Road Rage
Chapter thirteen
They quickly put the stretcher down as the paramedics ran over to check on him. A thin trail of blood ran out of his left ear.
"What the hell is going on?" Deaq asked anxiously.
"He's hemorrhaging inside his head. There not much we can do for him here." The paramedics stood up. "We got to move!" He shouted to the group.
They started running toward the roadway where they had already called for an ambulance to meet them.
"You're going to be okay partner; everything's going to be okay." Deaq kept yelling words of encouragement to Van as he ran next to the stretcher. Van now lay on the stretcher staring at the sky, blood now trickling from his ear and his nose, a glazed look in his eyes.
Tears ran down Billie's face as she ran on the other side of the stretcher, she knew Van was dying.
"Can't you do something for him?" She said as she wiped away the tears.
No, he needs to be in a hospital." Kirk shouted over to her as they started climbing up the steep canyon wall.
Once they got to the top Deaq bit his lip trying to hold back his own tears as he looked at Van. A small pool of blood made a halo around his head. The paramedic quickly examined Van before putting him in the ambulance. Billie and Deaq both wanted to go with him but only one would be allowed to ride in the back of the ambulance due to the small space. Billie told Deaq to go, knowing it might be the last time he saw his partner alive. Deaq jumped in the back and sat to the side as the paramedics continued to work on Van.
"Hurry, hurry, hurry…" Deaq kept chanting as the ambulance sped away. He reached out and took Van's hand and squeezed it, there was no response. "Please partner don't do this to me." He said finally letting the tears run down his face. "I need ya partner, don't you go leaving me. Do you hear me?" He said leaning closer. "Don't you leave me."
Kirk hooked Van up to another IV then shined a light into Van's eyes and moved it back and forth, but he only continued staring straight ahead. Kirk glanced at his partner with a grim look.
"What!" Deaq said noticing the look. "What's wrong?" His heart pounded in his chest, he wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer.
"Look…we won't know anything till he gets examined by a doctor."
"I saw the look you gave your partner…What are you thinking?"
Kirk glanced back at his partner, then looked at Deaq.
"His eyes aren't responding to the light."
"Well, what does that mean?" Deaq asked, his face etched with worry.
Kirk hesitated answering him.
"What does it mean?" Deaq repeated, now knowing the answer was definitely going to be bad news.
"First off, it might not mean anything." Kirk said, he wanted to give Deaq a little hope to hang onto. "It could be the effect of what ever he's on … drugs can do a lot to your system, or…"
"Or what?"
"Or he could have a major bleed out in his brain. If that's the case… he could have severe brain damage." Kirk decided it was best to be honest with Deaq. He needed to prepare himself for the possibility that Van might not come out of this, or if he did, he might not be the man they knew.
Deaq could only nod, he didn't trust his voice.
Juan reached over and put his hand on Deaq's shoulder.
"We will pray it's the drugs and not something more serious."
Deaq blinked back tears as he gave Juan a small smile. Yeah, they would pray, but would it do any good he thought as he looked down at Van's pale face. Oh God why can't they go faster. He knew ever minute was precious. The sooner they got Van to the hospital the sooner the doctors could try to help him. But what if they couldn't help him? What if Van was doomed to spend the rest of his life in a coma, or regain consciousness only to have severe brain damage? He knew his partner wouldn't want to live like that. But will I be able to pull the plug? No one had any idea where either his mother or father was. Van seldom talked about his mother and his father could be anywhere now that he was free from prison. Trying to find him would be next to impossible since he and Van had lost contact a while back. No, it would probably be up to him and Billie.
Deaq's fear and worry was slowly being replaced by a deep anger. He and Van had been in many life threatening situations before due to their jobs but had always survived. But now would something as stupid and senseless as road rage end up killing one of them?
He looked down at Van's blank eyes.
"I know you're in there somewhere partner, and I know you've been through tougher spots then this. This is just a walk in the park. No problem, right?" Deaq turned Van's head toward him. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!" He shouted in Van's face.
"Hey!" Juan reached out to pull him away but Kirk shook his head no. He knew Deaq was just trying to break through to Van anyway he could.
"I can't believe you're going to let some low life scum take you down. I thought you were stronger then that. The partner I thought I knew wouldn't let it end like this. He'd fight with everything he had rather then let the slimeball win. You know what Van…you're a coward if you're just going to lie there and do nothing. You ain't the man I thought you were. I'm ashamed to call you my partner." Deaq swallowed the lump in his throat as he said the last sentence, tears welled up in his eyes. Come on partner, say something. You going to let me talk to you like that? Get mad, yell at me. Come on buddy I need ya. I need you by my side, we're partners remember?
Deaq looked at the paramedics hopefully as a single tear ran down Van's cheek. He had heard him and had reacted, there was still hope he could get through this.
TBC