MC: Callahan by L. Ann Marie Page B

the other guys left he said go and we fought them. He fought and he was bleeding, he still fought. When he turned around and saw all four were down, he fell and didn’t wake up. I was so scared. I thought he was dead, then the guy with the knife was trying to get to him again. I couldn’t, I didn’t...I fuckin’ shot him, Tiny. I shot him.”
    “Yeah, you did, you saved little Ben’s life, Ricky, he wouldn’t have made it with another knife wound,” I tell him in his ear.
    “You saved us both, Ricky. I was too weak to get the gun, you freakin’ shot him with a broken wrist,” Jessie says in a groggy voice.
    “Good job, Ricky,” Brantley says softly.
    Tess, Jeremy, and Brenna come in. “Who’s first?” Tess says, looking at Pres. Jeremy comes to Ricky. I lay him down gently and Jeremy climbs on the bed. Brenna stands on one side while Tess stands on the other.
    I throw chin to Pres and go out to talk to the waiting room. Jess runs up to me in the hallway. “He’s in surgery; we’ll need to get the doctor Baxter’s is sending up to surgery for him.”
    She walks back out with me. I hold her elbow. She’s shaking. Everyone stops talking. “Little Ben is in surgery, he was cut and stabbed. Baxter’s are sending a doctor to deal with the carving on his back. The doctors here are dealing with the stab wound. Everyone knows where surgical waiting is. Jess needs people with her. As soon as Jessie and Ricky get squared Pres will be out.”
    Nancy hugs me then Jess. “Ricky and Jessie?” she asks.
    “Jessie has stitches on his side and arm; he has two broken fingers and a broken rib. Ricky has a broken wrist and three broken ribs. They had to wait for guys to leave then took on four grown men. Two were dead when VP got there, the other two are in the hospital somewhere, I guess, they were out.” Nancy and Jess nod. Kate comes running in and hugs Jess. “Nancy, take Jess up, I’ll take Kate to Jessie. When the boys are released I’ll bring them up.” She nods, pulling me down. I kiss her and she smiles, or tries to.
    Kate follows me back and runs to Jessie’s side; she kisses his head, telling him she’s so glad he’s okay. The doctor asks her to step back, so Jessie gives her his hand while the doctor checks the fingers on the other hand. He puts him in a splint and wraps it with gauze and tape. While he’s talking to Pres and Kate, I talk to Brantley.
    Jeremy kisses Ricky’s head then climbs down. “Thanks,” is all he says. Ricky throws him chin. When the doctor moves away from Jessie, Jeremy climbs up and they do the same thing over Jessie; Kate and Pres just watch.
    We watch Ricky’s wrist get set and casted. The doctor checks his ribs and says they need to be wrapped; I help him sit and see his back. “Did you see this?” Fuckin’ grown men punching his kidneys. They were hitting for maximum damage.
    “I’ll need a urine sample and a blood test. I didn’t check him yet, he went to X-ray while I was helping with the other boy.”
    I nod and hope VP finds them all. I wish I was with them right now. Ricky doesn’t look as shaky as when I got here; I wonder if it’s what Jeremy’s doing.
    Once the cast is on and the doctor gets his piss and blood, he discharges both Jessie and Ricky. Pres says he’ll have HS take them to his house, but they both refuse, they’re waiting for little Ben. I knew they’d never leave their Brother. Kate has someone get fruit and juice for them and we take them to the surgical waiting room.
    Jess comes right to Pres; he hugs her until she steps back. “The doctor found where he was bleeding and stopped it. Another doctor is with him now working on his back. He says he’s got extensive damage.” She looks up at him with a question in her eyes.
    He asks everyone to step out but holds Kate’s hand and tells the boys to sit down. They both do gingerly. “Tiny, stay.” I stand by the boys. He pulls his phone and shows her the picture he took. Her hand goes