Desperately need coffee. So writing prompt first while coffee is brewing and then I am going to see if I can climb into the carafe. Timers set if you are joining in.
I suspect George isn’t who he says he is. Not sure who he is, but I’ll give it some thought as I caffeinate.
Wednesday, April 10th: Tears streamed down his face.
Tears streamed down his face. I could see the pain etched on his face but he didn’t make a sound. It was just those tears, sliding down his cheeks. He couldn’t control that.
‘Almost there,’ I told him. He didn’t acknowledge me, nor did I expect him to. He was just holding on at this point. I focused on the road and didn’t look at him. At this pinjt there wasn;t much to see. The explosion sent metal parts flying and one imbedded itself deeply into his shoulder, too deeply.
Everyone knew if they tried to remove it, he would bleed out before they could get him to help. So they wrapped him up to try and keep as much of the blood seeping around the metal from coming out. They knew the ambulance would take too long. Not nly were they too far out, but anyone not familiar with the area tended to get lost. We didn’t have time for the ambulance to get lost.
I knew the roads the best and so I was driving. I knew which roads I could push my speed on and which I had to slow down to lower than the posted speed limit to make it safely around the mountainous curve.
We had been surrounded by woods most of the way but now I could see the lights of the hospital shining out of the darkness. Luckily it was on the outskirts of town and those outskirts were in our direction. I had never been so happy to see it. Normally I thought it an ugly, squat looking building. Today it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I pulled up in the emergency drop off and waved frantically at the doors. Two orderlies came out and spotting George they raced back in for a wheelchair.
George soon disappeared inside. I was told to park and then come in for paperwork. I parked and took a moment to sit there once the engine was turned off. I took a couple of deep breaths. I could smell the scent of George’s blood in the car. It was strong, like an overly applied cologne. I got out of the car, and stepped out, taking a deep breath of cleaner air.
I took a moment to settle, to breathe and mentally regroup. We made it to the hospital. My part was done, now it was up to the medical professionals.
‘Except for the paperwork.’ I left the quiet of the parking lot and went inside. I walked up to the front desk. I smiled at the lady behind the counter. “Hey Ms. Anderson,’ I said recognizing her.
“You’ve had a bit of a night,” she said. She handed me the clipboard and I took it and pen to the side and began filling in what I knew of George Thomas. It wasn’t much. I had only known him a few hours. He was Dave’s friend from work. I just knew the roads better than Dave and got to drive him. Most of what I knew came from the getting to know you chit chat we had around the barbeque grill while Dave flipped burgers.
I doubted much of the information would be relevant. ‘Most of it is hazy.’ As I hadn’t been drinking, I chalked it up to the fact that George had. ‘Either that or he is just a private person.’
If he was hanging around Dave, I doubted the privacy would last. Dave was the biggest gossip in the county.
Ten til Midnight 