Later, about halfway through the day, we had to talk about what to do during an intruder drill. It caused me to start hearing the loud voices of the men again, and to see my house destroyed again and again in my mind. I went over to the corner of the room and started to rock back and forth while covering my ears. I closed my eyes as tight as I could and just kept wishing the voices and the visions would go away. I felt a hand on my shoulder and said "Uncle Joe, make it stop! Please, Uncle Joe. I can't take the voices anymore."
Mr. Smith moved my hands away from my ears and attempted to calm me down. "Joseph, are you okay, buddy?" I looked up and realized the whole classroom was empty, except for me, Mr. Smith and the two officers. One of which, radioed in for a bus and a psych eval. I stayed in my ball rocking back and forth until I heard Uncle Joe talk. He softly said, "Xavy, you need to stand up, okay son? You need to stand up and wait for the bus to get here. When it does, and they bring in the stretcher, stay calm and let them lift you onto it. It'll be okay. I'll be with you the entire time Xavy. It'll be okay." I shook my head softly and said back to him "I-I don't think I ca-can Uncle Joe. I'm t-too-too scared to." He came over from the other side of the room and sat down beside me. "Son. I'm gonna need you to stand up now." He grabbed my hands and pulled me to my feet. I stood there and waited until he said, "Now, look at me Joseph. Look me in the eyes." I kept looking at my feet and he said, "Boy, look at me." I looked him in the eyes, and something about it made me feel more secure. He looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Now you stand here at attention until they bring the stretcher in. You hear me? Your mommy and daddy are gonna be there with your brothers okay?" I shook my head and he reached down to hold my hand. I grabbed his hand and I stood at attention like I was told to do, even though I was on the verge of having a mental breakdown.
We got onto the ambulance and Uncle Joe was sitting next to me when they strapped me into the stretcher. I was terrified and kept trying to wiggle out of it because it was too tight. The EMT's finally had to hold me down and inject a type of steroid into my bloodstream so I went unconscious while they transported me. When I was unconscious, my mind drifted to what might have happened if Uncle Joe hadn't died. He was there with me, watching the scenarios play out in my head. In my eight-year-old head, I was always hanging out with Uncle Joe. All of the scenarios were happy until I saw one that was Uncle Joe cuddling a baby then all of a sudden the baby got taken away from Uncle Joe, and he was fighting to get the baby back. But he ended up losing and they had to drag him away, while the baby then was getting handed to another family. Uncle Joe didn't want me to see the end of the vision, so he brought me back to the real world. I jumped when I got back to real life and shook the back of the ambulance. I was confused about the last vision so I asked Uncle Joe about it.
"What was that last vision about Uncle Joe? Who was that baby that was getting taken from you? Was that your baby? Who was the couple at the end? Why were th-"
"Enough questions Joseph! Just stop!" He erupted in the ambulance. I shut up quick and slumped down as much as I could for being strapped in. I was scared of Uncle Joe and I didn't talk for the rest of the ride.