Fatal Convictions

101

Alex felt as if an elephant were stomping on his chest; the courtroom was now at the end of a long tunnel back to reality. The shooting had stopped, but people were still yelling and shouting orders. He watched in a semiconscious state, as if he were stationed above it all, his mind separated from his body.

Shannon crawled to his side and patted his cheek. “Don’t you dare quit on me, Alex Madison!” she said, nearly hyperventilating. “Listen to me… No! Don’t shut your eyes!”

Alex tried to obey, but the debilitating pain in his side was shutting down every shred of consciousness. Taj Deegan pulled off her blazer and stuffed it into his wound, applying pressure that Alex could barely feel. Just before the blackness completely took over, he felt Shannon pinch his nose and tilt his head back.

“Get an ambulance!” she yelled, then blew the first breath into Alex’s lungs.

***

Shannon was numb on the ride to the hospital. Detective Sanderson had the siren on and the lights flashing, and he tried to encourage her. “You did an amazing job with that CPR,” he said. “You probably saved two lives today.”

His words barely registered. Shannon had never seen so much blood. Alex, Kayden Dendy, and two sheriff’s deputies had been whisked to the hospital by the paramedics. Three other deputies and Ahmed Obu Mobassar had been pronounced dead at the scene. Taj Deegan had taken a shot to her back, but a bulletproof vest had saved her life. Khalid Mobassar was in shock but unharmed. Deputies had taken him back into lockup.

When Shannon arrived at the hospital, she followed Sanderson into the ICU like a zombie. A nurse informed them that Alex was already in surgery.

A resident checked Shannon out, cleaned her up, gave her some drugs, and released her to join the others standing vigil in the ICU waiting room. For two hours, Alex’s friends and family stared at the floor and spoke in hushed whispers. Ramona led them all in prayer. Officers came and took statements about the chaos in the courtroom. The television in the corner of the waiting room played nonstop coverage of the day’s carnage until somebody turned it to a game show.

Detective Sanderson left the room periodically to check with the ICU nurses. It was one o’clock in the afternoon when he came back and stopped in the doorway.

Shannon looked up. “Any news?”

Sanderson managed a smile. “Your boy’s a lot tougher than he looks. The bullet entered the left side of Alex’s chest and missed his heart, major arteries, and stomach by a few centimeters. It hit his left lung and did some minimal damage to the liver. The doctor says that Alex will probably have some lung damage, but fortunately for him, the lung didn’t collapse. He says the liver has an amazing way of repairing itself. Basically, he’s going to be all right.”

Relief flooded the room, and Ramona summed up the feelings of pretty much everyone there. “So basically, it’s a miracle.”