As I sat in the back of the ambulance, I couldn't help but fidget with my hands as a minor distraction. I was worried about Alex. I thought back to the memories of only 5 minutes or so ago…
The last I'd saw of him was when he was pushed into a wall, whilst I was dragged away by the hood of my jacket. I was knocked over by two members of the gang, punched and kicked a lot, but I didn't lie and accept it, I knew Alex was in trouble. I grabbed one of their foots, and brought them to the concrete with a thud. Next, I attempted to get up, and in doing so the other man went to help his "colleague". I wasted no time in getting away, I knew they'd be back for more fighting. That's when I heard sirens, and a police car appeared. I ran towards it, waving my arms in the air like a lunatic and shouting. Three policemen shot out of the vehicle, two heading towards me, the other in the direction I guessed Alex would be in. One ran right by me, to chase the group I guessed, but the other came right up to face me. He placed his hand on my shoulder.
"We received a call, not moments ago, from someone in this neighbourhood, about a group attacking two other young people. Assuming you're one of them, where's your friend? And an ambulance should be arriving any minute, knowing gang violence so well we thought you'd be needing one." He quickly said.
"I-uh, yes, yes I guess I'm "one of them", and I don't know where Alex is, please…please help me find him!" I replied urgently, ready to burst into tears.
"We'll find him son, don't you worry. Are you hurt?"
"No, no I'm fine, but I don't think Alex is, they've hurt him several times before, and I need to know he's okay!" I blurted out.
The policeman looked stunned.
"Specifically to him, you say? How many times has this happened, and were you with him on any of these occasions?"
"No, I wasn't, I just discovered people had been hurting him this morning and he's been coming home beat up for months, and was to afraid to tell me and we were going to a friends for advice on how to stop it happening, but the group were there on the way to the bus stop and we didn't know what else to do!" I spewed out the words, properly crying now, but he heard me clearly enough.
"What's your name?"
"Charlie, Charlie McDonnell. And my friends name is Alex Day" I replied.
"Well Mr. McDonnell, we have enough evidence to get the gang in prison, I'd say. I can tell you right now, I can swear, this will NOT happen again," he said, surprisingly re-assuring me "that's the ambulance here, go ahead and wait inside, I'll go fetch your friend".
I nodded and slumped away, feeling useless and like a big child. And now here I was, sitting in the back of an empty ambulance, waiting for Alex's arrival.
None of it felt real, like it had all been a nightmare, but I knew it wasn't. I noticed I was breathing very heavily and tears were still streaming down my cheeks, either running down my neck or landing on my legs. Where were they? Had something bad happened to both them that I had been unaware of? The simple thought of it was enough to get me on my feet, it would be easy enough to leave, the single paramedic who'd been driving the vehicle left to find and help Alex, knowing his injuries would be worse than mines after I'd explained what had happened. I was about to open the doors and exit, when they opened without my assistance. There stood Alex with a giant beam on his face, despite all of the bruises and blood that was all over his body, and most noticeably his face. I spread out my arms and he flew into them. I never wanted to let go. I wanted to hold him next to me, with his poor, hurt face resting on my shoulder forever. Our embrace was interrupted by the kind policeman. He told us it was time to take a trip to the hospital. We held hands for the entire journey and laughed, though no jokes were told and I felt almost nothing but sadness. No, that was a lie. I also felt hope.