared at him. My eyes hardened into slits and nostrils flared as I took an iron rod lying on the floor and dashed towards him.
As I reached him, my hearts raced, muscles tensed, flushed face as I swung the rod hard at him cursing him with dry mouth 'fucking shit'. When the rod hit him, he groaned in pain and fainted. I saw him knocked out and sighed in relief as I kicked away the gun.
I dropped the rod on the floor as I ran towards the blaring sound to guide them here as soon as possible.
GENERAL POV
EMS and police came together. The officers got out of the vehicles placing their hands on the gun and commanded at the running figures
"Stop and put your hands above your head."
George and Richard promptly stopped with hands above their head and said in a dry voice
"Please help our friend. He is been shot." X 2
"Where is he?" a paramedic asked cutting in the conversion.
George and Richard were visibly shaken and didn't know what to do so he looked at the police officer and he nodded. So, they hurriedly led the paramedics towards Chris. One of them looked at the gangster while the other looked at the Chris.
When the police officers saw the gangster's injuries, they were shocked. The paramedic who checked him said hurriedly
"He is barely hanging in with his life. We need take him to hospital ASAP."
"No." George roared angrily. The officer stepped forward to hold him down seeing the aggression.
"He is a scumbag, take my friend first." George said shaken with a revelation that the paramedics were trying to save the scumbag that hurt us rather than Chris.
The paramedics didn't pay him any mind and started to tend to both of their injuries. After stabilizing both of them, the paramedics first took the gangster even when we protested vehemently, it didn't change anything. But to our relief an ambulance rolled in as this ambulance went away with the gangster.
As he was already stabilized, they promptly put him on a stretcher and went on. Kat and Susan accompanied while Richard and George stayed back to explain the mess Chris left behind.
After the ambulance went away, the officers asked
"Kid, tell me your parent's number and your friends too. Start with the one that was shot."
George and Richard told the phone numbers and officer moved away from them to call while the other officer started questioning them.
"So, tell me what happened here?"
"We were going to drop Susan at her house. When that guy and his friends blocked our way."
"Wait, What friends?"
"Oh, I forgot. They were other people and they all are lying there."
The officer went to check and were shocked to see to saw many bodies on the ground. He went to check on them and pulled up his radio and called in
"Multiple injured. Requesting for EMTs ASAP."
Then the police officer started to clear out area and blocked the area for the CSI and EMTs. EMTs reached after 10 minutes and started to administer first aid. The officers after informing their parents brought the kids to the hospital.
As George and Richard entered the hospital, they saw Chris's parents coming in. They went to their side and said what happened as they walked to the ICU.
When they reached the ICU, they saw Kat and Susan sitting together with dried tears on their face. Elizabeth went to comfort them while Thomas went to ask about Chris situation.
After hours of waiting the doctor came out, and called for Chris's parents. They promptly went to him and Elizabeth asked
"Doctor, how is our son?"
"The surgery was a successful but there was huge blood loss before he was brought here. The patient is put in an induced coma due to huge blood loss and hypoxia. The good news is that he is fine and now we just have let him wake up and heal naturally. He will also be transferred to ICU."
"Okay, thank you doctor." Thomas and Elizabeth sighed with relief. After talking to doctor, they informed about his condition to George and others. By this time, George and his friend's parents has also reached. George's mom asked to Elizabeth
"What happened? The police called and said that George and his friends got into a fight and admitted in the hospital."
"It's not that they got into fight. Some goons blocked their way and tried to kidnap Susan and Kat but they ran away. But to their bad luck, they got trapped in alley. So, Chris fought with them and got shot Chris." Elizabeth said grinding her teeth.
"How is Chris now?" Kat's mom asked
"He is out of danger but he is in a induced coma." Elizabeth replied forlornly
"Don't be sad, he is a strong kid. He will be fine." George's mom replied
"Hmm, thanks" Elizabeth replied with gratitude
Then the police walked in and parents surrounded them and began to bombard them with questions. The officers finally calmed them down and asked the parents
"Can we ask them some questions now?"
The parents brought their kid's forward and nodded at them. The officers took out a book and asked to George and Richard
"So, tell us what happened from the start?"
"We were going to drop Susan at her home when these guys blocked our path. We tried to go around them but they didn't let us. They demanded for Kat and Susan to given them and if not threatened to kill us. We even called the police and since you we didn't see you come, we ran. But we got trapped in that alley." George said
"Seeing that we can't escape, Chris turned towards them to fight. The first four people came towards him without weapon. After he beat them, the next four came with knives. Chris beat them to. Then the rest of thugs ran, so he ran after them too." Richard replied.
"After that... what happened?" The officer asked
"We don't know by the time we reached, we saw Chris on the ground, Susan and Kat crying and the thug pointed a gun at us. So, we took a rod and ran swiftly at him and knocked the gun away and knocked him unconscious."
The officers scribbled something on the book and then looked at Kat and Susan. Kat looked at her parents and they nodded for her to say. She said
"Chris ran ahead of us and by the time I reached I saw rest of them ground and Chris was on top of the last one beating him up. I called out to Chris and he put the thug down and came to my side. While we were talking, the thug took out the gun and shot at us. Chris pushed me to the side in order to protect me while he took the brunt of it." Kat said as she broke down into tears. Her mother consoled her while Thomas said
"That's for now officers. If you have anymore questions, contact our lawyers. And my lawyer will represent all of them."
"You don't have a problem with that do you?" Thomas asked the other parents.
They all nodded and the officers went back with the card. After sometime, they all said their goodbye and went back home. Elizabeth also went back home to take care of Chris's siblings while the Thomas stayed back.
Elizabeth's POV
After I left the hospital, I drove the car home. I was feeling angry and sad about what happened to my son. I felt vulnerable for the first time after many years. I was becoming angry every time I think about the harm that befallen my son. As I reached home, I saw my two children standing at the door with my smile. As I opened the door of the car, Yvonne ran to me with a smile while Mathew just stood there. I put a smile on my face as I picked her up and walked up to my son. As we were walking to the house, Yvonne asked curiously
"Mom, where is big brother and father?"
My heart skipped a beat as I stopped there for a second and sighed as I went into the house. I sat them at the table and told them about the accident that happened to Chris. Mathew was scared and worried while Yvonne didn't express anything. I tried to comfort Mathew as he was wanted to see Chris and said we will go see him tomorrow. After eating dinner, I tucked them into the bed and went to lay down on my bed.
As I was trying to sleep, I heard the sound of the door opening 'creak, creak'. I sat up and saw Yvonne standing there with a doll in her hand followed by Mathew. I got up from the bed and picked her up and asked
"What happened, sweetheart?"
"I can't sleep mom." Yvonne replied rubbing her eyes
"Did something scare you?" I asked with concern
"No, I want to hear a story. But brother is not here to tell me" She said sadly
I picked her up and comforted her and put her on my bed as I laid by her side and started telling a story. Mathew also came laid on the side listening to the story. After finishing the story, Yvonne asked
"Mom, big brother is like Marty, right? Nothing will happen to him, right?"
I looked at her which was looking back at me expectantly and I said
"Yes, nothing will happen to him. Now go to sleep. Otherwise I won't take you to see your brother tomorrow."
"Okay. Good Night, Mom" Yvonne replied cheerfully
"Good Night, Darling" I said as I kissed her on the forehead and laid down to catch some sleep.
Next day morning,
When I woke up, I saw the little ones sleeping peacefully. I got out of the bed without waking them up and went to the morning chores. As I was making breakfast, Mathew woke up and asked me
"When are we going to the hospital?"
"Go get ready. After I finish the housework, we will go. Wake your sister up and get her ready too."
"Okay, mom." Mathew replied
After they got ready, we had breakfast and went to the hospital. By the time we reached hospital, Chris was transferred to the private ICU room. So, I promptly inquired with a nurse and proceeded towards the room. As we entered the room, I saw Thomas sitting by his side holding his hand and speaking to him. When he heard the opening of the door, he turned to us and gave a comforting smile. He gently placed Chris's hand on the bed and gestured to move outside as he noticed me anxious.
"Mathew, Dianne stay with your brother and don't disturb him." Elizabeth said
"Okay mom"X2
We both went outside the room and closed the door. I looked at Thomas anxiously and asked
"What did the doctor say?"
"He is out of danger but since he lost a lot of blood, he has to stay induced coma until he wakes up naturally. It may be day or weeks, it's up to him. They said to hope for the best and pray that he will wake up soon. If there are no visible changes after 6 months, then they will come to discuss what to do next."
My eyes became wet as Thomas hugged me and said
"He is going to be alright. Our son is strong. Don't worry."
"Yes, everything will be alright." I comforted myself
GENERAL POV
In the afternoon, Chris's friends and their parents came to visit him. while Chris's parents and his friend's parents were talking, his friends went in to his room. They talked about the day and gossips or other interesting things happened in the school.
KAT'S POV
I was holding his hand and sitting by his side silently as I recalled yesterday's incident. I looked at Chris, who was sleeping serenely except for all the tubes and said as small drops tears started forming in my eyes clouding my visibility
"Do you know when you pushed me away from the bullet's path? I was scared and angry at myself for my foolishness. I am keeping on replaying the scene thinking what could I have done differently. I keep thinking if I didn't stop you or if I hadn't followed you wouldn't have been in this situation. I am sorry, really sorry for what I did, please don't hate me. Please come back to me, to us soon because there are so many people who love you and cherish you waiting for you to wake up."
I looked at him for a few seconds in hope of getting any reaction from him but didn't get any. So, I slowly put his hand down and was about to go outside but I felt his hand holding my hand strongly. And when I looked up, I saw him open his eyes and look at me tenderly.
Seeing him open his eyes, George pushed the button by his bed while Susan tried to remove the tubes seeing him choking and Richard went to call our parents. After Susan removed the tubes, he looked at me and said hoarsely
"I love you." He said
"b... ut I am the reason you are like this." I said stammering with my head down.
"Exactly, doofus. So, don't blame yourself and you should know I will do it again if it meant I could save you." he said tapping my head while giving a warm smile.
GENERAL POV
"Big brother…" Diane came running into the room followed by others. She ran up to him and climbed onto the bed with great difficulty. Seeing her antics, everyone chuckled to themselves.
"Hey, Pixie, did you miss me?" Chris asked dotingly
"Yes, brother… hmpf." Diane stopped talking and turned her head away
"Well, what happened? Why are you angry?" Chris asked confused
"I called to you so many times, but you ignored me, sleepyhead" Diane snorted and said
"I am sorry, I won't do that again. Will you forgive me, please?" Chris asked
"Okay" Diane said smiling sweetly
"Mathew, come here, why are you standing there?" Chris asked seeing tears in his eyes.
Mathew walked to Chris's side and then Chris wiped his tears away and said
"Why are you crying, Champ, I am all right."
"But I heard dad talking to mom how serious it was and you had all the tubes inside you. So, I thought…" Mathew said choking
Diane seeing his brother cry, moved to his side and wiped his tears and murmured 'crybaby'.
"Ha ha… look your sister is teasing you. Stopping crying I am all right, aren't I?" Chris laughed and said
Then Chris looked at his Mom, Dad and spoke
"I am sorry for worrying you. It was my mistake. I didn't check him for weapons."
"It is not your fault, son. It's theirs, okay." Thomas and Elizabeth said comfortingly
"Yes, child it is not your fault." X8 said sympathizing
Chris looked at his friend's parents and said with gratitude
"Thank you all for coming to visit me."
The doctor came to check up on him and said loudly
"Give way, let me check up on 14-year-old warrior"
"What warrior?" Chris asked confused
"Well, you should check the Daily Bugle, warrior" George teased me.
The doctor came in and conducted a round of test and then turned to his parents and said
"I think he is okay, after some rest he will be up and running. Let's keep him a week for observation. What do you say?"
"Okay." Elizabeth and Thomas nodded
"Doctor, can I go home now? I will come for a check-up a week later" Chris asked
"No" Elizabeth said as she glared at Chris.
The doctor walked away smiling leaving it for the parents to handle. After lecturing Chris for a few times, Elizabeth calmed down. Chris was scared and sweating all over seeing her angry and promptly shut-up just taking scolding passively.
After that all them laughed and spent time in the hospital with him. In the evening, all of them went home except Chris and Thomas. While Thomas went out for a snack, Chris took out the paper and read the article. Looking at the article written about a warrior and a hero and thinking about how worse the city is. He thought 'Maybe it's time to put my powers to good use and be the hero'.