CHAPTER 21 – I'D TAKE A BULLET FOR YOU
ARIZONA'S POV
Callie has her entire body hovering over me, and I am shaking uncontrollably. The gunshots we heard were so close which is an obvious indication that the shooter is very close to us. Everybody is on their cell phone, talking to family members etc, but suddenly the sound of another shot rings through the air.
Everyone is screaming at the top of their lungs as we see a man enter the auditorium, blood dripping from one arm, and a large gun in his other. Everyone begins screaming and pleading for him to leave us alone, but he points the gun towards the crowd and begins yelling at us.
"EVERYBODY NEEDS TO LISTEN TO ME OR I'M GOING TO START SHOOTING YOU ALL ONE BY ONE!" He screams.
"Ok, ok, we will do whatever you want. Just please.. please don't harm anyone." Our professor begs him.
"I NEED SOMETHING TO TIE AROUND MY ARM. GIVE ME YOUR BELT!" He says to one of our fellow students in the front of our group. The student is nervous and shaking, taking longer than the gunman wants and then he lifts the gun, pointing it directly at his chest and pulls the trigger. "BANG".
My nerves get the best of me, and I end up vomiting onto the floor next to me. And Callie tightens her hold on me. She is now shaking just as much as I am.
"YOU! GET DOWN HERE!" the man yells. Pointing straight at me. I look towards Callie and the tears are non-stop falling from my face. "Callie…" I whisper, and before I can say anything I see Callie stand up. "Callie…no!" I say, but it's too late.
"She's sick, she can't do anything to help you. Let me help." She says. My stomach turning at the thought of him harming her.
"GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE THEN, AND I SUGGEST YOU TAKE OFF YOUR BELT UNLESS YOU WANT TO END UP LIKE HIM!" he yells pointing towards our fellow student laying on the floor in a puddle of his own blood. I keep cursing myself for not going when he called for me. Now the woman I love is standing there, inches away from a murderer.
"Here… let me tie it around your arm. It will cut off the circulation and slow the bleeding." Callie says, in an attempt to remain on the man's good side. Callie is shaking, but manages to get the makeshift tourniquet around his arm. Once it's tightly fastened, Callie turns to start heading back towards me when he jerks her by the arm, holding her next to him.
"Where do you think you're going?" he says. He pulled Callie so hard that she stumbled over her own feet and fell to the floor in front of him. When she tried to stand back up, he yelled at her again. "STAY DOWN THERE! AND DON'T THINK ABOUT MOVING!"
Panic is all I feel right now, and seeing my girlfriend laying on the floor next to the man that has been going around campus killing God knows how many people, makes me feel completely helpless. I reach into my pocket, twisting my body slightly to allow me to be able to pull out my cellphone. I hit the contacts app and type a text message to Teddy.
The shooter is in A&P auditorium. Call the police. – Arizona
Locking my phone back, I start to return it to my pocket when I hear the shooter yelling furiously.
"WHO WERE YOU CALLING!" He says to me.
I freeze. Unable to form any words, and that only makes him even more furious.
"ANSWER ME! WHO THE FUCK WERE YOU CALLING!" he repeats his question.
"I…I w-wasn't c-calling anyone. I swear!" I say trying to get him to calm down.
"TOSS THAT PHONE DOWN HERE. EVERY ONE. EVERY ONE OF YOU GET YOUR CELL PHONES OUT AND THROW THEM DOWN HERE. NOW! AND IF I CATCH A SINGLE ONE OF YOU WITH A PHONE, I'LL PUT A BULLET IN THEIR HEAD!" He yells to the entire class. People did as he asked quickly.
"Let's see what you were doing then, since you insist that you weren't calling someone." The man says while picking up my phone. He quickly opens up my text messages and the look that spreads across his face lets me know exactly what is going through his mind.
"You BITCH! You told them exactly where I was!" He yells at me, and my terror level jumps even higher. He backs up, moves over towards the wall and peeks out behind the mini blinds. Turning back towards me, he becomes silent. His body shaking, and his face beet red with anger. "They are everywhere out there! And because of YOU! Now you're going to pay you fucking bitch!"
What happened next felt like it was in slow motion. Almost slow enough to watch the bullet spinning in the air. When the shooter was far enough away from the window, he lifted the gun, pointing it directly at me and pulled the trigger. In a tenth of a second, I prepare myself for what is happening. Waiting for the bullet to pierce my skin. But instead, I see Callie jump in front of the shooter.
I scream out as loudly as I can, but I was too late. "nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooo" and Callie hits the floor. She managed to knock the gun out of the mans hands and several guys from the class took the opportunity to jump him. Knocking him to the ground as well. Other's ran towards the door, opening it and yelling for help. I was up and off the floor in a full sprint towards my injured girlfriend.
When I get to her side, I turn her over and quickly notice all the blood. There was so much blood that I couldn't find where she had been hit. Her eyes were slightly open, and she was having trouble breathing.
"Hang on Calliope. Oh, God baby. Please hang on. They are coming. HELP! SOMEBODY HELP HER!" I yell towards the medics that were running inside. Bags of medical equipment in their hands.
"Hold on baby. Stay awake. Please. Callie, you have to stay awake baby." I keep repeating myself, hoping she is listening to me. Before I could fight it, I feel two sets of arms pulling me back away from her, and the medics quickly looking her over. Another set of paramedics come running inside, pushing a stretcher. They waste no time lifting Callie onto it, and heading out of the auditorium. I stay on their heels the entire time.
"Ma'am. You can't go with her. Not unless you are family." The older of the two paramedics says to me.
"She's my girlfriend. I have to go with her!" I yell, trying to push past them but of course they are double the strength and size that I am.
"Ma'am. They are taking her to University Hospital. You can see her then, I'm sorry." They say, and quickly after Callie is loaded into the ambulance, the sirens blare and they take off in route to the hospital.
Standing in the middle of the parking lot, with both hands on my head I fall to my knees. Unable to control my emotions, I just let myself cry uncontrollably. I'm not sure how long I was in this position when I feel strong arms wrap around me.
"Arizona! What happened to Callie? I need you talk to me Arizona." I open my eyes and I see Mark is the one holding me.
"She w-was protecting me. She wasn't su-supposed to get i-in his way." I try to explain but my crying is making it difficult for him to understand me.
"Is she ok?" he asks begging for an answer.
"He s-shot her." I say before I feel my legs start to give out again. But before they do, Mark leans down and scoops my legs and body into his arms. Carrying me towards his car, he sets me down long enough to open the passenger door and helps me inside. He runs towards the drivers door just as Addison, Derek, Teddy and Lexie come hauling ass towards the car. He doesn't take time to explain what is going on he simply says, "Get in!" and they do, no questions asked.
The drive to the hospital was all a blur. Our friends asking me all kinds of questions, but I wasn't able to answer a single one of them. All I could think about was the way Callie looked, lying in a pool of her own blood. How I won't be able to live with myself if she doesn't recover from this. When Mark's car comes to a screeching halt in front of the emergency room doors, I bolt out and make my way inside and march straight up to the receptionist desk.
"I need to see a patient. She was just transported here by ambulance." I say to the woman who doesn't seem to care one bit about our dilemma.
"Patients name" she says.
"Calliope Torres. She was just brought over here from Johns Hopkins." I say.
The minute I said the words, "Johns Hopkins" it all made sense to the woman.
"Let me go check. Wait right here." She says with her voice much sweeter than it previously was.
Our friends come up next to me and I tell them that the nurse went to get an update, so they begin pacing as well. Finally the woman appears from behind the double doors. The six of us circle her like vultures. All wanting to know the same thing.
"Ok, look. Normally we aren't able to give out any information what so ever. But after the trauma you kids just went through I don't want to keep you out here worrying about your friend. The doctor had to send your friend up to surgery. There's a lot of internal bleeding, and they won't be sure on how extensive the damage is until they get in there. She is still unconscious and unresponsive, but that is all we know at this point. You are all welcome to go up to the 4th floor surgical waiting room and a doctor will come out and speak to you after they are finished. In the meantime, that is all I can do. But do any of you need to be seen? Are any of you injured?" She asks.
All of us saying no, she just shakes her head in understanding. "Ok, well head upstairs and hang in there. She is in great hands. Our doctors here are some of the best in the country. So if there is a hospital that you want your friend to be in, it's this one." She says before heading back towards her desk.
"Mark, this is my fault. All of it is my fault. If I hadn't have texted Teddy to tell her where the shooter was, then none of this would have happened. It's my fault that Callie is hurt. And it's my fault that she might not even life. GOD! I will never be able to live with myself if something happens to her. I can't lo—" Addison stops me from continuing and wraps me in a hug. Holding me closely she guides me towards the elevator, our friends right behind us. Hitting the 4 button, we head up towards the surgical floor.
"She's going to pull through this. Torres is a fucking badass. She's going to come out all tough and proud of her battle scars. Because that is who she is. She isn't going to give up that easily. She will fight. She won't leave us. Especially you, Arizona." Mark says as we all take a seat in the waiting room. I lean my head over onto his shoulder and he wraps his arm around me. Rubbing my back, up and down for comfort.
A nurse walks over towards us, taking in our appearances and says, "I'm sorry to bother you kids, but I couldn't help noticing your hoodies and sweatshirts. Do you all go to Johns Hopkins?
"Yes ma'am we do." Lexie answers he.
"Well I am awfully sorry to hear about what happened over there. I hope your loved ones are all okay. Here, I brought a tray of coffee's for you all. I'm sure you could use it." She walks around, letting each of us accept a cup. I wasn't in the mood for coffee, or anything else for that matter, but I didn't want to hurt the woman who was offering her generosity to us so I accepted it, with a weak smile.
"Thank you ma'am. This was very kind of you." Derek says. The woman just smiles and turns to walk away.
Glancing up at the clock I see that Callie has been in surgery just less than an hour. The next few hours were spent looking from the clock, towards the doors to the OR rooms, and then back to the clock. Over and over again.
"No news is good news." Teddy says, patting me on my leg.
Looking up at my best friend, I just nod.
I hope your right…..