Chapter 7

It was seven in the morning and as usual I had gotten up before everyone else. I went in to the barn to feed the horses and there was no feed. Great, I have to go get more. I headed for the feed store and turned on the radio. I guess I wasn't paying attention very well but I started to drift into the other lane where an oncoming car was. I swerved back into the right lane and gripped the wheel tired.

That guy just gave me the bird…that kind of hurts.

I finally arrived at the feed store where Soraya was working.

"Hey, Soraya. Is our order in back?" I ask a little distracted.

"Yeah…" She gave me a worried look. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah…just a little distracted," I smiled and headed to the back where I started to load the truck. I was on my last back when I heard a loud crash in the store. Slowly I wandered back to where Soraya was when I came in. Something didn't seem right. I saw the counter and that's when I knew. I jumped over the counter and sat on the floor. I hadn't noticed her laying there, on the floor. Her leg was bleeding. Was that a gun shot? NO! I covered my mouth trying to conceal a scream.

"Oh, god." I whisper. I could hear rustling in the other side of the store.

"Soraya…Soraya, please wake up." She moaned and I covered her mouth.

"Soraya…you have to be quiet." Her eyes fluttered open and became wide. I put a finger over my mouth and pointed to where the man was standing. I could tell he already got stuff out of the register but there was a safe in the back. He started to come back to where we were and I hid around the corner where Soraya could still see me but he couldn't.

"Where is the combination?" She looked terrified and started to mumble something.

"Where is the combination?" He yelled. It made both of us jump a little.

"It's in the desk," She said crying. I heard him hesitate and then hurry back to the other room. I grabbed a couple towels under the counter and pushed them onto where her leg was bleeding, from what, I have no idea but I was guessing he had a gun. I looked at her worried face and made a gun with my fingers…she shook her head yes. I tried to take a deep breath but it caught in my throat. I looked down and the few towels I had were soaked in blood. I had to stop it. I pulled off her apron and grabbed a long spoon. I tied the apron around her leg and then around the spoon and tightened it as much as I could. There were only two more towels which I used to put pressure on the wound. Within a few minutes I had the bleeding stopped. I sighed in relief but only for a minute. That's when my phone started to ring. Soraya got wide eyes and I stumbled to my feet trying to get the phone out of my pocket. I turned it off but only the find the man staring back at me.

"Who are you?" He sounded angry.

"She's my friend…I was picking some stuff up…" I wanted it to come out strong so badly but it had come out as a whisper and high pitched.

"Get in the office."

"But she needs…"

"Get…in…THE OFFICE!" His voice was loud and deep and scary.

"Ok…Ok." Again it came out weak and I squeezed Soraya's hand as I walked back into the office. I had no idea where the combination was or what it could be. I started going through drawers and under desks. I was near the door when I saw Ty and he saw me. I had tears rolling down my cheeks and I'm sure my face had a horrid look. He looked at me and stopped. I made a phone with my hands and put it up to my ear, then I mouthed 911. He shook his head and moved away from the window.

"What are you doing? Keep looking," The man commanded. I went back to going through the office but couldn't help but continuingly look up trying to figure out where Ty was. I heard a bump in the kitchen so I cleared my throat.

"What was that?"

"Um, me. I had something in my throat."

"I don't think so."

"Yeah…yeah, it was," I said nervously. He started to walk out of the office when an ambulance siren sounded and he ran out the door with the cash from the register. I ran to Soraya where, somehow, Ty was beside her.

"Soraya…Soraya, they're almost here. Can't you hear the sirens?" I tried to keep her eyes open, and I could tell she was fighting to do so. Ty kept glancing at me and I'm not sure why. In minutes the paramedics were rushing into the building with a gurney. I just sat in the corner, speechless. How could this have happened? I was shivering and trying not to cry when Ty sat next to me. He put his arm around me and I leaned into him. I felt safer knowing someone was there. He didn't say anything. He didn't try to make me feel better. He just sat there, and somehow that was what I needed. After they dealt with Soraya, one of the paramedics came up to me.

"Are you ok? Does anything hurt?"

"No…I'm fine." Ty started to step away. It was like he knew exactly what to do.

"I'm going to check your vitals just to make sure that you ok…sound good?"

"Why do paramedics and nurses and doctors make everything sound like it's fine. Like everything will be ok? How do you know? Half the time…maybe more…it doesn't go just fine; it doesn't turn out ok!" This is what I was thinking and I'm not sure if I said it or not. Checked blood pressure, heart rhythm, etc. and it seemed like everything was ok.

"Everything sounds good! I really do think your friend is going to be ok…I'm not just trying to make you feel better." So I did say that. I smile and say thanks. Ty picks me up and feel like I can't move.

"Woah. It's ok…" He sat me down and I leaned against the wall. "Amy…Soraya's going to be just fine…and you did everything you could've done…you might've even saved Soraya's life!" I closed my eyes and shook my head yes. His hand was on my face and he was making me look him in the eyes. "It's ok…"

"…ok." I whispered. He helped me up and we went to his truck. He drove me home even though I insisted that I drive myself home.

Hey ya'll…I am trying to update more often, but that means shorter chapters. Please review quickly!