Holding Their Own: A Story of Survival Read Online Free PDF

Rita’s pain control medications might be there. He searched for a while and found a syringe labeled with her name. He ran back to Rita’s room, squirted the syringe toward the ceiling to remove any air, and then injected the medication into her port just as he had seen the nurses do several times before. The effect was almost immediate, and she relaxed.
    There was no alternative but to get her out of the hospital, so he went to search for a wheelchair. He found one, but then realized there was no way to keep her in the chair even if he did move her from the bed. There had to be another solution. He checked several doors, but they were locked. He remembered the keys, and spent almost half an hour trying countless keys in different locks and eventually found a gurney. It was lighter than the bed, and he knew he could load it into the back of the truck.
    As he pushed the gurney back toward her room, he practically ran over two guys coming around the corner. “Sorry,” he said while reading the badges around their necks. Both of their IDs said “Cafeteria” on them, and Bishop wondered what they were doing up here. He almost started laughing at them because one of them reminded him of Bluto from the old Popeye cartoons, and the other one walked just like Daffy Duck. They looked at each other and then at Bishop, probably wondering why he had a smirk on his face.
    Bluto grumbled, “We need that cart---official hospital business.”
    “No can do, pardner – I’m using it. I think there are some more in that closet down the hall,” Bishop replied, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb and trying not to laugh.
    “I don’t think you heard me,” was the tense response. “This is official hospital business, and YOU can go get another cart.” Daffy, clearly the brains of the operation, chimed in, “We also need to see your wallet…errr…your ID.”
    Bishop gave a frightened glance at both men and stuttered, “You... You…You want my ID?”
    Bishop was not an intimidating physical specimen by any means. Barely six foot and less than 200 pounds, he had figured out a long time ago that bluffing his way through a confrontation was rarely a valid option. He was also a natural born smartass and had a lot of trouble controlling his mouth . This combination had caused him to learn the hard way---surprise was the best advantage.
    Bluto reached for the gurney and started to pull it away from Bishop who held on tightly, and that surprised the big man. Bluto, as Bishop had anticipated, shifted his left foot for balance and started to give the cart a hard pull . Bishop gave it to him, pushing as hard as he could. The guy completely lost his footing as Bishop thrust the gurney at the wall causing Bluto’s back to slam hard against a mounted fire extinguisher. Spinning the cart sideways to block Daffy, Bishop took two steps and struck Bluto hard in the Adam’s apple with the edge of his hand. He spun around to face Daffy before Bluto had finished sliding down the wall, clenching his throat and trying to breathe.
    Daffy wa s holding up his hands in the “Don’t shoot” position and backing away. He decided he had business elsewhere, and quickly spun around and ran off.
    Bishop looked down at Bluto and could see all of the fight was out of him. “You better get that looked at, bud. It’s hard to be a looter if you can’t breathe. By the way, has anyone ever told you that you look just like Blu . . . . Oh, hell, never mind.” He grabbed the gurney and started heading back to Rita’s room.
    He disconnected her IV and rolled Rita from the bed onto the gurney as gently as possible . His plan was to take her to another hospital, so he threw her chart onto the gurney as well. She seemed not to notice any of this. He glanced at his watch and realized almost two hours had passed since he had talked to Terri. He would call her once he had Rita in the truck.
     
     
    Ali Benzilla Shenfeti hated America . Not because of religion,