Chapter 2 Born to die, die to live
Mattie opened his violet eyes with the ultimate fear of the worst. Tears prickles his eyes as he saw the horrifying sight of his brother slumped on the ground, scarlet blood flowing from the bullet hole in his temple. The two mothers were crying, holding onto their children for dear life.
"Alfred?" Mattie whispered as he inched over towards the fallen brother. Mattie felt his heart plummet as he heard silence from his blue eyed twin.
"Alfred?" He said louder. He was so close to Alfred. He could almost reach him. Then the police barged in. Paramedics swarmed the building. Three of them came over to Matthew and Alfred.
"This one needs to be airlifted to the hospital STAT!" A woman dressed in the navy blue uniform barked. Two men began checking for Alfred's pulse while securing his head and neck and strapping him to a gurney. Then they quickly rushed the young man outside leaving Mattie wondering if his brother was going to live or die.
"Is Alfred okay?" Mattie asked another paramedic.
"I'm sorry, who's Alfred?" the paramedic apologized, flicking her blonde ponytail over her shoulder.
"Alfred's my little brother. He," Mattie paused, taking a shaky breath "he was the one who was shot."
"Oh I'm sorry," the lady began "Alfred is alive. He is being airlifted to the hospital."
"He'll be alright though, won't he?" Mattie hoped.
"He has a gunshot wound to the temple," the woman informed nervously "That's usually fatal. I'm sorry, but I doubt your brother will live to see tomorrow." Mattie felt hot tears stream down his cheeks. He didn't care if he died. Why did Al have to go? Al was never bad. Never. Alfred was everything to him. And now he might lose him.
"I'm really sorry," the paramedic repeated "But come with me. I need to check your nose. It looks broken." Matt completely forgot about his broken nose, his dislocated wrist, and the bits of phone protruding from his palm.
"By the way," the young woman started "My name is Lindsay."
"I'm Matthew," the Canadian said while sitting on another gurney behind an ambulance.
"Well, Matthew, let me see your nose. Look up slightly." Lindsay said lightly putting her hand under Matthew's chin. She gently started poking the bridge of the blonde's nose.
"Ahh!" Mattie gasped as she moved her fingers down slightly.
"Yup. That's definitely broken, love," she determined. "Now let me get some tape and gauze for that until we can get you to the hospital." And so the blonde woman sped off to find medical supplies in one of the emergency vehicles. Mattie stared up at the starry sky and thought of Al.
'Please God,' he prayed 'Don't take Alfred away from me. I can't live without him. He doesn't deserve this.' Salty tears leaked from Matt's eyes once more.
"Okay let me wrap up..." Lindsay stopped mid-sentence as she saw tears glistening in the poor boy's eyes.
"It's okay," she comforted "We're doing all we can to keep your brother with us."
"I know," Mattie whispered, using his hoodie sleeve to wipe his eyes. Then he remembered his glasses were still inside the bank.
"When you're done with my nose," Mattie asked sheepishly "Can you help me find my glasses. They fell off in the bank."
"Oh sure, hun. No problem," Lindsay agreed as she started prepping gauze to tape on Mattie's nose.
When she was done, Lindsay was about to help Matthew find his glasses until she noticed his hand and wrist.
"Hold up, Matthew!" she exclaimed.
"What?"
"I need to fix that, too" she pointed at Matthew's wrist and hand.
"Oh," Mattie remembered.
"Someone look for a pair of glasses in the bank!" the paramedic called.
"Thank you," Mattie said holding out his broken wrist.
"I'm just going to wrap your wrist so it stays in place. We'll have to take some x-rays at the hospital." Lindsay explained while helping the young man into the ambulance. Once in the ambulance heading to the hospital, Lindsay started wrapping Mattie's wrist.
"I have to put some anesthetics on your palm so the metal doesn't cause an infection," the woman told Mattie.
"Okay," Mattie agreed.
"Okay, Matthew. Hold still," Lindsay held the Canadian's hand in hers and sprayed the medicine on the open wounds. It sizzled and burned as it slowly cleansed the cuts imprinted in his skin. Mattie barely felt the pain of the anesthetic.
"Matthew?"
"Huh?" Mattie snapped out of his daydreams.
"I said are you alright?" the paramedic repeated.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Mattie answered.
"We found your glasses, by the way," Lindsay said holding out Mattie's glasses for him.
"Tha..." he stopped mid-sentence and stared at the glasses.
"These aren't mine," he whispered, tears glistening in his eyes "They're Al's."
"Oh I'm sorry. I'll have someone find yours then. Do you want to hold on to Al's glasses?" she held out the slightly scratched glasses that used to rest on Alfred's nose.
'She called him Al,' Mattie thought as he accepted his brother's glasses. 'I'm the only one that calls him that.'
"We're here," Lindsay announced as they pulled up at the hospital. "Let's go!" she yelled as she helped Mattie out of the emergency vehicle. Mattie was rushed into the E.R. and thrown into a room.
A man poked his head in the room a few minutes later.
"Matthew Williams?" he asked.
"Yes?"
"Alfred Jones." he said motioning for the Canadian to follow him. Mattie gulped, afraid of what he might see or hear. He sat in a pale blue room, probably a waiting area of some kind. He was the only one there, save the man who brought him here. He wore a doctor's lab coat and had a mask around his neck.
"I just came from the O.R. Where your brother is being treated." he explained.
"Is Alfred okay," Mattie asked with fear of the worst.
"I'm sorry, but he has a gunshot wound to the head. We're not entirely sure what will happen to him yet, but we'll let you know in a few hours when he returns from surgery."
"Okay. Thank you," Mattie replied shakily. He walked back to the room he was in previously to wait for a doctor to treat his wrist and hand. He sat on the bed, his thoughts resting on his brother in surgery.
"Matthew Williams?" Mattie was jerked from his thoughts by a woman walking in the room. She wore a white coat and beige pants. She had short black hair tucked carefully behind her ears, which were pierced with small glinting pearls.
"Yes?" Matt looked at the doctor blankly.
"I'm Dr. Jamie Roberts. I'll be tending to you tonight," she answered while pulling out a mamilla folder. "According to your x-ray results, your wrist is fractured in two different places and the phone pieces can be removed with minor surgery. You'll just need some stitching then," the doctor said very matter-of-fact.
"Okay," Mattie answered, but barely heard a word she said.
An hour later, Matthew had a total of sixteen stitches in his right hand and a cast around his right wrist.
"Excuse me?" Mattie asked shyly as a nurse passed by.
"Oh yes?"
"Do you know which room Alfred Jones is in?"
"Alfred Jones... Oh he's in room 238," she informed looking at her clipboard and flipping her long red hair over her shoulder.
"Thank you." Mattie ran as fast as he could to the room that withheld his twin. He gasped as he entered the room, more tears threatening to spill from his violet eyes. There was Alfred.