From the Edge
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The bullet ripped through him with such force that it spun him around. Then another one entered through his back near his hip causing him to collapse. He had never felt such pain in his entire life. As his mind clouded over he could barely make out that someone was shouting his name.
"Officer down! I repeat, officer down! Send an ambulance to 1232 Saquoit. I don't care if all of them have been dispatched. I need one now!"
Epstein dropped the radio's microphone and rushed back to his partner's side. "Hang on tomato can. You can't die on me now. Remember Eppy's rule number 13, 'Dying is not an option, especially if your with me.'
Epstein looked around and saw at least during the gunplay, Peter had been able to get off one shot, the one that counted. One of the suspects was lying on the ground not moving. The other was nowhere to be found.
'He must have high tailed it after he shot my partner,' Eppy thought. Soon after that, he could hear the sound of sirens in the distance. "Hang on Caine, you've got to hang on. Blaisdell will kill me if you die."
***
Peter Caine woke to pain, the kind where it felt like a thousand pound hammer was beating the Anvil Chorus in his head. On top of that, sharp stabbing pain could be felt in his right hip and left shoulder. Tears welled up and fell freely . He tried to curl himself into a ball, but the equipment he was attached to would not allow it.
"Damn it! I can't believe he came out of sedation so soon. We're not through stitching him up and we have to go after the other bullet yet. Give him another shot and this time make certain he's sedated properly."
"Doctor, a Captain Blaisdell continues to ask on the progress of Peter Caine."
"I don't care, I don't like my patients trying to walk out on me in the middle of surgery." On hearing his patient's name, Dr. Jason Randell hesitated just for a moment to look down on the struggling young man as he fought his way to consciousness. 'Well, Peter Caine. We'll just see how well things will go for you. Ethics requires that I treat your wounds. I'll do what is required of me for the moment, but afterward, we shall see.'
Dr. Randell waited another five minutes before he finished his surgery. Ethics required that every patient be treated the same. But right now, he wish he had been able to choose which patient to treat. It was his luck that he got Peter Caine while assigned to emergency room duty tonight. But what kind of luck was yet to be determined. When it came to emergency surgery, ethics required that every patient got treatment. It just didn't say what kind of treatment.
The attending anesthesiologist placed the mask over the young man's face while a nurse emptied a syringe into the IV. Soon the young man's struggling became more sluggish. A warm fuzzy haze returned and the sharp knife-like edge of pain receded to a dull ache and then continued to fade until he felt nothing. A dreamless sleep claimed Peter Caine once again.
End of Part 1
Alisa Joaquin Copyright@2001.
This story cannot be reprinted or sold in any other form without strict permission from the author. It is being distributed here solely for your enjoyment.
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