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P I was being pushed along with the crowd toward the door. I struggled to stay on my feet as bodies pressed all around me. The smoke in the air was getting thicker. I briefly thought about crawling below the smoke, but dismissed the idea, thinking I'd just get trampled if I tried that. Suddenly strong arms were lifting me from behind and I was quickly cradled against a firm chest. I tucked my head against the chest and shortly found myself outside in the parking lot. I looked up to see Tank's face. He lowered me to my feet, and looked me over. BR BR
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"Are you okay?" he asked. BR BR
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I coughed. "Yeah, thanks." BR BR
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"No problem," he answered. BR BR
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"Where's the slime ball?" I asked, looking around for Velasquez. There was a crowd of people milling around the parking lot. Someone yelled, pointing at the bar. The building was being consumed by flames. I'll probably get blamed for that, I thought sourly. I jumped when I heard a gunshot. Tank and I glanced at each other, then both took off running toward the sound. We found Ranger lying very still, with blood forming a puddle by his shoulder. BR BR
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"Oh, God, please let him be okay, I'll go to mass every Sunday, as long as he's okay," I begged silently. I knelt down by Ranger and grabbed his hand. His fingers tightened around mine. I looked at his face to see him staring back at me. BR BR
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"Babe," he groaned. He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw. BR BR
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In that moment I panicked. BR BR
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"Ranger, Ranger," BR BR
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"I'm here, Babe. Think this one's going to require a little more than a band-aid," he grimaced. I resisted the urge to smack him, he had just been shot, after all. BR BR
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"Smartass," I muttered. BR BR
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"Heard that, Babe." BR BR
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Tank knelt down beside us. BR BR
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"Hate to break this up, boss. Just need to let you know the ambulance is on the way. Bobby is looking for Velasquez," Tank reported. BR BR
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Ranger nodded. "You help Bobby. Steph, you to stay with me. I need you to apply pressure to my shoulder." BR BR
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Tank took off to find Velasquez, and I pressed down on Ranger's shoulder with one hand, while continuing to hold his hand with the other. We waited that way in silence for the ambulance to arrive. The blood from Ranger's shoulder wasn't pouring out as fast now, and I hoped that was a good thing. He had a death grip on my hand, so there wasn't any chance of me removing it. BR BR
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Finally I heard sirens and saw the ambulance pull up. It was followed closely by a black and white. Carl Costanza and his partner, Big Dog, got out of the police car. Two paramedics wheeled a gurney over to us. One of the paramedics looked down at Ranger, "I'm Jeff, this is Raoul, we're going to take care of you, sir," he said. BR BR
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Jeff removed my hand and cut Ranger's shirt sleeve away. He poked and prodded a little, then nodded. BR BR
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"You're going to need some stitches. It looks like the bullet went straight through, so there doesn't look like it's much to worry about. We'll take you in, and you'll be set in no time." Jeff said. Ranger tried to sit up, but Raoul shook his head. BR BR
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"No man, this is a full service call. You get to ride in style, "he grinned. With that he and Jeff maneuvered the gurney down to the ground and slid Ranger onto it. Since Ranger still had a hold of my hand, I moved along with him. We walked over to the ambulance, and Ranger let go of my hand long enough for the paramedics to load him into the rig. BR BR
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I looked up as Carl put a hand on my shoulder. BR BR
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"We're going to need to get your statements, Steph, but we can catch up with you at the hospital," he said. He gave my shoulder a squeeze and got back in his car. Wow, he didn't even mention the fire, I thought as I climbed into the ambulance and reclaimed Ranger's hand. After we were settled in, we took off for the hospital with the sirens blaring. BR BR
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P ALIGN=CENTER B Chapter 5 BR BR
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P I was being pushed along with the crowd toward the door. I struggled to stay on my feet as bodies pressed all around me. The smoke in the air was getting thicker. I briefly thought about crawling below the smoke, but dismissed the idea, thinking I'd just get trampled if I tried that. Suddenly strong arms were lifting me from behind and I was quickly cradled against a firm chest. I tucked my head against the chest and shortly found myself outside in the parking lot. I looked up to see Tank's face. He lowered me to my feet, and looked me over. BR BR
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"Are you okay?" he asked. BR BR
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I coughed. "Yeah, thanks." BR BR
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"No problem," he answered. BR BR
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"Where's the slime ball?" I asked, looking around for Velasquez. There was a crowd of people milling around the parking lot. Someone yelled, pointing at the bar. The building was being consumed by flames. I'll probably get blamed for that, I thought sourly. I jumped when I heard a gunshot. Tank and I glanced at each other, then both took off running toward the sound. We found Ranger lying very still, with blood forming a puddle by his shoulder. BR BR
BR BR
"Oh, God, please let him be okay, I'll go to mass every Sunday, as long as he's okay," I begged silently. I knelt down by Ranger and grabbed his hand. His fingers tightened around mine. I looked at his face to see him staring back at me. BR BR
BR BR
"Babe," he groaned. He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw. BR BR
BR BR
In that moment I panicked. BR BR
BR BR
"Ranger, Ranger," BR BR
BR BR
"I'm here, Babe. Think this one's going to require a little more than a band-aid," he grimaced. I resisted the urge to smack him, he had just been shot, after all. BR BR
BR BR
"Smartass," I muttered. BR BR
BR BR
"Heard that, Babe." BR BR
BR BR
Tank knelt down beside us. BR BR
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"Hate to break this up, boss. Just need to let you know the ambulance is on the way. Bobby is looking for Velasquez," Tank reported. BR BR
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Ranger nodded. "You help Bobby. Steph, you to stay with me. I need you to apply pressure to my shoulder." BR BR
BR BR
Tank took off to find Velasquez, and I pressed down on Ranger's shoulder with one hand, while continuing to hold his hand with the other. We waited that way in silence for the ambulance to arrive. The blood from Ranger's shoulder wasn't pouring out as fast now, and I hoped that was a good thing. He had a death grip on my hand, so there wasn't any chance of me removing it. BR BR
BR BR
Finally I heard sirens and saw the ambulance pull up. It was followed closely by a black and white. Carl Costanza and his partner, Big Dog, got out of the police car. Two paramedics wheeled a gurney over to us. One of the paramedics looked down at Ranger, "I'm Jeff, this is Raoul, we're going to take care of you, sir," he said. BR BR
BR BR
Jeff removed my hand and cut Ranger's shirt sleeve away. He poked and prodded a little, then nodded. BR BR
BR BR
"You're going to need some stitches. It looks like the bullet went straight through, so there doesn't look like it's much to worry about. We'll take you in, and you'll be set in no time." Jeff said. Ranger tried to sit up, but Raoul shook his head. BR BR
BR BR
"No man, this is a full service call. You get to ride in style, "he grinned. With that he and Jeff maneuvered the gurney down to the ground and slid Ranger onto it. Since Ranger still had a hold of my hand, I moved along with him. We walked over to the ambulance, and Ranger let go of my hand long enough for the paramedics to load him into the rig. BR BR
BR BR
I looked up as Carl put a hand on my shoulder. BR BR
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"We're going to need to get your statements, Steph, but we can catch up with you at the hospital," he said. He gave my shoulder a squeeze and got back in his car. Wow, he didn't even mention the fire, I thought as I climbed into the ambulance and reclaimed Ranger's hand. After we were settled in, we took off for the hospital with the sirens blaring. BR BR
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