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Around eleven in the morning on Monday, I got a call.
"Alan! It's Carl!" he told me in a panic.
"What is it?" I had a bad feeling.
"Natalie, she's at the hospital!"
"Oh my God! Why?" I was in shock The thought of losing her made my blood run cold."
"She's been shot!"
"Shot?" This is something I expected to happen to Don, not Natalie.
He told me where she was, on the way, I called Don.
"Eppes?"
"It's me! Someone's shot Natalie!" I told him while trying to keep the fear out of my voice."
"What? Where is she?"
I told him, and he promised to be there.
Not soon enough, I went to the wing she was at, and a nurse kindly took me to her room. Nat was awake and talking to the doctor. Carl stood to the side.
"Hey babe!" she smiled weakly.
"Your daughter's fine, The doctor said. "We were able to remove the bullets without complications."
"Thank God!" I exclaimed and held her hand. She wore a hospital gown, but looked a little shaken.
"She'll be able to leave in a couple of days" he assured us. "She's very lucky! The bullets missed the heart by an inch"
"And they don't exactly grow on trees" Nat joked, but this terrified me.
Just then, Don came in.
He said lamely "I am uh...the patient's brother"
"I'll leave you to your reunion" The doctor said "The nurses are at your disposal if you need anything" With that he left.
"Do you know who did this?" Don asked.
"Don! She just got shot! let's worry about her recovery first!" I scolded him.
He turned to her "Natalie, I know it's not easy, but we gotta make sure your shooter doesn't hurt anyone else"
"It's someone I helped put in Jail three years ago." she explained.
"Really? How?"
"Animal cruelty. I found a stoned collie in the parking lot of a Starbucks. She had several burns on her, not to mention signs of having been whipped.. I treated the dog, took some pictures, and called the humane society."
Don asked. "You testified?"
"Yeah I did. The guy was clearly crazy, but for some reason his lawyer didn't do the insanity plea. He kept saying that someone else beat the dog, but but jury didn't buy it, thankfully, and miraculously, he got jail time."
"When the cops come to take your statement tell them everything you told me" Don advised.
"Okay"
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I was still kind of in shock over what had happened. It hadn't sunk in yet.
"How did it happen?" Don insisted.
"I was at the parking lot of my clinic about to open my car when someone calls my name, I turn, and there he was. Before I know it, I've got two bullets in me. Carl was just returning from lunch, when he saw me and called nine one one. He pretended to be my brother so that he could ride the ambulance with me."
"Let her rest, Don" Alan said firmly as he stroked my hair gently.
"Don't get mad, babe, he's just following his instincts and training. I do the same thing when I see a sick animal" I didn't want them to fight on my account.
"I'll take some time off work" Alan promised me.
Eventually, the cops came to take my statement, and two days later, I got to go home.
Carl told me that my appointments would be taken care of and to just worry about resting. I settled in the couch with pillows, and a blanket to watch T.V with my pets. A few hours after I got home, Don dropped by. .
"How are ya feeling?" he asked.
"Fine….." I said Alan came out of the kitchen.
"Donnie! I've made chicken soup. Do you want some?"
"Sure..." He assented. "I'll set myself a table here"
While eating, I did some channel surfing, but then, I suddenly stopped on channel nine. My shooter was on the News!
TBC