Vin sat in the waiting room of the ER, elbows on is knees and head down. His hair hung limply around his face. He had blood all over him. None of it his. He stared blankly at his hands, turning them over again and again, staring at the blood. I should really clean that off, he thought, but he didn’t make a move to do it. He just stared…
Palm up. Turn over. Palm down. Turn over. Left hand. Right hand. Blood caked under his fingernails and seeped into his cuticles. When he straightened his fingers, the dried blood in his finger joints would flake. When he made a fist it would crack.
Ezra’s blood.
It collected in the leather band of his watch. The Swiss Army watch face looked pink instead of white.
Ezra’s blood.
Blood on the inside of the windshield, mingling with the shattered glass. Blood spewed onto the dashboard when Ezra coughed.
Ezra drowning. In his own blood.
***
“Vin?” The voice was gentle. Concerned.
Vin looked up into Buck’s eager face. “Buck.” His voice was flat. Distant.
“You ok?” Buck sat down in a chair next to him.
He snorted and the corner of his mouth quirked upward. “I’m not the one who got shot.” His attention was returned to his hands.
“Want to tell me what happened?”
Vin shook his head. No I don’t. I’m not ready yet.
JD joined them. He didn’t say anything. He put a hand on Vin’s shoulder. Vin nodded slightly, accepting the show of support and appreciating it more than JD could ever know. Vin couldn’t put to words what had happened. It kept replaying in his mind, like a sick movie, but he still couldn’t bring himself to speak of it. He hadn’t even been able to tell Chris on the phone. Hell, he wasn’t even sure at this point what happened. No, he couldn’t talk about it right now.
JD took up the seat on the other side of Vin. They sat and waited for the others. They waited for news of Ezra.
They waited for anything.
***
Nathan and Josiah had arrived just before Chris. The three men walked into the waiting room and found a sad-looking ladies man, a somber kid, and a downtrodden, bloodstained sharpshooter fascinated with his hands.
Nathan had taken off right away to find out what he could about Ezra’s condition. JD filled them in on what Detective Murphy had told him. Vin’s eyes never left his hands.
When Nathan returned, he informed them that Ezra had taken a bullet to the side of the chest, which had exited out the front. His lung had been hit, and they were working to repair it, but the surgery would take some time. It had been a nasty wound. He had also taken another bullet in the left thigh, but that seemed to be the lesser of the two wounds. They wouldn’t be sure of other damage until they were in surgery, so that was all the information that the nurses had.
“They said that the bullet that went through his leg went through the door of the car first,” Nathan had explained. “It slowed the bullet enough so that it didn’t exit. It was close enough to the femoral artery that he could have bled out if the bullet had been traveling at its normal speed.” Nathan hadn’t mentioned the severity of the chest wound. On one level, they all knew how severe it was, and there was no need to say so. Nathan kept his worries unvoiced.
An hour later found the six men occupying the surgical waiting room. They were moved there to better accommodate their number and to be nearer their fallen brother. Vin had taken time once the team had been moved to clean the blood off of his hands. His shirt and jacket were still covered and stiff, as were his jeans, from trying to save the young man’s life.
All the men were silent, lost in their own thoughts.
A short, nasal laugh brought everyone’s attention to Vin. He leaned back in the chair he was sitting in and closed his eyes. “I shoulda just got in the fucking car.”
Chris looked at Buck, who shrugged one shoulder in response.
“What?” Chris asked.
“He told me to get in the car, but I had to be Johnny Sharpshooter and take another shot.” He blew out a long breath. “Stupid,” he said, almost in a whisper.
Chris was about to respond, but JD spoke first.
“It’s not stupid Vin.”
Vin glared at him.
“You’re not stupid.” JD was more adamant this time.
Vin shook his head, disgusted with himself.
“Vin, you weren’t showing off or anything, you were trying to fix a fucked up situation and come out alive.”
“Ezra almost didn’t,” he snapped.
“Almost doesn’t count,” JD snapped back, as if they were the only two in the room. For the moment, they were.
Chris, Buck, Josiah and Nathan sat back to watch as this played out. Let the two youngest straighten each other out for once.
“Shut up JD.”
“No.”
“I ain’t in the mood.”
“Who is?” he paused. “You think you corner the market on guilt? We’ve all been hurt before. It’s no one’s fault except the dicks who hurt us.”
“Fuck off JD.” The voice was low. Predatory. Mean. Not like Vin.
“Or what? You gonna kick my ass?” JD plainly asked. He sat back and opened his arms. He didn’t balk at all. Buck looked like he wanted to intervene, but a look from Chris said it all. Let it play out.
“Vin, I talked to Detective Murphy. He told me what happened. You and Ezra gave that kid a fightin chance….”
“…didn’t matter none…”
“…and you know that. Vin, cut the shit.”
“That kid died JD! I stopped helping him when I realized Ezra was hurt the whole time!”
“You didn’t kill him Vin!” JD almost yelled and stood up from the chair he had been in. “You didn’t shoot Ezra, you didn’t create the situation! You didn’t put the gun in that kid’s hands, and you didn’t make either of their choice to run with who they ran with!”
“So it’s his own fault he got killed, that kid, for being where he’s from and doing what he thinks he has to…”
“Get your head out of your ass Vin!”
“If I gotta tell you to fuck off one more time JD…”
“You know what Vin, bring it. I’m sick of sitting here watching you play Pity Party cuz you think that maybe by getting in the car when all the shit was going down you could have prevented any of this from happening. That’s stupid Vin. If you HAD gotten in the car, that kid with the fucking uzi would have shot the shit out of both of you. Then neither of you would be here, and guess what?” he made a face and mocked saying ‘oh’, “Even then it still wouldn’t be your fault!” JD was standing, facing Vin, yelling.
Vin got out of his seat and faced off with JD. They stood less than a foot from each other. JD didn’t flinch at all. The kid didn’t move. No one else in the room did either.
“Truth stings, don’t it Vin?” JD asked. He waited, letting his words sink in. When Vin seemed to back down a bit, JD threw them his ace. “Now, because you did play Johnny Sharpshooter, and you did shoot that kid, Murph was able to track him down when the kid went to a clinic for treatment. The clinic called in the gunshot wound.”
Vin stood there as the words sunk in.
“Don’t doubt yourself Vin. You and Ezra are both too good for that.” JD started to turn away, then swung back around. “You tell me to not doubt my instincts, but it’s fine for you to? Practice what you preach asshole!” JD turned and went back to his chair to resume waiting.
Chris stifled a chuckle. Around the room, smiles were hidden by hands and two year old magazines were found incredibly interesting.
Vin bowed his head and turned to leave the room. “I’m goin for a soda, you guys want anything?” His voice was light again. The message got through.
***
At 5 AM, a weary looking doctor came out to the waiting room. Six men lounged around on the assorted chairs and couches. Some slept. Others seemed in between a slight doze and alertness. He smiled to himself.
The doctor shook his head and cleared his throat. “Gentlemen…”
***
Ezra’s room in ICU was only ever meant to hold two, maybe three visitors at a time. Not six. Not that that stopped them.
Ezra was asleep, resting after long hours in surgery. The surgery had been successful and the damage repaired, and blood and fluids were being replaced. The lung looked to be functioning properly with the repairs, so they would keep sedation to a minimum. The leg wound had been mostly tissue damage, and like Nathan had explained earlier, the door had slowed the velocity if the bullet, curbing the amount of damage that could be inflicted by the projectile.
The doctor assured them that Ezra would be fine with time and rest, but that he would be staying at the hospital for a few days—no bartering, no exceptions. Ezra was going to be in some pain, both from the surgery and from the bullets themselves.
Still sleeping off the anesthesia, Standish never woke while the rest of the boys were there. But all six of them talked to the southerner in turn, all expressing how happy they were in their own ways with a touch or soft words.
After a short while, the ICU nurse told them that all six really couldn’t stay in the room much longer. They had bent the rules this far. Team 7 or not, not all of them could hold vigil.
“Guys, go get some rest,” Chris said. “You look like shit.”
“Pot and Kettle, Larabee,” Buck said. “Vin?”
“Nah, I’m gonna stay.”
“Vin,” began Chris, “you’re covered in blood. Go home and shower, then come back.”
Vin glanced down at his blood stained clothes and nodded. “Guess I don’t want to walk around looking like a serial killer fresh off the hunt.” He smiled. A real smile.
“Hey Josiah…”
“Yeah Buck?”
“You think we can hop a ride with you?”
Josiah looked at him in askance.
“Well, junior here’s ride is a crime scene, and JD told the security guard to ‘Fuckin tow it’ when I parked in the fire lane, so we’re all kind of in need of a lift.”
Chris turned to JD. “You told him to ‘fuckin tow it’?”
“Yeah. We were in a little bit of a rush, and then, well I forgot about it. Buck probably did too. It was a Bucar anyway,” he shrugged. “We’ll get it back eventually. And even of we don’t, no big loss.”
“You’re rubbing off on him Chris,” Josiah mused.
Chris smiled, then cringed. “Wait, we lost one Bucar to a bunch of bangers, and another one got towed? Now I gotta explain that to Travis. Thanks a lot.” He looked sharply at Nathan and Josiah.
“Hey,” Nathan started, “Don’t look at us. Ours went back whole.”
***
Vin returned to the hospital forty minutes later. He walked into the room in ICU and saw Ezra’s gaze traveling about the room, but still looking dazed. His body didn’t move, his head lay still. But his eyes roamed.
Vin sidled up next to the bed. “Hey.”
Ezra’s glossy eyes focused on the sharpshooter. “Hey back,” he rasped and then blinked slowly.
“How you feeling?”
Ezra opened his eyes and looked to be considering his answer. “Better.”
“Liar.” Vin smiled. He pulled the chair in the room up close to the head of the bed and sat.
“Better than before.” Ezra closed his eyes again in a slow blink.
“You look better than before.”
Ezra rolled his head slightly to his left to look at Vin, wincing slightly as he did so. “That bad, huh?”
“Bad enough,” Vin paused. “But you’ll be okay.”
“This time,” Ezra whispered.
“What?” Vin asked, puzzled.
“I said, ‘this time,’” he repeated a little louder.
“I heard you Ezra. What do you mean?”
“This,” he blinked slowly and looked around, “is getting to be too common an occurrence… with us.” He winced again, slightly.
“One of these times,” Ezra continued when Vin didn’t reply, “I fear we may not be so… lucky.”
“Luck?” Vin asked, startled. “How do you figure we were lucky?”
Ezra sighed. “Not dead…” Either of us.
“That’s true,” Vin smiled. “Even so, I don’t know if I would call this a lucky situation.”
“Could have been worse,” Ezra replied, trying not to wince.
Vin watched Ezra’s pain play across his face, and blew out a breath. “I’m sorry Ezra.”
Ezra opened his eyes and looked into Vin’s. “What for?”
“I shoulda got in the car. We coulda been outta there before that kid lit up the car…”
“Stop,” he whispered as he closed his eyes tightly.
“Ezra, you okay?” Vin asked quickly. “You need me to get someone…?”
“Stop.” He was more forceful this time. “Nothing would have changed the outcome. Just stop.” He breathed in and out several times before he spoke again. He looked up at Vin. “Don’t dwell on it. No one is at fault.”
“But…”
“VIN!” Ezra snapped. He winced immediately, and groaned.
“Ez? You need the doc?” Vin looked toward the door.
“No. Ugh. I just… overdid it.” Ezra had tentatively laid his left hand on his stomach. “We’ll call that one your fault,” he said with a smile. Vin half smiled back. “Now stop it.”
Vin looked at Ezra seriously. “Fine.” For now. “The boys will be here in a while. Rest up. We don’t want you lookin all bothered when they get here.”
“Mmmm.”
“I’ll be here when you wake up. I still want to talk about this Ezra.”
“The matter… is closed…” Ezra replied in a sleepy haze.
“We’ll see.” Vin sat back in the chair and kicked his feet up onto the end of the bed while Ezra slept. Vin wanted to tell Ezra how scared he had been when Ezra said he was drowning. How scared he was when Ezra coughed blood and it sprayed on the dash. He wanted to tell Ezra how everything worked out. How the shooter had been caught. How the only casualty was the kid they had tried to help. Ezra wouldn’t like that, but that was just how it had worked out. Vin wanted to recount for Ezra how JD had put him in his place. Ezra would get a kick out of that. The tough Boston background was coming through more often now as JD came into himself more. And Vin wanted to tell him how much like Chris JD was when he got fired up about something. Yeah, the southerner would have to watch out for JD.
JD. Jesus, that kid had thrown Vin for a loop. The kid never stopped surprising him. He didn’t back down once.
Vin could hear Josiah’s booming voice wishing the ICU nurses a good morning. Yeah, the boys would be here soon. Vin would talk to Ezra later, when the Southerner felt better. When they had a moment.
When JD wasn’t around to rip him a new one.
THE END
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