Within a few minutes, the first ambulance arrived, Hunter was taken to the trauma center in Wilshire Memorial Hospital. McCall, still tearful, was running after the stretcher, following him all the way to the double-door gate of the surgery suite where she was stopped by the medical staffs.
In front of the theater, more than twenty ambulances and dozens of police cars rushed to this small area one after another, with red and blue lights flashing and sirens blaring. The vehicles from all TV stations and newspaper offices joined right after. The whole area was surrounded by yellow tape, and the panic audience were standing outside of the building, within the yellow tape, questioned and recorded by the police officers.
In the hospital
It was already Saturday morning. The sun shined through the window, and the streets under the building woke up and became busy again. All the channels of the TV in the waiting room were broadcasting the breaking news of the theater shooting. McCall had been pacing in the waiting room and front of the gate of the surgery suite with red swollen eyes for a whole night. Now exhausted, she sat with Charlie, and he had an arm around her shoulders. His eyes were sunken and black-ringed. He also didn't get any sleep that night. Same as many other officers, he had been running back and forth from the hospital, the theater, and Parker Center all night long.
Charlie said, "It is confirmed that so far besides Hunter, only five other people were injured. Two were shot, and three were stepped on by the others when they pushed each other trying to get out, and some people felt down at the door. Nobody died."
"I also heard about it. How bad are the two who were shot?"
"Both are not bad. One is shot in the shoulder. The other one was injured in the leg. They will be discharged today or tomorrow. I just chatted with their spouses at the 3rd floor here. They sat a few rows behind you and Hunter. Everybody told us all the details of what happened. You two are such great heroes!"
McCall felt a little bit of relief, but not much. This news was great, but not good enough to make her feel any better. Her brain was blank.
Then Charlie continued, "Without you, it is hard to imagine the situation could be. That guy had hundreds of bullets with him and a bomb in the car when he was arrested. You two are the pride of LAPD."
McCall didn't answer him. The only thing in her mind now was whether Hunter would survive. Whenever she saw anyone came out of the operating room, her heart got tight, worrying about the worst news. Charlie also prepared for the worst. As soon as he found Hunter mom's address, he called Brad Navarro and Kitty O'Hearn, asking them to bring her here. They left around 3 o'clock in the morning. About half an hour ago, Charlie paged them; they said they were on the way back here, with Hunter's mom riding with Kitty and Brad was driving her car to LA.
Finally, two doctors got out; McCall knew one of them was in charge of Hunter. He had a satisfactory smile while talking to the other one, and both doctors seemed calm. McCall and Charlie ran to them anxiously.
"Does he survive?" McCall and Charlie asked at the same time.
"Yes," one doctor replied with a tired voice, "so far."
"What is his situation?" Charlie asked.
"Two shots," then the doctor pointed to himself, "one bullet went in from here and buried here deeply inside the bone, the other one went in from the chest and tore a big hole at the back. High-speed jacketed hollow point bullets used to kill the bears and fired within very short distance, the damages were severe."
The other doctor added, "If he were a few more minutes late to get here, he would be gone. His heart stopped once at the beginning, but we shocked it back. During the surgery, we gave him close to twice as much of his blood volume of transfusion. It's a miracle that he survived."
Charlie and McCall wanted to ask for more detail, but the doctors started to walk away, the first doctor answered, "We already released more information than necessary without the patient's agreement. Does he have any family members here?"
Charlie replied while following the doctors, "His mother is coming. Will he make a full recovery?"
"It's too early to say. We'll wait for him to wake up first. If he is stable without too many complications and the infection is under control, he should be okay.
Better than what McCall thought, Hunter was shot only twice, she felt somewhat solaced, but she didn't know the details. Both shots were life-threatening. The first caused chest penetration; eventually the doctors had to remove the severely damaged lobe of his lung to stop the massive bleeding. The other one penetrate through the abdominal from one side and the bullet ended up into the hip-joint at the other side, destroyed it by comminuted fracture after damaging multiple organs while it traveled a long distance inside the body. It caused massive bleeding, and severe infections could be the next. In order to save his life, the doctors had to remove a piece of the unfixable intestine. Both wounds could have many complications and leave long-term sequelae. At best, he would still need another surgery later to replace the joint.
"Can we see him now?" McCall was eager to see him and asked.
"Of course. Sign your names at the nurse station, they will take you to see him. He has not yet woken from the anesthesia. There is nothing to see, to be honest." The exhausted doctors answered and walked away in a hurry.
McCall ran into the double-door gate to the surgery suite. She saw one room on the left was opened, and she rushed there. Charlie was following her about seven or eight steps behind. A hospital staff in the hallway stopped her, "Excuse me, Mam. You can not come here." "I am Sergeant McCall, the homicide investigator. I am looking for a victim of last night theater shooting." The staff hesitated a little bit, "Your ID? … But, … you still should not come here." McCall realized that her ID was in Hunter's car in the parking lot. She peeked into the room, Yes! Hunter is here, alive! She was so exciting. Four or five hospital staffs were busy in moving Hunter from the surgery table to a bed, and a few others were cleaning up the tables and floor. McCall ran into the room. The room smelled and also looked like a homicide scene. The blood was everywhere, besides that, two huge biohazard boxes of hospital waste sitting next to the table, filled with stuff soaked by blood. "Hi, Mam, get out of here. You can not come in." Even before McCall saw Hunter's face, one hospital staff gently pushed her out and closed the door. McCall calmed down a moment, saw the big sign on the door "Stay Sterile". She felt very guilty and hit her forehead hard with her fist, "My brain certainly doesn't work", she cried to Charlie, embarrassing.
After another ridiculous long waiting in the waiting room, a nurse finally came and told them where to go. They took the elevator, signed names at the front desk, and crossed an "Authorized Person Only" hallway after a nurse paged the inside station to open the gate. Eventually, they entered the crowded little room in ICU. It was pretty dark with the signal lights flashing and different curves on the monitors with their monotonous beeping sounds. Hunter was lying on a bed with an oxygen mask, hooked up to equipment with many wires and connected with several tubes for blood transfusion, IVs, and multiple liquids draining. Tears ran out of McCall's eyes and blurred her view. This time, they were grateful and happy tears. Hunter was still quite pale, but peaceful. His heartbeat curve on the monitor looked stable. She could tell that Hunter was naked and only covered with a thin blanket. She wanted to see where he was injured, how big the surgery incisions looked like and the locations of those liquid draining tubes so that she would tell which organs were damaged, but with Charlie and the nurse standing beside, it would be utterly inappropriate to check. She even didn't touch his hand or kiss his forehead before they left.
After such a terrible event, Charlie suggested McCall take one week off. She agreed and spent the time shuttling between the hospital and their houses every day, without any plan. Hunter's mom was here. Sometimes Mrs. Hunter slept on the little foldable bed in Hunter's room in the hospital; sometimes she stayed at Hunter's house accompanied by McCall for a few hours at night. During the daytime, she spent almost every minute with her beloved son, especially when he was awake. McCall never got a chance to stay with Hunter while he was awake only by herself. She felt pretty awkward being there, but she also learned a lot of Hunter's childhood stories from his mom. Sometimes she intended to leave Hunter with his mother alone because they didn't get much time to spend together during the last so many years. Even though she told herself not to be jealous of Hunter's mom, she still felt she wasted her time off.
Hunter was lying on the bed, most of the time just sleeping. He was so weak that he even could barely blow any air into the incentive spirometer. He told the doctors he still felt dizzy, short of breath and worried about the future. After his self-controlled morphine infusion pump was removed, even under pain control medication, he said every breath gave him sharp pain. It was obviously that every coughing almost killed him. With the hip fixed, he was not able to move or to get any comfortable position. Although Hunter appeared to relax and happy in front of his mom, McCall knew how much pain those bullet holes, broken bones, and huge surgical incisions were causing him. Thinking about that made her heart shake. She didn't get much of a chance to talk to him, and she didn't want him to talk. His breath was hard, and his voice was hoarse. When he went to sleep, sometimes she sat beside the bed for hours, just to look at him.
His mother also tried not to disturb him, but sometimes, she sat beside the bed, could not help murmuring softly, half to herself, half to her son, like mom telling stories to baby. It was Sunday morning. When McCall came, the door stood ajar. She heard Hunter and his mom were chatting. Hunter's voice was not very clear, but his mom's voice was quite clear. She didn't want to interrupt, so she planned to leave and return later, but her own name caught her attention. So, she stopped and stood there to hear what they were talking about.
…
"Ricky, Dee Dee is a good girl. You have told me many times that you only have a professional relationship with her as partners, but I think it's more than that. She knows where everything is in your house, and she told me a lot about you. She knows you as well as I do, probably better even. During these past a few days, when you were sleeping, she sat beside you, holding your hand and kissing your forehead. From her eyes, I can tell that you two are far from 'just friends.' Ricky, I am really happy for you if ..."
Hunter stopped her, "Mom, we are just friends." McCall felt sorrowful.
Hunter's mom said, "It is obviously that she loves you. Do you love her?" That's what McCall exactly wanted to know, she held her breath.
"Yes, she is the only woman .. I love in the world ... except you, mom."
Oh, my God! McCall's heart beat fast. Why has he never told me?
"You are already forty-something; you should have a family, Ricky. When I was at your age, you were already twenty-three. Did you tell her that you love her?"
"No, I couldn't."
"Why?" His mom didn't understand, and neither did McCall.
"I cannot give her what she wants. ...I am afraid to disappoint her." McCall was quite confused on Hunter's reply.
"What does she want?" Mom asked.
"She will not marry a cop again," Hunter said, "Her husband was killed on duty … years ago, … still hasn't recovered … so many years, so she … someone with a safe job."
Hunter's mom started to sob …
"Mom. I am safe. I do not mean ..."
"You are safe?! You almost died, Ricky! Oh, how is your pain? Should I get the nurse here?"
"Mom … I am OK, not hurt much … better than yesterday." Hunter replied. "Usually, I am pretty safe ... This time, … not work-related, just bad luck. If I weren't a cop, … dead already … my partner saved my life… Mom, … , my job does have some risk … but … not as dangerous as you think."
"I am so afraid of losing you, Ricky. I am very proud of you, but you never give me any peace of mind. You started to get in trouble in kindergarten, always fought in school; then you went to Vietnam. I have never stopped worrying about you. Even now, whenever I call you to make sure you're OK, you're always so impatient. … Ricky, when will you understand a mother's feelings?" His mom choked with sobs.
"I am sorry, mom. … I totally understand you. When I was little, I was stupid … I am not the same now."
"Given your situation, do you think you will be possible to go back to your regular job after recovery?" his mom asked.
"Don't worry, Mom. ... The doctors said … full recovery, so I will."
"Can you consider a change to a safer position in the department? You have a good reason now."
Hunter said, "No, I hate paperwork … I don't have a college degree … high technology stuff."
Hunter's mom got a little angry. She waited a few seconds, said, "You are right. It is not fair to ask such a good girl to marry you. You are too stubborn. Did you ever talk to her?"
"I told her a few times, kind of...not directly. ...She will not … another cop, Mom... She made that very clear." McCall felt full of regret. She didn't realize that it was she who forbade Hunter to show his real emotions to her. At least, she knew it now.
Hunter's mom sobbed and left the room. When she opened the door, she almost ran into McCall. "I am sorry, Dee Dee."
"Mrs. Hunter, good morning." McCall pretended that she just arrived there. "Did Rick wake up?"
"Yes, he did," Hunter's mother answered. "Dee Dee, could you take me to his doctor's office again? This hospital is like a maze; I am afraid that I could not find it by myself. I want to ask him some questions about Rick."
After coming back, McCall went into Hunter's room quietly. Hunter was sleeping again. His eyes were closed with two streams of a tear on his face. McCall knew he must feel sad to disappoint his mother, but he thought he made the right choice. His conversation with mom touched McCall so much. After knowing the deep love in Hunter's heart, instead of making McCall feel happy, she felt very regret that she declared that she would not marry a cop.
Later, Hunter's mother came back. She told McCall, "I am going to pick up my stuff at his house and go back to my apartment. Rick is stable now. I asked my friend to take care of my fish and dog for 3 to 4 days, now it's already more than a week, I have to go. Tell him that I will come back later to see him. Thank you, Dee Dee. Rick is euphoric when you are here with him. " She kissed her son, left a small flower basket at the tiny table with a note, hugged McCall and left.
When Mrs. Hunter was here, McCall felt a little bit annoyed, but when she saw her leaving, she felt pretty sad. McCall knew that opposite from her childhood, Hunter grew up in downtown LA. His father had many bad habits, liked to make criminal related friends and didn't care about family. He worked on recycling cardboard boxes, then scrap metal. Later he was killed by his friend when Hunter was only 17. He left nothing to his wife and child, except debts. Because of that, they lost their condo, and they had to move into a trailer located in a poorer neighborhood. He had to go to the high school famous for its high criminal rate, where more students went to jail than college. He knew he did not belong to there. He experienced the bottom of the society, witnessed all kinds of crime in the underworld and decided to be a police officer.
Hunter's mom did many different jobs, from the small grocery store cashier, hotel housekeeper to school front-office staff. All these jobs she took kept her busy all day long but didn't provide much income. Mom didn't have much time to share with Hunter, but she put all her hope on him, her only child. To help mom, Hunter took the bus to the wealthy neighborhoods to mow grass or clean leaves when the school was over, to unload the groceries from the trucks and shelf them for the local stores at weekends. He was a lonely person since childhood and didn't have any real friends in school at his early life. Mom was the only one who loved him, supported him and kept him straight and narrow. He had justice in his mind and followed his own law, which kept on getting himself into big troubles in school. Even in such a harsh environment, Hunter never smoked, drank or used the drugs, not sure just because mom didn't allow that, or he seemed to have natural immunization on those.
Hunter loved his mom very much, but could not spend much time with her. Whenever Hunter mentioned his mom to McCall, he always showed some guilty feelings. After Hunter coming back from the marine service, he only spent about one year together with mom. As a cop, he made too many enemies among his childhood neighborhoods and his father's relatives. So he rent mom apartments with support staffs and security system two hours away from him just for her safety, where she made a bunch of new friends and started a new life. Hunter never gave anybody mom's address. Even Charlie had to search the police department databases to get her contact information and located her that night.
To be continued...
