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Chapter 4: Aftershocks

Hello! Sorry for the late chapter but I've been trying to learn how to write better so that the chapter you guys get isn't messy and rushed. Also, I thought it would be a little fucked-up to publish a chapter heavily concerning a school shooting right after a major one happened. I took my time on this one and i think that I actually like what I wrote! Enjoy :)

Max woke up to a white room, the sun coming through the curtains blinding his eyes. This was an unfamiliar room, and thus Max woke, instinctively jolting awake.

Boy would he regret that.

A foreign pain shot up his arm and into his shoulder, and Max heard himself gasping and grimacing in pain.

"Shit!" Max whispered angrily, rubbing his shoulder in attempt to still the wound.

"Max?" A familiar voice said. "Max! Holy shit dude you're awake!" Neil ran to Max's side, full of excitement. "Nikki he's awake!"

Nikki ran up to Max, enveloping him in a huge hug. Max flinched upon sudden contact, as always, but relaxed into his friend's familiar touch.

"Am I in the hospital? This looks like a hospital…" Max said, glancing around the room curiously. "What the hell happened? What day is it? How long have I been out?"

Neil sighed. "Well, what do you remember?"

Max hesitated before responding, "We were at school, yeah? And then uh, there was this guy who came in and he…" Max paused before continuing, "He shot up the class, and I fought him I think, yeah, and then I hung out on the floor for a bit…" Max trailed off, cuing that that was all he remembered.

"Basically!" Nikki chimed, finally letting Max out of her death grip hug.

"After you passed out, they took you and the other wounded into the ambulance and the witnesses into questioning. You got surgery and have been out for about…. Half a day." Neil quickly recalled.

"What happened to the shooter? Is he in jail?" Max questioned, anxious to know if his attempts at stopping the attacker's plans had any actual purpose.

Nikki and Neil exchanged nervous glances, like they knew Max wasn't going to like what he heard. "About that… ermmm.." Nikki tried to communicate what happened, but failed to do so as she awkwardly swung her feet in her chair and picked at her nails.

"The guy was gonna be put into the justice system, but before they could interrogate him, they found him dead in his cell." Neil said, stumbling over the words. "They think he killed himself."

Max was speechless. He got shot twice and was probably going to have life-lasting injuries he sustained for protecting his classmates and the damn bastard who did all this horrible shit was dead. I wanted to look him in those god-forsaken eyes of his and ask him why. That's all I want to know. Max thought hopelessly. After a long pause, Max responded angrily: "Whatever hell he was sent to, he fucking deserves it." Max's tone scared even himself.

Getting rid of the tension in the room, the door was opened by a nurse, who quickly announced her entrance, "Glad to see you awake Max! I'm your nurse, Christine, I'm just gonna run a few quick tests and I'll be right back out, ok?" Max nodded in response and the nurse went to work, clicking on buttons and writing things down, all the while Nikki babbled on about all of the things Max had missed in the day he was out.

As Max tuned out his surroundings as per usual, he couldn't help but notice Neil casting occasional glances at Max, as if trying to observe him and see through the noirette's guarded psyche. Eventually Neil spoke. "You know Max, people have been really grateful for what you did in the classroom." Neil paused watching the noirette turn to look at Neil. "People left flowers and stuff, if you can't already see." Per Neil's statement. Holy shit. Max thought. How could I have not noticed that?

Max looked to his right in awe. About 20 whole bouquets in vases were stuffed on to the small white side table by his hospital bed. Max looked closer to see cards attached to many of the vases, and where there weren't any flowers, there were more cards. It was like the entire school had done a memorial to what he had done. Before Max could continue to admire any longer, Nikki added, "The other people who got hurt got gifts too, but you have the most!" After pausing, Nikki continued, "It really is amazing, what you did for everyone."

Max picked up a stack of cards and browsed through them. People had given him Starbucks gift cards, "get well" stickers, movie tickets, and even straight-up checks. It wasn't until he saw a fancy leather envelope that he was really amazed.

Max grabbed the leather envelope hastily, curiosity taking over. As he examined the envelope, Max saw that it was from one Cameron Campbell. The principal? He's loaded as fuck, how much is in here? Max thought while undoing the clamps that held the envelope closed. The envelope read:

Maxwell Bhatia:

I am forever grateful for the lives that you saved and protected. As principal, the mental and physical health of the students at this institution has always been my number one priority.

Bullshit. Max thought, You don't care, you just want to make money off of kids with dreams. He continued to read:

What you did will always be remembered by our school community, and we would like to return your act of bravery by giving you this 20$ Denny's giftcard.

Sincerely,

Cameron Campbell

"What's in the envelope?" Nikki asked excitedly, looking at the leather envelope with curiosity.

"What… What the fuck!?" Max shouted angrily, ripping the Denny's giftcard out of the card before throwing the envelope and letter down onto his hospital bed, but regretting the way throwing it made his shoulder throb and ache.

"What? What did he give you?" Neil responded quickly, also eager and expecting a better reward.

"HE GAVE ME A FUCKING DENNY'S GIFTCARD!" Max shouted, his right arm hitting the bed to display his anger, but quickly regretted it as he felt his wounds throb before bringing a firey pain, to which Max visibly grimaced and flinched, dropping the giftcard while letting out a colorful stream of profanity.

"Shit- are you okay?" Neil softly swore as the brunette hurried to Max's side with Nikki.

Still wincing and grabbing his shoulder, Max breathed uneasily. "...yeah, I'll be fine." Max paused, catching his breath as he leaned back into the bed, feeling the burning pain ease slightly.

Apparently Nikki had wisely hit the button to buzz the nurse, and a few minutes later, Christine the Nurse walked in. As soon as she saw Max hunched over and leaning back onto his bed, gripping his shoulder, she immediately ran to his side, shoving away Nikki and Neil. "What happened?" Christine demanded as she examined Max's damaged shoulder. When no one answered her, the nurse took a moment to assess the situation herself. She sighed. "It's not too bad, you just need to be very, very gentle on your shoulder and leg. If you aren't you'll probably end up crippled or worse." She then got Max an ice pack to put on his injured limb and left.

"...Fuck." Max stated simply.

The trio continued with regular conversation, with Max expressing his disappointment at the principal's lack of appreciation while somehow not sounding like a self-righteous asshole (a gift he had mastered), while the other two-thirds of the trio listened; Nikki adding her curious and innocent two cents and Neil correcting Max's grammar and word usage. Smartass. Max thought, as per usual.

Max's doctor came in, the room became tense, everyone wanting to know what news he had.

Plastering on a smile, the doctor entered. "Hi Max! I'm your Doctor, Terrance. I'm sure you're eager to hear what the state of your condition is, and I'm here to tell you just that. So let's cut to the chase, huh?" What a stereotypical kid's doctor.

Max could see the grim look hiding behind the doctor's eyes. He knew that bad news was coming. Sensing this, the noirette said, "I know this isn't gonna be something I wanna hear, but just tell me."

Sighing, Dr. Terrance continued, "So, with your leg. It's gonna be about 4-5 weeks in a wheelchair for you, I'm afraid. After that, you'll be in crutches until you finish physical therapy."

Max's eyes widened with shock, 4-5 weeks! Jesus, what happened to him? The noirette noticed the other two minors in the room give him their own form of a pitying glance, and determined to keep a cool head, Max braced for the next wave of bad news.

After giving Max some time to process that information, the doctor continued, "As for you arm, we're gonna give you a shoulder brace, and you may not be able to do any lifting with that arm for some time. You also will have to undergo a few psyche tests."

"Psyche tests?" Max stated, confused, "Why would I need one of those?"

"Max, what happened to you would be considered traumatic to most people, and the fact that you're responding so nonchalantly is concerning to me, as well as your peers." As well as your peers? What was that supposed to mean? Max turned his attention to Neil, who upon seeing that Max turned to him, glanced away hurriedly. Wait… how did he...

Interrupting the silence, Dr. Terrance continued, "Well, see ya later kids!" He then quickly and smoothly exited, as if what had just happened was typical.

Sighing, Max leaned back into the hospital bed, taking it all in. He didn't notice the conversation between the other two children in the room, nor did he notice the concerned teacher, watching from outside the hospital room.