Everything was a jumble of lights and sounds. I still couldn't move, my legs were numb and I had no way of knowing what had happened. I felt some movement and voices both hysterical and commanding around me.
"What's your name?"
"Can you move your arms?"
"Courthouse is in lockdown!"
"Move this one over!"
"Have three confirmed in the courtroom."
I couldn't focus on anything. Then I felt an upward motion and then wheels beneath me and saw the ceiling lights quickly moving. The outside was another jumble of lights and sounds. I could hear a helicopter in the sky above, Police and fire sirens on the ground. Finally I heard something familiar.
"Jim! Oh my god, Jim! Oh baby!" a hysterical woman screamed
"Miss, NO! You can't go in the ambulance, no!" a man's voice said
"I'm his fiancΓ©e'! I'm with him! Please, please let me go with him! JIM!!!" she continued to scream as I heard the ambulance doors slam shut.
I couldn't see the woman's face but she sounded familiar.
"Blake..." I somehow mumbled
"Stay with me, brother." A man, probably a paramedic said "Stay with me."
I felt sleep coming over me but the commotion inside the ambulance kept me somewhat awake, I was still trying to get a grasp of what had happened and where I was going.
More bursts of sound and light as I entered a brightly lit, antiseptic-smelling room. Perhaps it was the smell but I suddenly felt the brick wall of sleep (or consciousness) hit me hard.
I was trying to get my bearings on everything. The last thing I remembered was being in the county courthouse, I was waiting for word if I'd have to testify in the lawsuit against Artists Unlimited (or AU) and the company's manager Chuck Tyler. His ex-partner Marty O'Brien had filed a lawsuit claiming that Chuck had conspired to steal their top clients, a female music trio called Tigress whom they'd discovered, away from him. And I was named in the lawsuit as I was now affiliated with Chuck's company. The day the judge would announce his decision, our attorney Michael Baldwin smartly brought one of his clients whom I knew rather well, Blake Lively along for moral support. Michael gave me the news the suit was thrown out of court and had returned to the courtroom for further business.
Now everything around me was dark, a door far off in the distance was slowly opening. I was walking down a very long hallway dimly lit from above. I walked towards the door and entered.
How'd I end up in a nightclub? It didn't look like the Eagle, or another other place I'd been to. Still, it was pretty swanky, I'll say that. Red leather seats everywhere, a good band was playing. Man, I feel like I'm back in a rat pack-era nightclub. I've even got a nice suit on too, but I don't recall owning a suit like this one. Maybe Paris bought it for me? Everything was still pretty hazy, probably a mix of cigars and pot smoke. At the far end was a big table, maybe whoever's there could tell me where I am. As I got closer, the person laughing and holding court became clearer.
No, it can't be.
"Chris...?" I said
My old partner Chris was holding court with several lovely ladies. He had a drink in his hand and a big cigar.
But he was...no, it can't be.
He looked at me with a confused look but then raised his hand up to stop me.
"Hey, Hollywood!" he said with surprise "What are you doing here? You're early...way too early" he said as he looked at his watch, a beautiful gold one "...it's not time for you yet...not time...go back...I'll be here when it's time...we all will."
Chris slowly waved his left arm and I followed its path. I saw several hazy figures then they became clearer. I saw my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, even family pets.
They were in the middle of a huge white light, but that light was slowly dimming and I felt myself drifting backwards. But I could still hear the echo of Chris' voice;
"It's not time yet...I'll be here...we all will...go back...go back..."
Suddenly I felt a huge jolt in my side, then another, a third dropped me to my knees.
"OK, we got him back!" I heard a voice say
"Vital signs are stable." Another said
"Get him up to the OR, let's move!" a third said
Sleep came over me again.
How long I slept I didn't know. But it was quiet when I awoke. The room was large with a big window that overlooked the city, the sunlight gently streaming in. I could hear a steady beeping and felt something attached to my arm that looked like an IV setup. On my finger was clamped what was probably a pulse monitor. OK, I know I'm in a hospital, and I can feel everything attached or clamped to me. Even though I still felt very sleepy I needed to do an inventory check. OK, legs are there, I could see those, and I could move my left one, but the right felt numb. Left arm is there, and so is the right, that's good.
I guess I made it, but what happened was the question I still had.
The monitors beeping became a little more rapid and I saw a nurse at the doorway.
"He's waking up now." She said as she came over to me "You're OK, your doctor's on the way."
Over the hospital PA I heard
"Dr. Ross to 315...Dr. Ross to 315."
Three more people came in now and one seemed to be the doctor in charge.
"Hi, Jim...I'm Dr. Ross. You gave us quite a scare." He said with a cool demeanor.
I tried to talk but my mouth felt like a slime factory.
"That's OK, you won't be able to talk for a little while. You've been asleep for a week so...that's understandable." He coolly said as he made some notes on a chart.
"Can you wiggle your fingers?" he asked as held up my other hand
I wiggled my fingers, they still worked. That's a good sign.
I tried to indicate with my fingers I wanted to write something.
"Someone you want us to call?" a nurse said as an IPad was quickly produced.
I shook my head and tapped out on the IPad;
"What happened?"
Dr. Ross sat down beside me
"You were part of a shooting that happened at the county courthouse, you survived." He said calmly "Your leg was pretty banged up by the bullets. The surgeons put a little hardware in and you'll be fine. You lost a lot of blood in the process so that's why I said you gave us a scare. But the bottom line is, you're gonna be fine, no problems walking, running, dancing, whatever you choose to do."
I typed out a typical smart-ass remark;
"Set off metal detectors for rest of life?"
Dr. Ross chuckled.
"Good question, let me know next time you travel. I've got a couple of those things in my knee from all the basketball I played."
I typed again on the IPad;
"others?"
"What do you mean?"
I showed him the pad and tapped it
"Were there others?" Dr. Ross asked me "Others at the courthouse?"
I nodded
He hesitated.
"Yes, yes there were." He began "But I don't know the specifics, there'll be some detectives coming down, they'll have all the details." He said as she stood up.
The nurse came over to me
"Was there anyone you wanted us to call?"
I thought a minute, tapped out an answer;
"Blake"
"Blake? Is that a last or first name?"
I tapped my answer
"cell"
The nurse went for a bag with my personal items and found my IPhone. She quickly accessed the address book and scrolled down.
"Is this it?" she asked as she showed me the phone with Blake Lively's number. I nodded.
"You want us to call Blake Lively?" she asked looking surprised.
I nodded.
"OK, I, uh, will." She said "my daughter is going to be very jealous."
"So is your husband." another nurse said as she made notes on my chart "...how many times did he make you watch Gossip Girl?"
I heard the nurse with the phone say she was calling on my behalf, it appeared she'd gotten her voice mail.
Soon, I could eat and drink again, and luckily my voice was still there. A little scratchy but, still there.
"You're quite a popular patient." A nurse said as a large bouquet of flowers appeared. "This is the third one you've gotten today. Should I read the card?"
I nodded.
"It just says...'so happy'." She read "and it's signed with just a B."
I smiled and croaked out a "thank you."
I didn't need to know who it was from.
Just then another arrangement was brought in.
"This one's from...Mimi Sheraton." The nurse read
I knew it was really from Paris Hilton.
"Like you said...I must be popular." I croaked out
As if on cue, yet another arrangement arrived, I could only give an easy smile as the nurses marveled at the number and size of arrangements that were arriving.
"My, the card on this is pretty fancy." A nurse said as she showed it to me
The card said "wishing you all my love" with the initials "KNK" in elegant script
I knew it was from Kimberly Nicole Kardashian, the script lettering gave it away.
Just then, I saw Roger Sullivan at the doorway with another gentleman I didn't recognize.
"Hey, is it okay to see you?" he said
I motioned them in with my hand. They came in and quietly shut the door.
"Jim, this is someone you'll need to talk with." Roger said
"Hi, Jim, I'm Special Agent McCallum." He said as he showed me his badge and ID.
"He needs to get some info from you and can answer any questions you have."
"Perhaps the best way to do this is just tell you what we have so far and you can ask anything in the process."
I nodded, I'd heard those words before.
McCallum took a deep breath and started his explanation
"When the judge announced his decision, Mr. O'Brien was very upset and managed to wrestle a gun away from a bailiff and shoot him, and then the judge, fatally."
I could only breathe in.
"What about Michael?"
"He was hit and it was touch and go with him but he's OK. His assistant probably saved his life. She took the worst of it."
I suddenly remembered his assistant was my school friend Dana Liebowitz.
"What about her?" I asked
"She's in the ICU unit but I don't know her condition." Roger said as he stood "I'll go find out."
"Go on..." I said to Agent McCallum
He took a deep breath before continuing