Somebody Who Cares, Part 3
Time seemed to crawl at a snail's pace.
The paramedics were summoned, and made their arrival quickly. Rika couldn't
move. She was too much in shock. Her mother tried to drag her into the house,
but Rika kept restisitng.
"No! Ryo, please no..." she kept saying over and over,
as if that would turn back time and prevent the bullet from striking him. She knew
there was nothing she could do..he was in the best hands now, and she prayed that he would
be okay. She felt responsible. Had she not angered the mugger even further by
striking him?
She waited until 10 minutes after all the vehicles were out of sight
before she went back inside.
That night, Rika couldn't sleep. She kept thinking about what
happned. How it dould have, would have been her who was shot had not yo jumped in
front of it. Why would he do that? She kept thinking again and again.
I guess I sort of knew he liked me, but I never thought he's take a bullet for
me. He could die from this, and it's all my fault. I pissed of the guy, enough
for him to shoot...
She finally fell asleep around 5 am, after and exausting day and
night.
She woke up at around 10 am, still very tired. They were all
leaving to catch the plane to America at 12 pm. There was no packing left to do, as
they shipped most of it overseas a few weeks before (Authors Note: This does happen
in reality. When both my brother and sister went to school in England, they shiiped
their things overseas about a month before, and it was there when they arrived).
There was nothing to do for the next 2 hours.
Rika groggily walked into the kitchen for something to eat. Rika
had totally forgotten the night's events, that is, until she saw the saddened looks on her
mother and gradmother's faces, when reality hit her like a ton of bricks. For the
first time since the incident, Rika burst into to tears. She ran into her mother and
grandmother, who welcomed her in their arms for support. Nobody said a word.
Finally, Rika through sobbs asked if she could go to the hospital and
see Ryo one last time. After that, she wouldn't see him for a long time, assuming he
was going to survive. Rika's mother was glad to take her.
The doctors at the hospital were reluctalt to let Rika see Ryo, but
after they explained the situation, they let her in, though she sould not stay long.
Ryo was lying down, numerous tubes comming from his body and connecting
to machines nearby. Rika almost couldn't stand the sight. He was suffering,
and going to be much in pain when he finally woke up from being in surgery all
night. It turned out that the bullet was logged very close to his spine and lungs,
forcing the doctors to be 1,000 times more careful in removing it. The surgery was a
sucess, but that by no means meant Ryo was out of the woods.
Finally, Rika had to leave. She coudlnt' bear to leave him, even
though she knew she had too. It didn't matter at this point if he lived or died, it
was her last good-bye. Wiping stay tears from her eyes, she kissed him ont he
forehead.
"Good-bye Ryo," she whispered, "and thank you."