I shook his hand and said, “Likewise. I’m glad you didn’t get shot,” I added right as the elevator stopped at our floor. “That would have to be a lot of paperwork, right?”
“You know it,” Calhoun said, moving to enter the empty elevator.
As I took a step forward, I saw a movement on my right out of my peripheral vision. I turned to see Todd approaching us with a gun aimed right at me. “Cal…” My words were cut off by the blast of a gun. The first bullet hit me in the right shoulder outside the protective zone of my vest, which caused me to lose the strength in my shooting hand. While I futilely tried to pull out my gun, Todd shot me again. The second bullet ripped through my vest and struck me in the chest. I could tell by the immediate way I began to wheeze that I had been struck in the lung.
It felt like slow motion to me, but in actuality, pulling a trigger twice only takes seconds. Calhoun came off the elevator with his gun raised and shot Todd twice in the chest. I clutched the wall and slowly slid to the ground; it felt like every ounce of strength I’d had just leaked from by body along with the blood pouring from my wounds.
My labored breathing sounded loud in my ears as I collapsed back on the floor. Calhoun called for an ambulance as he made sure Todd was no longer a threat to either of us. Then he came over to me and leaned over me as he removed his suit jacket.
“Hang in there, buddy.” He pressed his jacket to my wounds to try and staunch the flow of blood. It felt like a futile effort to me and I could feel my pulse slowing down as my life’s blood drained from me. “One is through and through and the other is still in his chest. It penetrated his vest,” he said into the phone.
I knew what kind of injuries I had and if these were my last minutes on earth then I didn’t want to spend them thinking about wounds. I wanted to think about my Mitch – the boy who stole my heart as a kid and the man who owned me body and soul.This can’t be it for us.I can’t leave him. Not now.I knew that life was seldom fair, but I wanted to call bullshit.
My body started to shake and I felt a cold chill permeate my body like I’d never experienced before. Breathing became harder and I knew my lung was fucked up really bad. I saw Calhoun leaning over me and talking to me, but I didn’t pay attention to his words. In fact, I didn’t want his face to be the last thing I saw so I closed my eyes and let memories of Mitch slide through my mind like a movie. My heart stuck on the memory of the softness in his eyes when he told me that he loved me for the first time. If it was to be my last living memory, it was a doozy to have.I love you, Mitch.
