This had been one of the worst storms Tom Stratton had seen in the area in a long time. As he sat with his brother he looked out the rear window of the ambulance and saw there still were occasional flashes of lightning, and that the bridge’s suspension cables swayed back and forth from the gale force wind gusts. Those gusts had forced the driver to slow down a little, but when they got off the bridge he accelerated again and quickly passed Annapolis. This first thunderstorm of the year had been especially violent, but the rain finally was abating, and that was good since they had to be doing nearly a hundred again. Tom wished they could go faster.
They merged north from US 50 onto I-97, and the driver was able to floor it for the home stretch; I-97 ended on I-695, the Baltimore beltway. Once they reached the beltway, they would be less than ten minutes away from their destination.
With the siren wailing, Tom only caught fragments of the ongoing conversation between the attending Emergency Medical Technician and the doctor at University: “…three gunshot wounds, upper right back area…one looks really close to the spine. Right lung is collapsed. One hit his right kidney- he’s bleeding really badly from there, as well as from where the third one got him, which is the biggest concern. Another hit to the midsection, and the blood’s bright red- it must have clipped one of the major arteries. We’ve given him four liters so far and we’re running low. We used the mass trousers, too. He’s lost an awful lot of blood…”
Tom knew it was bad, but the E.M.T.’s description exacerbated his fears about John’s condition.
We’re getting close now, almost there. Hang on, brother…
Dr. Dan Reynolds was pulling a double shift at the Shock Trauma Unit at University. The past few hours had been unusually quiet, which always put the staff on edge. But then the call came in from the E.M.T. that had him and his crew hastily preparing the Trauma Room. The two on-call Residents were on station, and he would need both of them. Fortunately, he also had an excellent nursing crew. This would be a very long night for all.
Three gunshot wounds, and the bullets are still in him. It would have been bad enough for that to happen to anyone, but how could it have happened to two brothers in less than a week?
“This is Don Anderson live at University Medical Center. We received word that Governor Stratton, who just this past week announced his bid for the Presidency, has been shot. We don’t yet know any details regarding the severity of his wounds, but as I speak he is being rushed here by ambulance. We- wait, I think that- yes, here comes an ambulance now…”
The ambulance pulled up to the doors. Everyone jumped out of it and the E.M.T.s quickly took the gurney out and wheeled the gravely wounded Governor into the hospital, running a gauntlet of reporters who shouted questions at them. Tom followed alongside them as they pushed the gurney through the hallway. When they reached the Trauma Room, Tom stopped and watched as they disappeared inside.
This would be the worst part. Never in anyone’s life does he or she feel so powerless than while in the hospital waiting room, unaware of what’s happening.
“Tom!”
He turned and saw Donna, his wife, rushing toward him.
“What did the doctor say? Will he be all right?”
Tom couldn’t answer her, nor could he contain his grief any longer.
“Lieutenant Stratton?”
Tom jumped as he was shaken awake.
“Sorry to wake you, but I knew you would want to hear from me right away about your brother’s condition."
“Uh…yeah-…yeah, that’s OK, doc. How is he?” He noticed it was morning now. His watch read a little past ten o’clock. Nearly eleven hours had passed.
“Come into the CCU with me. I can let you see him, but only for a couple minutes. His condition is extremely critical. He’s under right now and he’ll need constant monitoring.” As they walked into the Critical Care Unit, Dr. Reynolds continued. “I’m going to be straight with you- at this point I don’t know if he’s going to make it. We had to remove his right kidney, his spleen and a two-foot section of his small intestine due to the damage caused by the bullets. His stomach and liver also were damaged and we had to give him eight units of blood. Frankly, I don’t know how he’s survived to this point. The only good news is the bullet that hit him in the upper back didn’t hit his spine- it missed by an inch.” He looked away.
“Is there something else?”
He didn’t say anything, and still didn’t look at Tom.
“Come on, Doc, talk to me.”
Dr. Reynolds took in and slowly released a deep breath. Dammit. If it weren’t for this, he’d have a much better chance. He nodded, and faced Tom again. “He has a serious infection from the perforation to his bowels and it’s not responding very well to the antibiotics yet. There also was some damage to his heart, but it’s too early to tell how much. The next three days will make or break him.”
“My God…”
“Look, Lieu-”
“Please, call me Tom.”
“OK. Tom, I personally don’t know much about your brother aside from what I see in the news, but I think he’s been a really good Governor. I talked with him briefly yesterday; he seems to be a good man, too. I want to see him become the next President and I’m going to do the best I can to try to get him through this.”
“I know you will, Doc, and he is a good man. Thanks for your honesty; I appreciate that.”
Dr. Reynolds left the room.
You look so pale, Tom thought as he stood over John. “I’m here, brother, and I’m gonna stay close by. Don’t give up, OK? Try to hang in there.” Tom again had to fight back the tears when he thought about all that had happened to John in such a short period of time- one disaster after another.
And now this. How much could one man take?
What worried him the most was the last thing John said to him before he lost consciousness. At this point, Tom wasn’t sure he even wanted to fight for his life.
He held his younger brother’s hand. Don’t give up, John- please don’t give up.
I can’t lose both of you…
The Governor of Maryland was floating in a sea of painkillers. He had no concept of what time or what day it was, or of where he was, or of what was happening around him. He remembered being shot.
Am I dead?
If I was, I wouldn’t remember any of this…would I?
He tried to think of something that would prevent those memories from coming back, but in spite of his efforts they came rushing into him.
His father- gone for so long- and all that was left unresolved between them, and then the loss of his mother.
The night on Suicide Ridge with Josh...
...having to bury Josh shortly after law school and Dave shortly after his reelection...
…the case that made him, and also haunted him...
But worst of all was seeing Kim again as she tried to get to him, but was taken away by-
No, I can’t be dead. It can’t possibly be this bad after you die…
…unless there really is such a place as hell…
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