Second Chances

Loss is permanent

Jack leaves from work. He planned to see Alanna at noon. First, he stops at Brenda’s restaurant to pick up Alanna’s favorite food. Then he makes his way to Alanna’s funeral home. He calls his sister on the way there. Debby was staying with Mary so she put Jack on speaker. Jack exclaimed, “I’m going to see Alanna.” Mary cheered and Debby wished him luck. They asked him to call them back after. Jack arrives at the alley. He parks and sits in his car planning what to say.

Alanna watches Jack from behind the trash container. She had come out to take out the trash when she saw Jack coming. She wasn’t ready to see him, so she hid behind the trash container hoping that he would go away. Alanna watches Jack talk to himself and rub his face. She couldn’t help quietly moaning when she saw him lick his lips.

Jack finally opened the car door and walked to Alanna’s office emergency door. He stood at the bottom of the steps holding the takeout bag. He stood there nervously staring at the door. He then takes a deep breath and grabs the stair handle.

Alanna decides to come out from behind the trash container. She begins to walk towards Jack when she notices a young man approaching Jack from behind. The young man had his face covered, and, in his hand, he was holding a gun. The young man couldn’t see Alanna next to Jack’s car. Jack was about to start climbing the stairs when the young man reached him pointing the gun at his head. Alanna came from behind the car, rushed to the young guy and grabbed his arm at the wrist. She twisted his arm away from her. Then she pulls his arm, pointing the gun down. She grabs the gun and twisted the young man's thumb, breaking it. Then Alanna moved closer to the young man, stepped one leg beside him, grabbed him by the shoulder, and then she swept her leg behind his ankle while pushing him to the ground.

Jack heard the commotion and looked back. He was stunned to find Alanna holding a gun and a young man on the floor. Alanna looked at Jack’s surprised face and froze. Jack looked at her confused. They were so distracted looking at each other that they missed the other young man that was coming toward them with a gun. The young man opens fire. The other young man started to stand up and was shot in the abdomen. Then Alanna hears Jack grunt and fall to the floor. She looks at him and sees that he has been shot in the leg. She immediately squatted in front of Jack protecting him and returned the fire. The young man ran away.

Alanna turned around and saw Jack's leg bleeding heavily. Jack grabbed his wound and was applying pressure, but the blood was still gushing out. The young man that was shot cried in pain, so Jack asked Alanna to check on him first. Alanna took the T-shirt that the young man had wrapped around his head and placed it on his wound. Alanna applied pressure on the young man’s wound as she looked around desperately.

Alanna wanted to let go of the young man to check on Jack. Suddenly, Alanna felt great relief when she saw Homeless Bob approaching. She called him over. Homeless Bob ran to her and asked her how he could help. She asked him to take her phone and call 911. Homeless Bob took the phone and called. Alanna asked him to put it on speaker, so she could speak as she helped Jack. The operator answered and Alanna asked her if she could wait a second. Alanna asked Homeless Bob to apply pressure to the young man’s wound. She then grabbed the phone and rushed back to Jack. She talks to the operator as she unbuttons her shirt and takes it off. Jack’s eyes widen and Homeless Bob looks away. Alanna uses her shirt to make a tourniquet for Jack. The blood flow slows down but it doesn’t stop coming out.

Operator: 911 Operator, what is your emergency?

Alanna: An officer has been shot!

Operator: Is the gunman still in the building?

Alanna: No, he ran away, we are outside in the back of Paeoniae Exercitu funeral home.

Operator: Okay, I know where that is, I'm sending an ambulance as we speak.

Alanna: Please send 2. Someone else is shot.

Operator: Are there 2 officers down?

Alanna: No, only one.

Alanna: There is one officer and one of the gunmen has been shot by his friend

Jack is becoming pale and he closes his eyes. Alanna grabs his face and gently shakes it, waking him up.

Alanna: Please hurry. The officer lost a lot of blood and he is losing consciousness.

Operator: Where was the officer shot?

Alanna: On the right leg. I applied a tourniquet, but the blood is still coming out.

Operator: Don't worry, the ambulance is on its way

Alanna could hear sirens approaching.

Alanna: I hear them!

Operator: Please stay in the line until they arrive.

Alanna: Thank you so much they are here

Alanna kisses Jack and tells him, “my love, please hold on, help is here” Jack could barely keep his eyes open.

A police car is the first car to arrive. The officers ran out of the car when they recognized the Sargent. They found Jack on the floor in a puddle of blood. Alanna was without a shirt, kneeling next to him holding his head on top of her legs. Her chest is covered in blood from both hurt men and her pants are soaked in Jack's blood. The paramedics rushed to the scene. A paramedic told Alanna, "we got it from here, thank you." Another paramedic asked, "Can you remove the hand from the wound?" as she placed gauze on top of the wound and secured it with tape. Someone grabs Alanna's shoulders and pulls her back as the paramedics secure Jack to the stretcher. He was unconscious. Alanna looked back to see Bob behind her. The other ambulance had arrived and had already taken the young guy. A paramedic checks if Alanna was hurt and covers her with a blanket. Then an officer approaches Alanna and begins to ask questions. Alanna doesn’t respond or react to the officer trying to get her attention. The officer walks in front of her and asks her the questions again. Carol opens the emergency door after hearing the commotion and sees Alanna covered in blood and Jack has been strapped on the stretcher. Carol runs to Alanna and asks her what happened. Alanna didn’t hear anything, she was concentrating on Jack. The paramedics were starting to move Jack when one of them jumped on top of him and began to perform CPR. Alanna gasps her blanket drops. She pushed Carol and the officer out of the way and ran towards Jack, but an officer grabs her. Tears started to run down her face. She felt like her heart was coming out of her chest. Alanna watches how they load Jack into the ambulance with a man on top of him pounding on his chest. Alanna stops struggling and falls to her knees as the paramedics close the ambulance doors. Alanna cried, “JACK!” Tears ran down her face. An officer tries to grab her, but Carol stops him. Suddenly, there was complete silence. Alanna could only hear her heartbeat and her breath. She struggles to breathe. She watches as the ambulance drove away.

Carol picks up the blanket and covers Alanna. She helps her up. The officer tells Carol that Alanna needs to answer some questions. Carol nods and asks the officer to let her take Alanna to her office so she can wash off the blood from her face and put a shirt on. The officer agrees and follows them inside.

Carol takes Alanna into her office bathroom and washes her arms, chest, and face with a hand towel. Then Carol grabs Alanna’s cardigan that she keeps in her office, and puts it on Alanna. She buttons it up and sits her on her desk chair. The officer keeps trying to ask Alanna questions, with no success. Then an older man with white hair and a very defined frown line enters the office. He asked the young officer if he was able to get any information about what happened. The young man said, “Sorry my Lieutenant, it seems as if she is in shock.” The Lieutenant then approached Alanna and in a deep voice said, “I need you to tell me what happened.” Carol interrupted and told them that they had cameras. She can rewind them and let them see exactly what happened. The Lieutenant asked the young officer to accompany Carol to check the cameras. Carol took the officer to her desk and played the recordings for him.

The Lieutenant stays watching Alanna. He studies her. She was staring at the abyss. Her body stiffs. Her clothes were soaked in blood. He wonders if he was wrong about her. If she was actually in shock because Jack was shot, or she is the reason that Jack was shot.

The young officer rushed into the office, calling the Lieutenant. The Lieutenant went to see what had the officer so agitated. The Lieutenant watches the video and goes back to Alanna. He leans and grabbed Alanna’s hands and tells her, “Thank you.” Then his phone rang. The Lieutenant answered the phone. It was Jack’s mother. She was crying so loudly that Alanna could hear her. Then Jack’s mother screamed, “Bill he is dying.” Alanna turned to the Lieutenant with tears running down her face. The Lieutenant grabs her hand and pulls her up and says, “I’m sorry but you did what you could.”

The Lieutenant asked her to follow him. Alanna rushed behind him. He took her to a patrol car and let her in the back. Then he asked an officer to take her to the hospital. Alanna looks at the Lieutenant as the car drives away. She wonders what has changed his attitude toward her.

They arrive at the hospital and the officer opens the door for her. Alanna said, "thank you" quietly but the officer looked at her and frowned. He then got in the car and drove away. Alanna stood at the entrance of the hospital. She looked at the big building and took a deep breath. Then she began to walk to the entrance. Every step was excruciating. Her feet felt as if they were made of brick. She made it to the lobby and people started at her. Her clothes were covered in blood and she still had some blood on her hands that Carol missed when she helped her clean up. A security guard rushed to her and asked her if she was hurt. Alanna turned to him and opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She then swallows and tries again, "No I'm okay. I am here to see Jack." The security guard guided her to the front desk and went back to his station. Alanna walked to the front desk slowly. A lady saw her coming and asked her if she could help her. Alanna asks to see Sargent Jack. The lady asked if she was family because the floor was full, so they were only letting the family in. Alanna sighted and with a broken voice said, "I was dating him." The lady asked Alanna to wait and went to talk to a coworker.

The two ladies looked at her as they talked. Then they both got closer to Alanna. The other lady then spoke, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but if you are not an immediate family member you are not allowed in. Then she pointed at some chairs across from the front desk and told her that she could wait for news there if she wanted. Alanna lowered her head and walked to the chairs. She sat and stared at the wall with tears running down her face.

After a while, a deep voice called Alanna. Alanna looked to the front desk and saw the Lieutenant calling her over. Alanna rushed to him. He asked the ladies in the front to let her go in and the ladies gave her a pass. Alanna thanked the Lieutenant with tears in her eyes.

They walked to the elevator and the Lieutenant pressed the bottom to go up. The elevator arrived, they went in and he pressed the bottom of the twelfth floor. The elevators went up to the eleventh floor and two nurses walked in. One of the nurses whispers to the other, "the doctor doesn't think that the officer is going to make it." The other nurse whispers back, "I thought that he was dead already." Alanna was able to hear a little bit of the conversation. She prays that they were not talking about Jack. Then the elevator opens. There was a wide hallway and at the end, a room with glass walls. The hallway was packed with police officers. In the room at the end of the hallway, Jack's mother was surrounded by Debby, Mary, John, and Susan. Jackie and her two best friends sat in the back. Alanna scans the room horrified. Everyone was crying. Jack's mom screaming and Jack's sisters holding her. Alanna stopped breathing. She losses her balance and holds onto the wall of the elevator. The Lieutenant grabs her and helps her out of the elevator.

Alanna holds her chest and gasps for air. Then Jack's mother stands up and points at her and screams, "What is she doing here? She killed my son!"