A Hit and Run

Ch. 1

"Good morning to a beautiful Chicago and…" Meow! Thump! Gary Hobson pushed a button to turn off his radio. Then he got out of bed and went to his door. He opened up his door and he saw an orange cat sitting on top of his newspaper. "Come on in, cat," he said as the cat walked into his place. Gary picked up the newspaper and on the front page it read, TEEN DIED FROM A HIT AND RUN ACCIDENT!! Then he started to read the whole article as he started to get some breakfast.

According to the coroner's office a teen by the name of Rachel died by a car at approximately eight o'clock Tuesday morning. Rachel was walking down the sidewalk of Walnut Street listening to some music from her headphones and she didn't see or hear the car come up behind her. The person behind the wheel was drunk and the driver couldn't see where they were going. So the driver swerved onto the sidewalk. Then the car hit her and she rolled over the car and she lay motionless on the sidewalk. Then the drunk driver swerved back onto the street and drove on their way. By the time someone discovered her and got her to the hospital it was too late.

Gary finished his breakfast and then he rushed downstairs where he met with Marissa and her dog. "Good morning Gary," she said. "How'd you know it was me?" he asked her. "I can smell your cologne," she said laughing. "Oh," was the only thing that he said. "By the way why did you put some on?" "I just wanted to," he answered back. "What's new in the newspaper?" she asked him. "Well…. There's a hit and run victim." He read Marissa the whole article and then there was a small silence after he was done reading. "Aren't you going to save the victim from getting hit by the car?" Marissa asked. "Of course I am," Gary said, "It's only seven fifteen and the street that the girl is walking down is only a few blocks down from this restaurant." "You never know what could happen on the way to any of your rescues," Marissa replied back.

"True. I guess I will go right now in case something does happen on the way to this rescue," Gary said as he walked out of McGinty's. He hauled for a taxi since he didn't feel like walking that day. Gary told the driver to get to Walnut Street in a hurry because it was a matter of life or death. There was a bit of traffic so it longer to get to Walnut Street. When he finally got to Walnut Street, he saw that the drunk driver was already back onto the road. He ran with all his might to the fallen victim.

When he saw the fallen body of the teen, he just wanted to hide in the corner because he didn't stop this accident. The teen was lying on her back and her headphones were lying besides her because they had fallen off during the accident. He went over onto his knees and he cradled the teen's head in his arms and he said over and over again to the teen, " Can you hear me? Do you know what happened to you just now?" There was a small pause then the teen had a difficult time trying to open her eyes. When she finally opened her eyes, she saw a blurry face looking down on her.

Ch. 2

After a few minutes, her vision started to clear up. She saw a cute guy looking at her with brown hair and brown eyes. The first thing the teen said was, "What happened?" Gary explained to her what happened. Then Gary asked the teen, "Does anything hurt?" "Yeah, all……." Then she started to drift back to unconsciousness. "Come on. Keep talking to me. Don't do this to me……." He kept doing this for the next few seconds until he heard a small whisper saying, " What do you want me to say?" Anything," Gary said as he reached with his other hand and withdrew the paper from his back pocket. The article was still there and that meant Gary didn't do anything yet to change the accident. Then Gary checked his watch and it read seven forty-five. He only had fifteen minutes to get the hurt teen to the hospital before eight. Since there was a lot of traffic now, there was no chance of hauling a taxi. So he decided to do the only option that he thought of was picking up the teen. Then he would walk fast and he would run slowly to the hospital that was a few blocks from where they were.

That was exactly what he did. He carefully picked up the teen and he walked some and he ran some of the way too. By the time he arrived at the hospital, it was already 7:50. He had only ten minutes to get the teen inside the hospital and get treated. He rushed in the hospital and the answer that he got was, "Fill this paper out and then wait over there for your turn," the receptionist said to Gary. "But…" "NOW!" they answered back. Gary went back to a chair but he didn't fill out the paperwork because he didn't have time. He needed to get Rachel into the hospital as a patient before eight o'clock.

He looked over at his watch and he discovered that he had only had five minute to think of a plan before Rachel died from her injuries. He thought for a few seconds then he thought of a neat plan. The plan that he thought of was when he counted to three he would tell his friend to be unconsciousness and Gary also would do the same. He hoped that this plan would work so he tried the plan. He carefully placed Rachel on the chair next to him. It looked like she was already unconscious and actually she was. Next Gary went headfirst to the floor. He did the headfirst too hard because he got himself a hard concussion. Then suddenly everything went black.

After a few minutes or so, he started to wake up. His vision was blurry but it started to clear up. He looked around his surrounding and he was on one side of a room because the room was divided with a curtain. He was about to say something when a nurse came into his side of the room. "How are you feeling?" the nurse asked. "I am fine with a headache but what about the patient that was with me. Is she alright?" "She's perfectly fine. See for yourself," the nurse said as she pulled back the curtain. There on the other side of the room, was Rachel.

The nurse checked Gary over and the teen and then the nurse left the entire room. Gary reached in his back pocket and magically, his paper was still there. He started to flip through the newspaper so he could check to see if he had done his duty for the day. When he got to where the article was before, it was gone. Yes, he said to himself, I have succeeded in helping another resident of Chicago to safety even though I ended up in the hospital as a patient. Since he had done his duty, he fell asleep. A few hours later, he woke up and he had a small headache from the hard concussion. He looked over at Rachel who was still unconscious.

Ch. 3

Since he didn't want to go back to sleep, he decided to check his newspaper to see if he had to save another life. After a few more seconds of searching, he found an article that interested him. On one of the pages, a title of an article caught his eye. Hold up in McGintys. Bar attendant, Chuck Fishman was gunned down yesterday at McGintys after he came back into town from his vacation. The shot was heard around one o'clock PM. The guy there demanded some money from the cash resister. While Chuck was trying to get the money, the guy just shot Chuck in the chest because he thought Chuck was taking too much time getting the money. Gary had to get out of the hospital before one o'clock so he could save his "so called-friend" Chuck from being shot in his own restaurant.

He looked around the room and he noticed that there was a small cabinet on his side of the room. He wondered what was in the cabinet so he swung his feet around to the side of his bed. He placed his feet on the ground and he started to walk towards the cabinet. He walked slowly because his head was sort of killing him. When he got to the cabinet, he opened it up. That was strange; he thought to himself, cabinets are usually locked. Anyway,the things that were in the closet were medical supplies, a gown with a matching cap, and other miscellaneous things. He took the gown and also the cap out of the cabinet. Then he shut the cabinet and he walked back over to his bed. He was about to change into the gown when he heard the door to his room being opened. He quickly shoved the gown and the cap underneath his pillow and quickly tucked himself back into his soft bed.

"How are we feeling?" the nurse asked him. "I am doing fine," Gary responded. Then the nurse went over to check the other patient. The teen was in fact asleep and not unconscious anymore. Sometime ago she had awoken and then she had fallen back asleep. After a few more minutes, the nurse left the room. That was a perfect moment for Gary to put the gown outfit over his original clothes and that was what Gary did. He also put the cap on his head. Then he quickly got out of his bed and he went to the door. He opened it up and he checked the halls to make sure the coast was clear. Sure enough, the coast was clear. He quickly got to the nearest stairs and he went down the stairs very fast.

After he was done getting down all of the stairs, he stopped at the last floor of the car-parking garage of the hospital and he checked the newspaper but the article about the hold up was still there. He checked at his watch and he noticed that he had twenty minutes to get to McGintys before Chuck got shot. He ripped the gown and the cap off and he went towards the street. The traffic was less crowded than before. He hauled a taxi and he told the driver where he needed to go. Pretty soon he was on his way to McGintys.

Ch. 4

When he arrived at McGintys, he got out, paid the driver and then he checked his watch. He had two minutes before the incident would occur. Then the driver of the taxi zoomed off down the street. Gary was about to walk into the restaurant when he heard a, "Woof!" Gary turned around and saw Marissa walking towards him. There was a tiny pause then, "Is that you, Gary?" "Yeah. It's me. Listen go to the nearest phone and call 911 and don't go into the restaurant because there's going to be a hold-up in there in a few minutes. Now go," Gary said as he saw his friend gave him a weird expression on her face then she started to walk down the street in search of a phone.

Gary walked quickly and quietly into the restaurant. The hold-up was already in progress and luckily no one else was in the restaurant at that time. The guy's back was facing Gary which was good. Chuck saw Gary but he kept on getting the money for the guy. Gary was trying to sneak up behind the guy and his attention was fully on him that he didn't see where he was going. He ran smack into a table and some chairs. The guy heard it and he knew that it had come from behind him. The next few moments were such a blur. The guy turned around, shot Gary and was about to turn around again when he felt glass break on his head and he fell unconscious. Chuck had knocked the guy out with a glass. Now there was glass pieces on the floor around the bar.

Gary felt a pain shooting thorough his body because the guy had shot him in the right leg. He limped over to Chuck. "Thanks for saving my life," Gary said. "Your welcome," Chuck said. "This incident was in the newspaper and it also said that you were found dead," he said while checking the newspaper. The article was gone. "I told Marissa to call the police and they should be here shortly." Gary said. "Well, at the moment I am not dead," Chuck replied back. Suddenly his head was killing him because the pain from the hard concussion that he received in the hospital was catching up with him. He also wasn't fully recovered either. He had to hold onto the bar but that didn't do any good for him. He started to slide down the bar towards the floor away from the broken pieces of glass. Chuck tried to catch Gary from falling to the floor but he missed him by a few inches.

Ch. 5

Gary was now lying on the floor. Chuck came around the bar and he saw that Gary had lost consciousness. He started to talk to Gary to keep him awake but he was failing. Soon everything of Gary's vision started to close into darkness. Then after a few hours or so he started to hear a voice that was very faint and far away. The voice started to get louder. Pretty soon Gary could hear the voice very clearly now. He started to open up his eyes. Just for a second or so, his eyesight was blurry but it cleared up.

The first thing that Gary noticed was that he had a horrible headache and the second thing that he noticed was that he was in a small room. Another thing that he noticed was that Chuck and Marissa were sleeping in two of the chairs. "Chuck?" Gary whispered. Chuck immediately walked up to Gary's bed. "Hey! How are you feeling?" Chuck asked his so called friend. " I feel like I got shot," Gary said. "Actually, that did happen to you," Chuck said.

Marissa started to wake up from the noise that came from Chuck and Gary's conversation. Then she started to walk over to Gary's bed by her cane and her dog. "How are you doing, Gary?" "I feel like I got shot by someone," Gary replied. "I guess that happened. I am not sure because I was calling the police," Marissa said. "Speaking of the police, when did they arrive?" Gary asked. "The police came a few minutes after you had fainted on the floor of the restaurant," she said. "How long was I out for?" Gary asked no one in particular. "You have been out for about an hour or so," Chuck said. "That's just great," Gary said as he reached in his back pocket for the newspaper.

He was about to look through the newspaper to see if there was any more saves that he had to do for the day when Chuck started to grab the newspaper. "Nope. There is no way you are going to do any saves today," Gary said snatching the newspaper back. "Why not?" Chuck asked. "Well, because…. Well, because each time we both save someone, something happens," Gary said. There was a small pause while Gary looked through the newspaper. He was about to close the newspaper when an article caught his eye. Chuck realized that there was a save for that day. The title of the article was, PAINTER DIED FROM FALL.

Joseph Whitaker was pronounced dead at three forty-five after he took a terrible fall that cost him his life. Joseph was painting a big picture on one of the walls that was in Chicago on Chestnut Street and he was standing on a scaffold when someone started to call his name. He turned around on the scaffolding to locate where the voice was coming from and he didn't see where he was standing. Joseph found out late that he was standing at the edge of the scaffolding. As soon as he took his last step, he plunged forward and he fell to the ground that was about fifty feet below him. Someone saw the whole thing and they called the police. By the time the police arrived, it was way too late for Joseph.

Ch. 6

"I got to go," Gary said as tried to get out of the hospital bed. Chuck skimmed the article very quickly because Gary was closing up the newspaper. "No, your not going anywhere buddy. I am going to be the one that is going to do the save for today," Chuck said pushing Gary gently back against the pillow. "Seriously, I have to do this save," Gary said. "No, you don't," Chuck replied back. Both of the men started to argue back and forth until both heard, "Stop! Both of you are grown up men and you shouldn't be doing this. Now, Gary is in charge of tomorrow's paper since the first day that he received it by his front door at six thirty every morning with an orange cat," replied Marissa. There was a small pause then Chuck said, "She's right. We shouldn't be doing this to one another." Then both apologized but Chuck asked, "What are we going to do about the save this afternoon?"

There was a small pause then Gary, "I guess that I will do the save." Chuck immediately said, "But you are in the hospital." "Well, I guess that somehow I have to get out of here," Gary said. There was another small pause then Chuck said, "I have an idea. I will dress up as a doctor and then I will get stretcher. Then I will put you on the stretcher and then I am going to cover you up so no one will recognize you. If someone stops me, I will explain that I am a doctor and that I am rolling my patient to the ER. Then instead of going to the ER, I will find a short exit and then we can go do the rescue thing," Chuck said.

There was another small silence and then Gary said, "I thought you were the craziest person that ever lived but I have to give you some credit because that idea is your best idea ever. What do you mean by "we" doing the rescue together. I already told you that I was going to do this rescue by myself but NO, you don't listen to me," Gary said. There was small silence because a weeping noise started to surface and Marissa and Gary could hear it but they couldn't really pinpoint where the noise was coming from until Chuck looked up and looked at Gary. Then Gary knew exactly where the noise was coming from because Gary could see tears falling down Chuck's face.

"Why are you crying?" Gary asked Chuck. It took Chuck to a few minutes to control himself. Then Chuck said, "I feel like you don't want me around so I am going to leave right now." As if he was proving his point, he started to walk toward the door. He was opening the door and he was about to leave when he heard, "I like when your around me." Gary regretted what he just said because just then Chuck turned sharply and he ran straight for Gary. Chuck embraced Gary in a hug. There was complete silence but then Marissa could hear, "Okay, Okay. Just let me breathe, okay?" Gary asked. Chuck ended the hug. "Now, I didn't mean about what I said a few seconds ago," Gary said. "Of course you didn't, Gar," Chuck replied back.

Ch. 7

"When we going to start your genius plan?" Gary asked Chuck. "We still going to do my plan?" Chuck asked. "Of course we are," Gary said. "I guess we are going to start the plan right now," Chuck. There was a small pause then Gary asked, "How exactly are you going to get a doctor's outfit and also a stretcher without anyone asking what you are doing?" Gary asked. There was another pause then Chuck walked over to the closet that was in the room and he opened up the door to see if there was a doctor's outfit in the closet. Chuck was disappointed because there was no outfit in the closet. Then while Chuck was walking back to Gary's bed, Gary found an outfit in the nightstand drawer. "Is this what you're looking for?" Gary asked.

"Well, I guess that's what I am looking," Chuck said, "That might work." Chuck puts the gown on top of his regular clothes and then Gary asked him, "How are you going to cover up your face in case someone recognizes you?" Chuck rushes over to the closet again and in the closet, he found a mask. Then Chuck found a sheet to cover up Gary. Chuck placed the mask onto his face. After Chuck had placed everything on, he indeed looked like a regular doctor who knew what he was doing. Except in this case, Chuck knew sort of what he was doing. With Gary's help, both of them got Gary's bed made into a stretcher with wheels. Then Chuck told Gary to lie down and Gary did that. Then Chuck put the blanket on Gary covering every inch of his body except Gary's head. Then Chuck opened the door so he could roll Gary out.

Then Chuck rolled Gary out into the hallway and Marissa followed them. Together Chuck and Gary both looked like they were going down to the OR to operate. Instead of going to the OR, Chuck rolled Gary to the elevator. As soon as Chuck pushed the button for the elevator, the elevator opened up immediately. Luckily, no one was in the elevator. The only people that went into elevator were Chuck, Gary and Marissa. Chuck pressed the button to close the door and then he pressed the button for the first floor. Then the elevator started to descend downward.

Since there was no one else in the elevator, Gary popped up his head. Then he checked his watch and his watch read three-twenty. "We have to hurry up," Gary said as he showed his watch. "Yeah, we do because there might be some traffic that might slow us down," Chuck said. Right then the doors of the elevator opened up and quickly Gary placed his head back down. They exited the elevator and they all walked to the car parking garage door, which Marissa opened. They all walked through the opened door. As soon as the door behind them closed all the way, Gary jumped off the stretcher and Chuck took off his hospital disguise. Chuck placed the stretcher near the door that they had entered from.

Then all three of them walked over to Chuck's car. Chuck drove, Gary was in the front passenger seat and Marissa was in the back with her dog. As soon as Chuck drove onto the intersection he asked Gary, "Where am I going from here?" Gary quickly got his newspaper out of his back pocket and he flipped to the page where the accident was on. "You need to go to Chestnut Street," Gary said. "Got ya," Chuck said. When they got to Chestnut Street, Gary checked his watch and it read, three-forty. "We only have five minutes to rescue this guy," Gary said. As soon as Chuck drove up on the side of the road where the painter would be at, Gary rushed out of the car. He ran to the ladder and he quickly got up it. Chuck and Marissa got out of the car.

Ch. 8

He saw Joseph painting the thing on the wall when Joseph and Gary heard someone calling up to Joseph. Gary rushed over to Joseph and he pulled him away from the edge. "Thanks Mister," Joseph said. "Your welcome," Gary said. Gary was so much involved about saving Joseph that he didn't see where he was standing. He was standing on the very edge of the scaffold. "Hey Gary," Chuck said. Gary turned around on the scaffold to try and face Chuck. "Yes?" He asked he as started to tumble forward off of the scaffold. "GARY!" The only thing that could catch Gary was Chuck's car. So when Gary was about ten yards from hitting the ground, he rolled off the top of Chuck's car, rolled off the back end of his car and he rolled onto the street. Then he blacked out totally.

"Gary? Come on Gary you can do it," someone was saying to him but the voice sounded so far away. "Come on Gary you can do it," the same person kept saying. Gary wanted to open up his eyes but they felt so heavy. Then after a few more tries, he opened them up with a lot of effort. He noticed that he was in a hospital room and that Marissa, her dog and Chuck surrounded his bed. "Hey guys," Gary said. "Hey yourself. You took a nasty fall," Chuck said. "Did I save Joseph?" Gary asked. He couldn't really remember what had happened to him. "Yes, you saved him," Chuck said, "Don't you remember?" "Not at this moment, I don't," Gary said. Then Chuck told Gary what happened to him. After Chuck was done explaining it to him, Gary said, "Now I remember." Then Gary yawned and Chuck said, "Why don't we leave Gary so he could get some rest?" Then Chuck and Marissa left his room and Gary rested in peace.

A few hours later, Gary woke up with an extreme, pounding headache. He was about to go to sleep when the door to his room opened and in walked Chuck and Marissa. Chuck saw that Gary was awake so he walked over to his bed. There was a small pause then without even thinking, Gary took out the newspaper from his back pocket. Somehow magically, the newspaper always stayed in his back pocket whatever the situation may be. He was trying to scan the newspaper when Chuck grabbed the newspaper.

"Hey!" Gary said, "I was looking for another save for today." "Yeah, I know you were," Chuck said, "But if there is a save, I am going to be the one to do it." Chuck started to scan the paper when he noticed that there was a save for that day. Chuck started to skim the story when Gary said, "No, I am going to be the one to do the save for today." Both of the guys started to bicker back and forth and Marissa said over them, "Here we go again."

The End