The ambulance pulled up to the ER entrance, lights blazing. The rear doors of the vehicle opened and the two EMTs hopped out. Two more EMTs inside pushed the gurney out the rear, its legs expanding as it was received gently by the technicians on the ground. The four then rushed the gurney and its human contents into the hospital.
"What have you got?" the attending nurse asked as she began to hurry alongside them.
"Found this guy severely beaten on 54th street by the free clinic. The cops who called it in say it looked like a bunch of gang members were beating on him."
Nurse looked at the mess on the gurney, "His head, did he receive cranial trauma?"
"Yeah, but it looks worse than it appears, I think. But he stopped breathing for a few minutes on the way here. We got him going again but the timing was close."
"Brain damage?"
"Just let the doc know."
The victim on the gurney began convulsing. The nurse shouted, "Shit! He's crashing! Get him in, get him in!"
-
"So Doc, how is he?"
"Who?" the doctor responded. He looked at the two cops. The senior partner, shifted his glance to the patient in the bed in the corner. The doctor flipped through his tablet and found the patient information. He reviewed the chart before giving his diagnosis. "Let's see, unknown Caucasian male. Five foot eleven. Brown hair, medium build. No identification on him. He suffered multiple broken bones, lacerations and contusions."
The doctor looked up at the two police officers. They were the ones that called in the ambulance for this man in his sorry state.
"All those, this man could recover from within a few months, but he has apparently suffered several severe blows to the head as well. The prognosis is very ... say, the report here says he was 'mugged by gang members'."
The two cops shifted in their stances. The younger one looked nervously at his partner who nodded and turned towards the doctor. He smirked, "Yeah, you know how it is. This guy is walking where he shouldn't be. Runs into some hoods and they take his wallet and give him a beat down."
The doctor looked suspiciously at the two officers, "Gentlemen, I've seen my fair share of muggings in the ER and they don't tend to be so ... brutal. The fatal ones tend to be unintended, unfortunate blows."
The doctor turned his head towards the patient, lying in the bed, covered in bandages and bindings. His face bloated and swelling. Unrecognizable.
"This man seems to have almost been ... tortured."
The senior officer's grin faded from his face and again he spoke out, "Yeah Doc, well you don't know what it's like out there. Those thugs on the street, see some white guy struttin' along like he owns the place. Figure they want to show him who owns it. Or maybe some gang member is being initiated and they make him do something special."
"His fingers appeared to have been separately broken. And his ribs look like a hammer was taken to each one-"
"Listen Doc, we just need to close the loop here. We saw them ... perps beating on Doe here and we chased them off and called the ambulance. Listen, you don't know what it's like out there. They're animals we are dealing with."
The doctor still seemed perplexed, but he looked at the younger officer and saw the nervousness flare in his eyes. The poor rookie, he thought, he must have never seen a man in such a state. Then again, neither had the doctor.
"Okay, let me sign off on your form. But I want to note, if this was some sort of initiation, this man is lucky to be alive."
The younger officer spoke up, "Say Doc, is he... is he going to make it?"
The doctor looked at the broken human in the bed and responded, "The MRI scan showed... well it looks like the blows to the head appear to have resulted in some swelling in certain parts of the brain. We've placed him in a medically induced coma for now, and we're hoping high cognitive functions are still available. But we won't know for sure until the swelling comes down."
-
As the officers walked towards their cruiser in the parking lot, the younger one turned to his senior partner.
"Damn it Joe! I told you we should've stopped them sooner!"
Joe looked at his partner with bemusement, "Bobby, we just made three grand tonight. Quit getting your panties in bunch!"
Bobby paled, "But the guy could've died man, and that would have been on us!"
Joe rolled his eyes, "Come on Bobby. You're killing my buzz here." Joe leaned in, "If you're nervous, then why don't you tell the DA? I'm sure the guy in the coma would thank you personally."
This made Bobby pale even further. He knew that the DA was in the pockets of those mercs or whoever hired them. All Bobby would get from snitchin' was a clear conscious and a police man's grave. Joe took Bobby's silence to be an agreement.
"Come on", Joe said softly with an edge of malice, "We got us a brutal criminal to frame."
-
Han
Han was silent and hoping she was feigning enough interest in the conversation. Kevin Matthews was Karen's beloved fiancé and an accountant by day. But at night, he played lead guitar for some sort of rock band in some underground scene, as he called it. He talked about his band, the venues and halls they played, and how they were beginning to gain some notoriety. Han found it rather silly, but saw that Karen adored this side of her beloved. The two made quite a handsome couple as well. Karen with her blonde Midwestern beauty, looking fresh out of high school (though Han knew her to be 21), and Kevin, with his pretty boy good looks and stylish, if somewhat grungy, clothes. They responded to each other's slight gestures and looked into each other's eyes like there was no one else in the room. They were truly and deeply in love with one another.
It was a shame that Dave was going to destroy that.
Dave for his part, seemed to be enjoying Kevin's conversation. It appeared he also knew a thing or two about being in a band. That they got along was no surprise as both Dave and Kevin loved all types of music. The four of them had just come from the symphony, where the orchestra had been playing the some classical works. Now at a nice, upscale restaurant, Dave's treat of course, they had just finished tasting some expensive wines and were waiting for a final nightcap.
"So now, we finish the gig with our monster hit, and this agent comes up to us back stage and says he can get us in on a tour as a front band."
"Wow, sounds like quite a commitment though", said Dave, "How are you and Karen working through that?"
Karen smiled at her beloved and responded, "Oh, this is Kevin's dream. I'm just so happy for him. And I've got my own career to develop", she turned Dave and Han, "Besides, we'll have plenty of time together when we're married in three months."
As Karen and Kevin turned to face each other in sickeningly sweet manner, Han looked at Dave who turned to face her. The self-satisfied smirk communicated all she needed to know.
