The Dance Part 2

Chapter 315 Ready, Aim, Fire

The shot rang out before Bear could give an all clear signal to the hunting party. Through his binoculars he could see that the shot had missed the deer but had hit the unintended target of his brother. Bear took off like a flash yelling for Bird and Joe who quickly followed the streak of red that raced passed them. Bird outpaced Joe yelling Gabe's name at the top of her lungs. Joe had never heard such panic in another human's voice. Bear knelt down on the ground next to Gabe trying to assess what had just happened. Blood gushed from Gabe's shoulder as he lay dazed and confused on the cold, wet forest floor. Bird slung butcher off her shoulder and removed her knitted cap using it as a compress trying to stem the flow of her brother's blood.

Joe pushed Bird out of his way taking charge of the situation. He barked orders to his fellow fraternity brothers asking Bear for a first aid kit. His pre-med training had paid off as he worked hastily to plug the hole in Gabe's shoulder. Joe hated to cut Gabe out of his leather jacket but it was the only way to disinfect the area. Gabe attempted to try to get up but Bird and Bear pressed his body to the ground and let Joe continue to work his magic. "He's not going to die is he?" Bird blinked back tears as she traded glances with Joe.

"Not on my watch." By now the rest of Joe's  frat brothers had caught up to him and helped render whatever Joe asked of them.

"One of you please take Bird back to camp for me. We will get Gabe back to there shortly." Two of the frat brothers escorted a tearful Bird back to their basecamp. Bear, Joe and the remaining brothers formed a human carrier and followed soon after. Bird had cleared the table in the cabin making a space to lay Gabe. She stoked the fire in the wood stove trying to warm the room as her escorts emptied their canteens into a pot to boil a knife. The bullet would need to come out to avoid infection.

"Can you get the bullet out?" Bear watched as Joe peeled back the compress feeling his way around the open wound. He looked up at Bird and Bear and nodded in the affirmative.

"Bird, will you leave the room? I dont think you want to see me dig this thing out."

"No. That's my brother. I'm staying." As if she were standing outside, she dug her feet into the floor bracing herself for what would come next.

"Is there any alcohol here?" Joe asked hoping to use it as a disinfectant.

Bear replied, "We're a dry house."

Gabe was beginning to realize what had happened. He repeatedly asked everyone in the room if he had been shot trying to feel his left shoulder with his right hand.

"Gabe, I'm going to have to take the bullet out. It's going to hurt. I need you to be very still."

Bird poured the boiling water from the wood stove over Joe's small pocket knife drying it careful with a clean cloth. Joe motioned to Bear to grab Gabe's good shoulder and the others his legs. "Bird, if you could hold Gabe's hand by his waist. I'll be as quick as I can."

As the steel of the knife touched Gabe's skin, he struggled momentarily against the people who held him down. Pain soon overtook him and he passed out giving Joe the break that he needed to remove the bullet in a matter of minutes.

As the bullet hit the floor, all breathed a sigh of a relief. Joe quickly cleaned the wound a second time and packed it with a neat dressing. His hands shook slightly as he rinsed Gabe's blood off of them. Bird took his hands and patted them dry. Joe could see the relief in her eyes. She started to speak but he cut her off. "You don't need to thank me. This is my fault. I should have never brought these knuckleheads on a trip like this."

"It's not your fault. You're the hero of the day." Bird leaned closer to him and kissed his cheek lightly. "Thank you."

She stepped quickly away and returned to Gabe's side cleaning his face with the warmed water. Bear remarked, "He's gonna' be mad when he finds out that there's a bullet hole in his leather jacket."

Bird smiled at Bear and replied back, "But what a story he will have to tell."

Joe slipped out to the front of the cabin taking a deep breath of the fresh air. Today's events confirmed two things for him. Medicine was definitely his calling. And that he was oddly attracted to the strange girl in the other room. He walked to the window and peered into the room watching how gentle she was with her brother. There was a dichotomy about her. Her pink rifle named Butcher stood closely by her and yet her softness caring for her brother was evident with every stroke of Gabe's brow.

Ruth Anna-How Deep is Your Love