Chapter 9
Four days later, I awoke to the sound of beeping. My body ached and felt heavy. I opened my eyes and groaned, suddenly feeling much lighter, as three heads popped up and came into view. After kissing me carefully, Mai ran off to get my parents and tell one of the nurses I'd woken. She soon returned with my mum and dad, who rushed over to me, the girls standing to give them room. My mum cried into my neck, sobbing, and my dad laid a hand on my arm, trying to contain his emotions.
"We thought we'd lost you," my mum said.
"How long have I been here?" I asked. "What's happened?"
Naomi filled me in. She had hidden in the toilets until after the shooting had appeared to stop and then came out to see me lying in a pool of blood. She rushed over, saw the two dead gunmen and was soon joined by an off-duty nurse and a surgeon. Together, those two had saved my life, Naomi aiding Sabrina and then offering assistance to other injured people until the police and paramedics arrived. I'd been taken to the hospital with Naomi, my heart stopping on the way and received CPR. I'd been taken straight to surgery upon arrival to remove the bullets, received a blood transfusion and had then been put into an induced coma. Somehow, none of the bullets had hit any organs. I'd just lost a great deal of blood.
I hugged my mum as tightly as I could bear it. My parents had heard about the attack on the radio and had tried to reach me, and then later that evening, the dreaded police visit came. My mum had broken down when they arrived to say I'd been shot in the attack, and then they jumped into dad's car once assured I was still alive, although in a critical condition and on life support.
I held my parents' hands, taking it all in. The three girls then left to get something to eat after each one came and carefully hugged me. Naomi gave me an extra long hug.
Watching them leave, my mum turned to me and said.
"Those three have hardly left your bed since you got here. There has always been at least one of them with you. You must mean an awful lot to them."
"They also mean an awful lot to me," I responded.
"I assume one is your girlfriend, but I can't work out which..." she asked, with a pregnant pause.
"They all are," I responded. "It's a bit complicated."
"Managing three girlfriends simultaneously must be!" my mother said.
"Way to go, son!" My dad declared, laughing.
"You must have a similar sex drive to your father. They all look satisfied, so I assume you're doing something right!" my mum continued.
As she responded, the girls returned to my room, followed by a female doctor.
"Oh, he keeps us very satisfied; thanks, Mrs Wilshire, you won't hear any complaints from us!" said Mai.
"And he's certainly doing lots of things right!" laughed Alicia.
"Um," started the doctor. "If I just heard what I think I just heard, I'd suggest you'll have to wait a few more days for any satisfaction. David needs more bed rest, which won't include any extracurricular activities!" she continued laughing.
"Booo!" the girls all chorused, laughing.
"Will we be allowed to tease him in a day or two?" asked Mai coyly, typically being the most forthright in her comments.
"Just be sensible and don't upset any other patient." Answered the doctor, still laughing. She then began to examine me and take some readings.
"You had us very worried when you came in," she continued. "But being fit and in such good shape probably saved you. That and the assistance of the nurse and surgeon who were on the scene so quickly."
"I'd like to thank them personally when I leave here. Please, can you give me a contact number?" I asked.
"I can do better than that. They both work here, so I'll ask them to visit you. They have already inquired about your progress."
The girls left shortly after the doctor had finished examining me, as they were all exhausted. My parents stayed by my side until the evening, talking about the girls, university, and whether my Olympic Dream might be at an end. Neither thought it would be. The Doctor had indicated there was no permanent damage. I just needed to rest and then take it easy for a few weeks, gradually building my stamina and strength. My dad suggested the three girls would be glad when my stamina returned, which earned him a slap and laugh from my mum for being so naughty.
After my parents left for their hotel, I went over the events in my mind, realising how lucky I was. I hoped Sabrina was okay. The girls had told me she had been released a few days previously and had gone to stay with her parents in London. She had suffered a flesh wound to her leg, which would quickly heal, so that sounded promising.
The next day, the police arrived to take a statement and to warn of the press interest. The gunmen had killed six people and injured fifteen others aside from Sabrina and me. From Facebook posts they had left just before the attack, they seemed to be acting alone and were not part of any group. There would be an inquest, and the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) was unlikely to press any charges on me for killing them, as it was obviously self-defence. There were multiple CCTV cameras in the mall (the UK has one of the world's highest numbers of CCTV cameras), and some of the footage had been leaked to the press.
My actions had been praised when the initial reports came out. Still, when the coverage was shown, where I'd put my body between the gunman and Sabrina, dispatched one gunman barehanded (or footed), before shooting dead the other while still being shot at, the media started calling me a hero. I was uncomfortable with that, feeling I was just in the right place at the right time, but the media love a hero, so it stuck. I agreed to three interviews with the press, which happened in the hospital and then some television interviews on my release a few days later.
