This week's prompts:
use recycling in a story or "How can you say that?" or use : swan, lake, illusion or "When did my life become a soap opera?" or use a matchmaker in your story or use: alien, growl, vendetta or "She fluttered her lashes coyly" or "I surrender, Officer..." or use time in your story in some way.
Weds Brief
“What’s
taking so long?” They’d arrived at the hospital and found out Travis had been
taken there, but they didn’t know anything beyond that.
Tom
felt like it had been an eternity since he’d gotten word that Travis had been
taken to the hospital. Now he was pacing
the waiting room and Ben was being moral support.
“It’s only been a half an hour since they’d brought him in. You have to give the doctors time to look him over.” Ben was just as upset as Tom. Travis had been more like a brother than a brother-in-law. He’d been the first one to show how happy he was to have Ben in Tom’s life; he’d welcomed him with open arms, literally. Travis was almost as strong as Tom was in the hug department.
“Tom, Ben. I came as quickly as I could.” Pete Mulligan joined them; he was one of
Tom’s friends at the firehouse. “Any
word on Travis?”
“No, and I’m going out of my
mind.” Tom finally sat down in one of
the plastic chairs in the room. “I don’t
know what I’ll do if…”
“Hey, Tom relax.” Pete sat down next to him and patted him on
the shoulder.
“Relax? How can you say that? Travis was just going
to take a flight home and now he’s here in the hospital.”
“I know how you feel. Remember when Susan got in that horrible accident?” Pete’s wife was on her way to pick up the kids from school when a drunk driver broadsided her. “Thank goodness for seat belts and airbags.
“I remember, Pete. Look I’m sorry for biting your head off.”
“Don’t worry about it. Just to let you know, the rest of the
firehouse knows what happened, so just expect visits from the rest of the
gang.” Their firehouse had a few female
firefighters too and a female EMT, so it wasn’t all men.
Ben had gotten him and Tom a
cup of coffee from the vending machines at the end of the hall. The doctor was there when he got back. “Doctor, is Travis okay?”
The doctor looked to be in
his mid-fifties, salt and pepper hair, and wore the typical white coat many
doctors wore.
“Mr. Mathers is very
lucky. He suffered a cracked rib and a
broken index finger on his right hand.”
The doctor gave the news in the typical, professional manner most
physicians report a patient’s condition.
“You mean he wasn’t
shot?” Tom asked. He’d been thinking the
worst all this time.
“No, but he’s been asking to
see you, so I think I’ll let him explain what happened. He’s in cubicle two. Good day, gentlemen.” The doctor disappeared into the sea of other
doctors and nurses that peppered the corridor.
Tom and Ben, with Pete in tow,
all descended on cubicle two.
“Oh, I see my public has come
to see me.” Travis was getting his
clothes back on.
“Travis.” Tom came over and
carefully hugged his brother. “I was so
scared.”
“Me too,” Ben joined in the
group hug.
“I’m glad to see you’re okay,
too, Travis,” Pete said. “You mind
telling us what happened at the airport?”
“To put it plainly, when the
shooting started I was waiting at the Southwest terminal and heard the
commotion. I zigged when I should have zagged.
I was trying to find a place to hide when some people trying to make a run for
it knocked me down. I finally hid out in
the bathroom,” he relayed to his worried
family and Pete.
“Which one, the lady’s room
or the men’s room?” Ben tried a bit of
levity to soothe the tension.
“Lady’s. I can understand why
it takes them so long to get out of there, no urinals like us guys have.”
About an hour later, they
Travis had gotten released from the hospital and Tom and Ben were driving him
back to their house.
“What about my luggage?” Travis asked.
“We’ll find out about it
tomorrow, right now we’re getting you home.
You’re going to stay with us.”
“But I have to get back to work. The sports don’t report themselves, you know.”
“It can wait. I almost lost my brother. You’re going to
stay with us, at least for a few more days.”
“Ben, reason with him. I’m
sure you had enough of me the past week, you guys should have the place to
yourself. You don’t need me…”
“Shut up, Travis.” Ben’s voice sounded like he was on the verge
of tears.
“What?” Travis bent forward
in the backseat. He placed a hand on Ben’s shoulder. Tom had pulled off to the side of the road
and put the car into park, turned around and looked at his man.
“Tom isn’t the only one who
almost lost a brother. You’re my brother too, Travis. You’re going to stay with us and that’s
that.”
“Okay, guys, I guess you’re
stuck with me for a while longer.” He smiled;
he never realized just how much his family meant to him until he almost lost
his life to a crazed gunman.
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