Chapter 5 ~ The End? ~
Doctors rushed by the group of drivers as they stood there in shock. They all made it to the hospital without injury or a speeding ticket…, which was pure luck because some of them forgot they were in a regular car!
Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart watched through the glass as hordes of ER doctors swarmed around Junior like flies.
“I don’t understand.” Kevin whispered under his breath.
Tony had been knocked out of his daze by his voice and glanced in Kevins direction. “Huh?”
“Why would anyone want to hurt Dale?” A tear started to form in the eye farthest away from the Home Depot driver and Kevin quickly rubbed his face to remove it before it was seen.
“I don’t know… but I’m sure Steve’s getting his brain picked by Mike Helton right now… Since he’s the one who knew something.” He sighed and shifted his weight. “Think I messed up my ankle again…” He mumbled to himself while rotating it.
Kevin never acknowledged him. He stood and watched as the doctors removed blood soaked bandages one after an other. The blood flow seemed endless.
“I think we should go back to the waiting room. This isn’t Pretty.” Tony said after realizing that Kevin shouldn’t be seeing this. He tried to turn Kevin around.
Kevin jerked away from him. “NO! I don’t wanna leave him!”
Tony’s short temper kicked in fast. He couldn’t help it. He was stressed and scared enough already and he didn’t have the strength to deal with an emotional driver.
“Kevin we are GOING BACK! We Shouldn’t be here any ways!” He said forcefully before grabbing for his arm.
“LET GO OF ME!” Kevin screamed
Tony’s eyes went wide at the outburst. He didn’t have time to respond though because a nurse rushed over and told them they couldn’t stand there.
As the two drivers walked away, Tony glanced back as he heard the sound of the heart monitors flat line.
~~~~
Finally Steve got away from the clutches of Mike Helton. He couldn’t stand waiting any more. He had to see how his friend was.
As he turned the corner to the waiting room, his ears caught the conversation.
“Kevin sit down! You cant do anything!”
“Are you sure that’s what you heard?”
“Jarrett I’m not deaf! I heard it flat line!”
“You guys we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Maybe someone pulled out a wire or unplugged it by accident or something!
“Kevin sit DOWN!”
Steve stood like stone. Did he really hear what they just said? Flat lined? That couldn’t be true.
Finally Steve pushed himself into a walk and made his way over to the ER doors. It didn’t take long to find the room Junior was in. It was loud, crowded and full of no hope.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He could hear his name being called but it seemed so far away. He wanted to answer them but whenever he tried nothing came out. He was in the dark, scared, cold, alone… like death.
He heard his name called again. It was closer now. Like it was right behind him. And it sounded so familiar.
Junior caught a figure coming toward him. “Junebug…?”
He squinted his eyes at the bright light that suddenly followed behind the figure.
“What are you doing here?” it said
Finally Junior recognized the voice and figure.
“Dad?”
~~~
Steve couldn’t watch anymore. He couldn’t watch these doctors beating and shocking his friend to bring back life. He turned his back from the window and slid down to the floor. Burying his head in his arms. His friend was dead and as much as he tried not to believe it, it was his fault.
~~~
“Dad”?
“Yeah son” His father said as he walked closer. He coudln't believe he was seeing his son so soon.
“Is it really you?” Junior said in a state of shock. Tears started to form in his eyes.
“Kid don’t start your blubbering. We need to talk fast.”
Junior tried composing himself.
“Look… you ain’t supposta be here. You need to leave.”
“What?”
”Go back”
“But… I don’t wanna leave you! I just found you again!”
“SON! Go! Before you cant! You can not leave everyone back there. You have things to do still.”
“I’m scared…”
The older Earnhardt grabbed his son and pulled him into him.
“Don’t be scared. I’m always with you.”
“I love you dad.”
“I love you too. I’ll see you again. Go get justice…”
And with that the noise that filled the air around them stopped and everything slid into darkness once more.
~~~
Steve was shaken from his quiet sobs with the sound of beeping. Wiping his eyes, he sat up and listened again. He was right! They were coming from Juniors room. The Pennzoil driver stood up fast and peered into the room. The monitors still beeped and the doctors, now slower in their movements, motioned him to come in.
He slid into the door cautiously keeping his eyes on the figure on the bed. The young man in front of him was now covered in bandages. Wires and tubes came out of all directions and the extreme loss of blood was evident on the floor and doctors.
“You’re a friend of his right?”
Steve was forced to take his eyes away from the sight that was making him sick to his stomach and refocused on the blood soaked doctor.
“Umm... yeah. Is he ok?”
“Your friend here is very lucky. I cant believe we got him back after losing all that blood. We are taking him up to the OR in a couple of minutes to repair the wound made by the stab. He also has a concussion because I’m not getting back good signs from his eyes. I hope to hell you know what happened here because I would like to know too.
Steve shivered a little.
“I think we know what happened. It’s who did it that’s the problem… Look is he gonna pull through? There are a lot of upset people out there that want to know.”
The doctor sighed and placed this stethoscope back on his shoulders.
“I seriously don’t know. With all that blood… God I’m in shock that he survived getting here. But if he made it this far… There’s hope.”
The Pennzoil driver wanted to scream. This hell still wasn’t over and won’t be for a long time.
“Fine” Steve said before turning around. “I’ll tell them to hope then.”
The doctor lightly touched his shoulder to stop him.
“He’s critical… I’m not going to lie to you. There isn’t MUCH hope ok? Tell them to pray. And if his parents are out there I’d like to tell them myself.”
Steve nodded his head.
“There’s only one of those left.” He said while silently thinking ‘Lets hope god doesn’t take an other Earnhardt.’ And he left the room.
