Page 68 of Battle Scars

Manny turns, and with his arm still sheilding me, we race toward where Eli lays prone, his face to the asphalt.

We both drop to our knees on either side of him and after Manny assesses his injuries, we roll him over. Eli blinks a few times and opens his eyes. Blood trickles down from above his left eye.

“What happened?” he asks, blinking away the confusion.

“There was an explosion,” I answer while Manny slips his cell phone from his pocket and dials 9-1-1.

Eli closes his eyes and slips back into unconsciousness.

When the paramedics arrive, they load up Eli, who is now grumbling about riding in an ambulance. But he knows he needs to be checked out, so he goes willingly. It helped that his phone chimed with a text, and it was Gabe telling him to get his ass in the ambulance. Eli slips in and out and is asleep when the ambulance pulls away.

I want to know what the connection is between these three men. They seem so close to one another but are clearly all a little different.

After they take Eli away, Manny deals with the police as quickly as possible. Everyone is accounted for, thankfully. Over one hundred people work here on a day-to-day basis, so it’s no minor miracle that everyone is safe and accounted for, including Bobby, who’s obviously shaken.

Manny finally breaks free from the commotion and leads me to his SUV. We climb in and he makes his way to Grossmont Hospital where Eli is being treated. Gabe never showed up at the track and I can’t help but wonder where he is and what he’s doing.

I’m scared. For Eli, whose status is still unknown to me.

I’m scared for Manny and Gabe.

And I’m scared for me.

This is serious.

We make our way into the hospital after Manny parks the car, and we ask for directions to the Emergency Department.

“Hi, how can I help you?” a nurse prompts when we walk up to the desk.

“We’re here for Eli MacGuire,” Manny says.

I feel like there’s a livewire inside me with all the nervous energy and anxiety. I don’t know what to do.

“He’s still being seen to,” she replies once she looks Eli up on her computer. “If you could follow me this way, someone will be with you when they know more.”

We follow her through a locked door to a waiting area. It’s empty. I guess that’s a good thing. At the same time, I wish we weren’t here either. I need to know what’s going on with Eli, and I know Manny feels the same way.

“Should we call his parents?” I ask, because it’s something to be considered, and also because I can’t handle the silence.

“His parents are dead,” Manny says. “But Gabe will call his grandparents in New Jersey and talk to them.”

“What about his girlfriend?” I add and wish I hadn’t, because Manny goes on and breaks my heart.

“He hasn’t talked to her in about ten years.”

“That’s sad.”

“That’s life, Addie. No one’s story is easy.”

“What about you?” I ask, wanting to pass the time with a friend.

“My story is perfect,” he says with a smile. “Marisol, my wife, was the most beautiful girl in my high school. So obviously I knocked her up after a football game and married her.”

“And you’re desperately in love with her,” I add to his tale.

“Oh yes.”

“And the baby?”