Chapter 3

It was only a matter of seconds before Allison regained conscioussness and surveyed the damage. Her neck ached and her wrist was beginning to swell. The man who had previously held her in a death grip was unconscious on the floor, blood oozing from a cut on his head, making a small pool on the floor. A young boy, who didn't look a day over 13, stood behind the man holding a shovel, tears running down his face.

Allison coughed forcefully, trying to clear her aching throat. She regarded the terrified boy, "Are you okay?" She croaked out, not remembering seeing the boy in the store before the gunman had arrived.

He managed to nod and dropped the shovel on the floor with a loud crash. Even though he had never met this woman before in his life, the boy rushed over and hugged her, seeking any type of comfort he could.

Allison hugged him back tightly, grateful that this small child had the nerve to take on the large man and hit him in the head with a shovel. He had saved her life. She pulled back to look the boy in the eyes, "Were you alone here?"

The boy shook his head and pointed to a form crumpled in the corner. A woman in her late thirties was laying on the floor, unconscious with blood pooling underneath her abdomen. "My mom got hurt."

"What is your name?" Allison stood up gingerly and struggled her way over to the bleeding woman.

"Jake," the boy replied, "my mom's name is Rebecca." He started to shake again and asked, "Is my mom going to die? I don't want her to die!" His eyes welled up and he began to cry.

She realized that the poor boy was going into shock and rushed back to his side. Unzipping her coat and sweater, Allison pulled both articles of clothing around the boy, trying to keep him warm. She shivered in her flimsy black tank top but pushed that aside as she told him to keep the sweater on and sit down for a few minutes. She hurried back over to Jake's mother.

Allison tried to appear calm as she realized just how serious Rebecca's injuries were. Two gunshot wounds were seeping large amounts of blood out of her stomach and her breathing was shallow. "Jake, my name is Allison Cameron. I'm a doctor but I want you to call me Allison ok? I'm going to help your mom but I need your help too. Can you do that?"

The boy nodded slowly.

"Okay, good." She lifted the woman's shirt and swore softly as she examined the wounds. Two shots, both in the upper quadrents had undoubtedly caused traumatic internal injuries, most likely perforation of the liver and ascending colon. She needed immediate surgery if she wanted a chance at survival.

Allison looked around the store, desperately searching for anything that resembled medical supplies. She looked to the boy drowning in her coat. "Jake, can you find me some medical supplies? Gauze, tape, blankets anything you can find!" She needed to get pressure on these wounds quickly.

Jake got up and hurried around the store, looking for the supplies. He disappeared between the rows of canned food just as police sirens could be heard in the distance. Allison nearly cried in relief. She had left her cell phone in the car but the store clerk obviously had pushed the panic button before he was killed by the gunman.

The gunman! Allison whipped her head up just in time to see the man looming above her and a split second later he hauled her to her feet by her hair and pressed the cold metal of the gun against her temple. "Gotcha again bitch!" He sneered.

Allison gasped in pain at the assualt and tears of fear fell slowly from her eyes. She shuddered as the man licked the tears off her face, "You taste sweet. Just how I like it."

Anger again flared within her as she tried to pull away from the man. He brutally smacked her across the face with the barrel of the gun and she fell to the floor. As she lay there, her face pressed on the cold cement she saw Jake's feet coming towards her. Before she could shout out a warning, the gunman turned and fired a shot directly into Jake's chest.

"NO!" Allison screamed and tried to push herself up as Jake crumpled to the floor, a look of pure shock crossing his innocent features. The gunman kicked her roughly in the ribs and went over to Jake, taking her wallet out of the coat he was wearing.

He opened it and looked at her driver's license. "Allison Cameron," he read, "that is such a pretty name. I'll remember it." He flipped the wallet closed and stuffed it into his coat. "Gotta split," he chuckled as the sirens grew louder and louder. He pulled the hood over his head and exited the store through the front door, running off into the night.

Allison lay in shock for another few seconds then pushed herself up and rushed over to Jake who was laying still on the floor. His eyes were closed and he was very pale. She ripped open the jacket and was horrified to find a sucking chest wound pumping blood out faster than she could put pressure on it. His breathing was hitching as he struggled for air.

Tears poured down her face as she grabbed her discarded sweater, pressing it firmly on the wound. "Come on Jake, hang on for me!" She was trying not to panic and remember her training, but she felt like she was drawing blanks. The pain from her ribs was nearly unbearable and she could barely move her hand. She knew she had broken her wrist and definetly some ribs but that didn't matter. She needed to save this little boy's life.

Just then two police officers burst into the store, their guns drawn. "POLICE! GET DOWN!" The older officer took in the situation in front of him. "Ma'me, we will have ambulances on the way. Is the perp still in here?"

Allison shook her head. "No he just fled. We need to get his boy to the hospital right now! His mother is over there." She pointed to the Rebecca in the corner. "Call an ambulance for her but I need you to take us now to the hospital in your car. Call ahead to the hospital, tell them Dr. Allison Cameron is on the way in with a thirteen year old male, gunshot wound to the chest with probable pnuemothorax and ruptured aorta. Tell them he'll need a chest tube and surgery immediately!"

She turned her attention back to the boy in her arms, his breathing slowing with every inhalation. She could hear the blood bubbling in his chest as he bled out. "We need to move NOW!"

The officer quickly rushed to help carry Jake into the police car and Allison got in the back with him. She couldn't help the moan that escaped her lips as the movement bumped her aching ribs.

"You okay Miss?" The officer looked at her with great concern.

"Yes! Lets just go!" Allison was becoming increasingly frantic as the minutes wore on. Every minute they wasted here was a minute less they had to save Jake's life.

The officer nodded and got in the car. Throwing the car into gear, the officer floored the gas pedal and they flew off toward Princeton Plainsboro.

In the backseat, Allison tried to keep Jake alive by sticking her finger on top of the hole in Jake's aorta. She could actually feel the blood pressure in the huge vessel weakening as they drove on. She looked down at his face and was horrified to see his lips had turned blue; he wasn't breathing.

"Oh god!" She moaned and started CPR the best she could in the cramped space while holding Jake's aorta closed.

The officer looked back at the doctor who was covered in blood and doing mouth to mouth and the small boy. "We are two minutes out Miss."

"Please hurry!" Allison knew they were running out of time.

T.B.C...