Full Circle - Part 4
#4 of Full Circle
It had been two years since the accident. Andy never thought about it; it was too painful for him. Now he had to think back.
It was October 9th, Andy's thirty-second birthday. Andy, Russel, and Sean were coming back from lunch. It was a beautiful day for October, so they walked there. They walked down the street together, Sean close to Andy.
"Well, happy birthday, Andy," said Russel as he walked down the street with them.
"Thanks for spending it with Sean and I," said Andy, smiling as he looked at Sean. Andy then saw the post office ahead of them on the opposite side of the street.
"Hey guys, I have to go take care of something at the post office real quick, would you mind waiting here for a minute?" said Andy, looking at Sean and Russel.
"No, you go right ahead!" they both replied. Andy made his way across the street and into the post office. He approached the counter; the office was empty, odd for this time of day.
"Hey there, I was wondering if I could get my mail kept here for the next two weeks, I am planning on going away with my friend for a while and I won't be able to receive it," Andy said to the wolf behind the counter.
"Of course!" the wolf started, "I will just need your driver's license and a piece of mail with your current address on it." Andy pulled both out of his pocket and handed them to her. He had been preparing this trip for a while; it was going to be a surprise for Sean. "Just sign here and you should be good to go." Andy started to sign his name when a loud noise rang out from across the street.
Before Andy could turn around there was a second noise.
Andy knew what they were.
Gunshots.
He rushed out of the building, the wolf trailing behind him. He saw a hooded figure running to the left, dropping a gun as he went. He then fixed his eyes to where Sean and Russel had been standing; they were both on the ground. He broke into a run across the street.
He kneeled next to Sean. The post office worker kneeled next to Russel while calling the police. He cradled Sean's head in his arms. Sean had been shot in the chest; he was loosing blood fast.
"Sean, come on. Hang in there, it's going to be okay," Andy said to Sean as he held his head. Sean looked up and placed his hand on Andy's face. "It's going to be okay," Andy repeated, over and over again. "Just hang in there, the ambulance will be here soon," he said, looking at the wolf who was on the phone with police.
Sean coughed up blood. Andy tried his best to wipe it off his face with his hand. Andy tried to keep his tears from falling onto Sean's face as he sat cradling his head. "It's going to be okay." Andy could hear the sirens in the distance. Sean's hand started to leave Andy's face. "Stay with me Sean, the ambulance is almost here." Sean's hand became limp. Andy tried to keep him awake, but he couldn't.
The ambulance arrived as Andy held Sean close to him, sobbing. One of the EMTs loaded Russel onto a stretcher and into the ambulance. They spoke into their radio while doing so.
"We have two individuals injured on Linden Avenue. One is a male kangaroo; Late twenties, early thirties; gunshot wound to the back. The other is a male wolf; Mid twenties; early thirties; gunshot wound to the chest; is currently unresponsive." Another tried to separate Andy from Sean.
"Sir, we have to take him into the ambulance." Andy didn't hear him. He wasn't aware of anything going on. He just sat crying with Sean in his arms. A police cruiser arrived and a large officer stepped out. He came over and pulled Andy up and away from Sean.
"It's for his own good, they have to take him."
Andy knew there was nothing they could do.
Sean died in the ambulance; he was 29. Russel suffered a gunshot wound to the back, nicking the lower part of his spine and taking away a large portion of his mobility. Andy was given a ride in the police cruiser; they feared he would interfere with the EMS workers trying to save Sean. When they arrived at the hospital, they told Andy about Sean. He just sat with his face in his hands, sobbing. A nurse sat next to him with her hand on his back in an attempt to console him. Nobody could help Andy.
Andy sat on a bench in the hospital hall way. An officer approached him.
"Your friend, the kangaroo, is going to live. He probably won't be able to walk again, though." The officer sat on a bench opposite from Andy. The officer let out a deep breath. "How are you holding up?" Andy still sat on the bench, not acknowledging the officers existence. He couldn't think, he couldn't listen; he was broken.
After a few moments of silence the officer stood up and walked away, knowing that Andy was in no shape to talk.
Andy didn't sleep that night. He just sat in the same spot on the bench. He stopped crying, because he couldn't anymore. He felt like he died on that sidewalk.
As he sat by himself, the sun started to rise. The light caught his eye from the window across from him. He lifted his head and looked out the window. He never paid attention to the sunrise before, not like he should have. He just watched it as it rose above the hills and poured golden light onto the earth. As he watched tears rolled down his face.
Another officer sat down across from Andy again; he had a clipboard in his hand. "I can't begin to imagine what you are going through, I'm so sorry." Andy looked at him. He was right; he couldn't imagine, no one could. The officer flipped a few pages on the clipboard back.
"I'm sorry to do this to you but we need your statement." Andy gathered himself. He knew they needed to bring the killer to justice.
Andy told the officer everything about that day, that moment on the street. He described the killer from what he saw, the hooded figure.
The officer finished writing everything down and stood up.
"Thank you, Andrew. We will keep you updated with any new information."
Andy sat there. Nurses and doctors walked by him, unaffected by his existence. He felt totally alone in the world. A doctor approached him.
"Russel is going to make it, he's stable now. Why don't you head home and get some rest? We will let you know when he wakes up." Andy didn't want to move, but he knew the doctor wasn't going to leave him alone. He tried to get up and almost collapsed; he didn't have the energy. The doctor called over a nurse to help him carry Andy. They carried him to an elevator and made it to the ground floor. An officer waited for him. "This is officer Wilson, he is going to be giving you a ride home today."
Andy didn't remember the ride home. The officer pulled into the driveway and followed him into the house. Andy thanked him for the ride, and shut the door. He dropped onto the bed, sobbing. He wished everything would go away.
He was woken up at 4PM by the phone ringing. He almost didn't answer it until he saw it was the hospital.
"Is this Andrew Bradford?" said a voice on the phone.
"Yes," Andy said after a long pause, his voice hoarse and quiet.
"I'm calling to tell you that your friend is awake now, you can come and visit him." Andy hung up the phone without saying anything else and slowly pulled himself out of bed. He didn't bother changing his clothes; he just grabbed his keys and went to his car. He drove to the hospital, barely conscious of the drive.
He walked in and started towards an elevator. One of the nurses called out.
"Sir, are you visiting someone?" When Andy turned to face her she seemed startled by his face.
"Russel Cranford," Andy muttered. The nurse told him to go ahead before he even said Russel's name; his face was enough for her to let him go. He rode the elevator and arrived at the floor. He walked down the hall, past the bench he was sitting on just a small time ago; it felt like an eternity had passed since then. He walked into the room and saw a nurse talking to Russel. Russel stopped the conversation with the nurse and immediately turned his attention to Andy.
"Andy!" exclaimed Russel. Andy walked into the room and sat down in a chair next to Russel's bed.
"How are you doing?" Andy asked.
"Well, they told me I won't be able to walk again without crutches, but they said even that is a miracle for the kind of injury." Andy sat quietly still. Russel looked at Andy. "Andy," Russel paused, "I'm so sorry." Andy heard Russel say it, and he knew he meant it.
Andy sat in the room with Russel for a while. Eventually, a nurse came in and told Andy he would have to go.
"I'll be back, Russel," said Andy as he stood up.
"Just stay strong, Andy," said Russel as Andy left the room.
The next few days for Andy were a blur; he barely ate and slept most of the day.
He was awoken one evening by a knock at the door. He slowly got out of bed and walked to the door. He looked thorough the peephole; it was Sandy. He opened the door and let her in. She stared at Andy for a while before speaking.
"Andy, I'm so sorry." She leaned in to hug Andy; he stood motionless. "I know nothing I say can make this better, but I know you can work through this. You are strong." Andy continued to stand still. "I heard from someone at the police station that they have an idea of what happened now, they will probably be stopping by later." Sandy grabbed Andy's hand. It was still stained with blood. "It will get better," said Sandy as she looked into Andy's eyes. Andy opened the door for her and she left. He shut the door and then walked out onto the deck and silently looked over the valley.
There was another knock on the door, this time it was the police.
"Andrew Bradford, we have some information regarding a case you were involved in." Andy invited them in and they sat down in the living room. "Let us start off by giving you our condolences, we understand these past few days have been hard for you." Andy sat listening. "As you already know there was an assailant that fled the scene. Russel was able to tell us what happened before the shooting." The officer paused to see if Andy had any comments. When Andy didn't speak, the officer continued. "They were standing on the street when a man approached them. At first he inquired about where they were going, then he pulled the gun. He told them to hand over anything they had that was valuable. Sean started to reach into his pocket when Russel threw a punch at the assailant." Andy stopped listening at the mention of Sean's name. Nobody had said his name since the accident; it brought the pain back. Tears started to roll down his face. The officer noticed and stopped talking. Andy excused himself to the bathroom to try and compose himself. He stopped when he caught sight of himself in the mirror; it was the first time he saw himself since the accident. He hardly recognized his own face. He looked down at his chest, the fur still stained with blood.
He walked back into the living room and sat back down. The officer cleared his throat and started talking again.
"After your friend threw a punch, the assailant shot them and ran. We recovered the gun but couldn't get any match for the fingerprints or serial number." The officer handed Andy a folder and stood up. "Most of the info on the case is in here. If you have any questions or info, call me at this number." The officer handed Andy a business card. Andy held the folder and card in his hand as he stood up and led the officers to the door. "Thank you for your time," said the officer as Andy shut the door.