The Barrio Kings by William Kowalski

Author:William Kowalski [Kowalski, William]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: crime, FIC000000, book, FICTION
ISBN: 9781554694402
Google: eMgA-eNdw3AC
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2010-04-01T21:15:24+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

The last time I was in a hospital was when Tomás got killed. I hate hospitals. They have that weird smell of medicine and sick people. The smell brings me back to the day when I lost my brother. That was the worst day of my life. Until today, that is.

I don’t pray much. But I’m praying now.

Please, God, let Connie be alive. I don’t care about my job. Or anything else. I just want my family to be all right.

“Are you Mr. Gomez?”

I turn to see a woman in doctor clothes. She’s tall and pretty with red hair. She’s wearing a mask, but it’s pulled down around her neck. There’s blood on her shirt. I wonder if it’s Connie’s. I look away.

“Where’s Connie?” I ask her.

“We’re about to take her into surgery.”

“She’s alive?”

“Yes. She is alive.”

Thank you, God. My big prayer has been answered. Now for the next one.

“Is the baby okay?”

“We don’t know yet. Connie was hit by one bullet. Looks like a nine-millimeter. It went in through her lower chest. Then it came out her side.”

“How bad is it?” I ask.

“We won’t know until we go in,” says the doctor. “If we can, we will deliver the baby by caesarian. That’s when we make a cut in her womb and bring the baby out. She’s close enough to term. It’s more dangerous to leave it inside.”

“Can I see her?”

“Not now. I’m sorry. You’ll have to wait. It could be a while.”

“Okay,” I say. I know it doesn’t make sense to argue. This lady knows her stuff. She went to medical school. I haven’t even got my GED yet. “Please, just…do your best.”

“Mr. Gomez, I am going to do everything I can to save your wife and baby. I’m a mother too. I have a boy and a girl. I know how hard this is for you. Now, I have to go. I’ll come see you again as soon as we know what’s going on.”

The doctor turns and walks down the hall. She goes through a set of double doors. I look to see if Connie is on the other side, but she’s not there. Just a long, empty hallway with a cold, white tile floor.

A nurse shows me to a waiting room. There’s a television in the corner. Some stupid soap opera is on. I flick it off. There’s a pile of magazines on a table. Who could read at a time like this? Not me.

I sit down and wait.

Time passes so slow, it’s like everything is frozen. Every time someone in scrubs walks by, I stand up. I hope it’s the doctor with the red hair. But it never is. Finally I just give up. I put my hands in my pockets.

Then I feel something in there. I pull it out. It’s Tomás’s colors. These were the pants I wore to the cemetery. I forgot I still had his bandana.

I close my eyes.

Tomás, if you can hear me, I say inside my head, I need your help.

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