At first all I could hear was the sound of the heart monitor: "BEEP, BEEP, BEEP." I couldn't see anything that was going on. Next I heard the sounds of people urgently talking to one another and the sounds of instruments rustling. Finally I heard a the monitor flat line...
I came to consciousness and my vision was blurred. I was sitting in a hospital all wired up as if someone had given me surgery. I looked down at my chest and felt a sharp pain. There was bandages around my stomach and a giant pad on my chest. I looked around and I saw Victoria sleeping on the chair besides me. She looked so calm and peaceful in her sleep. I tried to recollect my memories of that night but all I can remember was the gun shot. "BANG," and then the sounds of the heart monitor and surgical room. The more I tried to remember the more it hurt for me to move.
I laid my head back on the pillow and stared at the ceiling. The one person who I couldn't stop thinking about was Alana...what happened to her? The nurse came in a few minutes later and checked to make sure everything was in order. She smiled at me and said: "how do you feel?" I smiled back and gave a slight nod.
The doctor came in soon after. Her name was Sheryl Wood, she came towards me with an awkward smile as if she was almost forcing it. From that moment I knew something bad happened to me. Victoria woke up upon her entering. Sheryl told me that I was unconscious for the last day or so. Victoria began holding my hand as she knew some news was coming. Sheryl began telling me the story on how it all began....
We got a call late two nights ago about a shooting around the Queens area and we were called into action. When I got here I had two victims. One had been you and the other was a Miss. Alana Linebrink. You had been shot on the left side of your chest but exactly underneath your heart. There was a second wound but less lethal. Alana was shot as well, but her wound was very much treatable. We did everything in our power to save you but what you needed was a transplant...a heart transplant. Alana was healing and we kept you on support for hours. She came into your room that night and left you this note.
To My Hero,
I am sorry for bringing this on you and I am sorry for the actions of tonight. I never wanted any of this to happen. You were the only person who I felt was there for me in a time where no one would even dare to look at the girl with the black eye. I smiled a true smile with you, laughed a true laugh, and loved a true love...even though I only saw you a few times and none has ever been as heart wrenching as my first time I felt like you were my brother. A brother I always wanted when my parents would hit me...a brother who would stand up for me. I promise you that you will live to tell your story and in the end I know you will share mine as well. I love you for what you have done and I thank you from the deepest ends of my heart.
- Alana
She died that night from natural causes...it was almost as if it was meant to be, because her heart is now yours. You both shared the same blood type and she filled a will only for her heart. She gave it to you...so that you can live on. Alana Linebrink is the greatest woman I have ever known.
I began to tear and Victoria was there beside me with her eyes watery. I held the letter ever so gently in my hands and folded it back up before crying my eyes out. The girl with the black eye who I cared for gave her heart to me...she gave everything to me.
I was left alone that night in the hospital bed and all I could do was hold the letter in my hands and look at the stars from outside my window. There was a patient beside me who heard the entire story. His name was David Knight and he was an old man waiting to die. Those were his words to be exact. He looked at me holding the letter and he got up and stood beside me as I stared into space. "We all die young one...my favorite writer wrote once that the goal is not to live forever...it's to create something that will." His words pierced my heart and I began to tear again.
David fell back to sleep while I stayed looking out the window. I stayed there for hours thinking of what I would've said to her if I was conscious but nothing ever came to mind. In a life full of moments there is only one that leads to something special, this is my moment and I will do everything in my power to live the life that Alana would've been proud of...I swear it...
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