Chapter 25: The Unmistakable Emotion
Every step I took felt like a struggle to keep pushing on. My face once again felt moist from the tears that uncontrollably fell. What if the shot got her? She could be seriously hurt or… worse…? My hand reached for the knob and I heard nothing.
“LEA!” with a desperate tug, I flung the door open.
She was…
She was alright… Her little body hung slightly towards the side of her booster seat while the bullet’s impression showed a couple of inches away. It was almost as if the car had completely blocked Lea off from everything that occurred outside. Her cheeks were rosy from sleeping for so long and her bottom lip was glossed with drool. Nothing seemed at all different aside from the light green shorts and white shirt she currently donned. The gunfire still erupting from outside seemed to disrupt Lea’s sleep as she quietly stirred.
I gently put my arms around her just as her eyes broke open.
“Dah-dee…” She quietly muttered.
“We’re going to go home now sweetheart.” My voice quivered in shock and overwhelming happiness. Those feelings were short lived though, since only moments after I was forced to witness the two remaining officers get blown away in a hail of bullets. There was nothing I could do as the four apparent, remaining kidnappers moved on closer and finished the men off. I turned Lea away from the scene, but it seemed fate would not allow anyone the pleasure of temporary comfort.
As I turned, an excruciatingly painful sensation dug into my left shin. I immediately fell to my other working leg while still clinging fiercely to little Lea. Her soft whimpers towards what was going on could be heard under the echo of another bullet firing. That one managed to hit me on the opposite shoulder that Lea rested her head on.
“You just couldn’t fucking die, could ya?!” The familiar leader’s voice protested. His white shoes stomped angrily down the mud puddles as he approached me on the ground.
“Now I’ll end things…” He snapped in the hammer of his gun and pointed dead at us. I laid my head on the wet gravel and sighed once more. Lea was still whimpering and I simply patted her hair for comfort, awaiting the inevitable end. The warmth of one final tear rolling off my cheek made me smile as I finally let things go.
The shot went off.
…then another…
…And another?
There was no way I could survive three shots point blank. Yet, I was still thinking about it all and I didn’t feel any pain towards those bullets. What was going on?
The sound of rushing footsteps made way, and then the loud bang of a powerful shot rung clear past my ears. My body ached so much that I didn’t feel I had enough energy to even open my eyes. Just before blacking out I remember hearing the distinct buzzing of a radio nearby. Much slower steps came around me and then everything became dark.
“…yes, he is stable right now and- oh look he’s waking up!” An unfamiliar voice spoke.
My eyes began to focus on the surrounding. Everything was white and smelled of plastic. There were a number of figures standing all around me; but wait, something was off. It seemed I had adapted to the rough texture of gravel and pavement so much that I had forgotten what a real bed felt like. A warm hand took a hold of mine.
“H-hi honey,” Amber face appeared before me. She looked to have been in tears for a long time.
“Amber…”
“Y-you’re okay now sweetheart.” She said with a shaky voice.
“What; what do you mean? What happened t-to…” Everything that occurred last I was awake flooded back to me.
“How am I still alive…?” I looked to both of my bruised ad scratched hands.
“Well interesting enough…” George’s voice came into play. “Almost immediately after we lost connection with you guys, my technicians switched to searching your actual cell phone’s GPS, instead of the vans’ as a whole. It only took us a minute or two to get a correct location down.”
I attempted to raise my body up from the bed. Amber worried towards my condition, but I persisted against staying down.
“So what was it that took so long?” I demanded. Those three officers that day gave their life for me, and I felt quite upset that George was taking things so lightly.
He released a heavy sigh.
“Unfortunately, the closest someone was stationed was roughly five to ten minutes away. By the time we all got there… the damage had been done…”
I slumped my body back down. The quiet beeping of the machines filled the air.
“…His name’s Markee. One of my better snipers; he was also the first to arrive at the scene that day.” George added with a smirk.
“So that’s how…” Everything finally seemed to make sense.
“Marshall, you need your rest.” Amber said softly with a nudge for me to lie back down.
I slowly dropped my head to the pillows, but then remembered about my daughter.
“Wait, what happened to Lea?! Where is she?!”
“It’s okay; she’s sleeping right now honey.” Amber replied with a timid smile.
I exhaled a sigh of relief just before allowing my head to hit the soft padding behind me.
“I’ll let you get your rest.” George announced as he turned for the door.
“Thank you officer Kit.”
“George is just fine; see you two later.” He finished with a warm smile.
Almost immediately after the door closed, Amber’s quiet sobs emerged.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Between her sniffles she managed to release a joyous smile.
“I’m just happy Marsh! So happy you’re okay.” She wrapped her arms around my neck as she continued crying. I too returned her hug with a small pat on her back since my arm was still quite sore from the wounds that day.
“I’m glad… everything’s okay again.” I replied softly.
After another moment in each others’ arms, Amber let go and reminded me to rest. With a light kiss to her forehead she left my room and I was left alone once more.
“Wow…” Was all that came to mind.
I knew I was still quite tired both physically and mentally, yet I resisted the urge to sleep; not that my surroundings helped my cause at all. The room lacked any type of decoration aside from its white walls matched boringly to the light blue curtains in front of it. A small number of cables and wires went around my arms. Some hung on the edge of the bed while others were scattered lazily on the floor. A wide yawn surprised me as I continued examining every detail of the objects nearby. The sheets felt soft and the pillow warm as my eyes rebelled against shutting completely. One last sigh and I fell into a comfortable sleep.
After a long and difficult journey, things for once actually felt… right.