Bullet Wounds

Part One

His parasail went down long ways away from where he took off. He was flying high for a while then a downdraft hit him sending him diving for the sand below. When he hit the ground, he got knocked out. Waking a few hours later he looks around nothing was there. Sand covered what was left of the parasail. It was a mangled mess. He has no idea of what to do in these situations, not knowing where he came from or which direction he should start heading towards. So, he chose the easiest way to head and that was directly behind him.

Wondering why he was in a bare wasteland that seems to never end. He stands in one spot starting to stretch to get to walking. He's been here for more than two days. It never ends the sand and rocks continue for miles and miles.

As he walked through the valley he took into fact he was alone. Loneliness set in and he felt at home. Where he was always alone because no one ever cared where he was or if he was still alive. He had been walking for a few hours now. The sun high in the sky beating him down to his knees, but he kept going slowly. His shirt was torn from climbing through bushes. Exposing his bare skin to this blistering sun. He begins to sweat heavily, while his skin turned a bright red without him knowing. He keeps going towards the lake that he was heading to for a while. It seems like he was getting closer and closer but it keeps moving further and further away like a rainbow. Rain crosses his mind and all his good memories surface.

Fading in and out. Many memories cross his mind. Good and bad ones. This causes him to go back to the happiest moment in his life. His first kiss with the girl he loved. Now he is in complete fantasy and reality isn't there. He is back there with her. Standing on her front steps with rain falling hard. He looked into her deep blue eyes and pulled her close kissing slowly. A goodnight kiss, then she is torn away from him. He awakens from the flashback only to hit a rock on the head as he fell down a ravine. Opening his eyes everything was blurry, only thing he could make out was a slow beeping noise then he was out again.

The suns heat woke him up fully. The sun was high in the sky, noon already he realized. Looking up to the top of the ravine he saw a tree. He started to climb towards the tree up a steep rocky hillside. As he crested the top he saw her again. She was right in front of him. The tree wasn't there anymore it was just her. Standing in her white dress staring at him. He walked towards her. Reaching out for a hug, she steps away from him. Her smiling face turned to a sad, sobbing face.

"WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME?" she screamed. A gun shot rang out in the distance as blood covered her beautiful white dress. Then she fell, he raced towards her sobbing. Trying everything to stop the blood he hears another gunshot ring out in the distance followed by screaming. "You never loved me. This is what you wanted all the time. Let me die off and become another grave in a grave yard. That gets forgotten in a year." She said as she turned to sand.

"I'll never forget you beautiful. This isn't what I wanted to happen. You are not just going to die." Tears start to fall down his face. "..I didn't know...th..this would happen."He said sobbing, "Please, Someone help!" he yelled at the emptiness of the world he was in. "I love you" he said as she faded away to wet sand. He sat there on his knees crying. His hands covered in blood. He gets up and starts to run as fast as he can. Thinking I can run from my problems. He tripped over a piece of drift wood that was sticking up out of the sand. He fell hitting the ground hard. He laid there letting the pain sore through his body. His head throbbing, he fell asleep.

His eyes heavy he awakens to the sound of beeping and a commotion. It sounded like people talking. With things, blurry he made out a lamp and a few people. Â His sight became clearer and he felt a comfy bed reassuring him it was safe. Looking to his side he saw an iv ran from a bag with a clear liquid in it.

"Guys he is waking up. Get in here!" someone yelled breaking the silence. Fully waking up in blood soaked clothes. The sun starts to bake him again, hotter than the day before. He starts to walk around in the sand bare foot. Looking around he sees a car in the distance.

"Help! Help me please" his voice rings across the empty desert. The car is slowly moving away. He runs towards it forgetting his shoes. The car stops fully after a tire screeching sound. The sun is slowly rising above the horizon, the sand starts to burn his bare feet making him run faster. Then the car just disappears into the sand leaving chunks of glass and paint on the ground. Stopping falling to his knees. He sits there and thinks to himself.

That car he saw wasn't just a random car it was the car that hit his parent's car. He was there at the scene the only one who lived. The diver of the other car was a drunk driver. This was what kept him from dinking when they died. He didn't want to kill somebody. Then a woman appeared. Wearing what his mom wore that night of the accident. "Mom?" he says with eyes filling up with tears. "Please, I need you. I need your help now. I know I never said it the last few months, But I love you. I miss you so much. I blame myself for your death."The tears rolling down his face continued."I could have pulled you out, same with dad. I could have pulled both of you out. I was too scared "I just couldn't. I ran that night I ran from the accident."

"No sweetie it wasn't your fault. You did what you had to do. I forgive you, you were scared. I knew you loved me.' She said starting to fade away. "But you never said goodbye."

" Just not to your face" to late of a response she was gone he was alone again.

"Why me? Why is this happening to me? I didn't do anything to deserve this." He starts punching the sand till he can't lift his arms no more. Then he gets up and runs as far as he can His girlfriend appears again with the white gown covered in blood. He keeps running not wanting to deal with the sadness and the blame anymore.

 "You never said goodbye." She whispers as he continues to run. Running away he starts to slow down. Jogging now his feet sink in the hot sand. Blood rushing through his body turns his face to a bright pink. He starts to feel a burning sensation on his back. He pushes it off as another sun burn. Then he falls in pain and agony, rolling over to his back the sand stings his shoulder. Jumping up from the sand looking where he was laying was a puddle of blood. Another gunshot rings out. This time it hits him in the chest, he falls forward passing out from the pain. The last thought that crosses his mind.

"I deserve this, I couldn't protect her the way she needed. I never said goodbye to her either. I regret this, I regret going down that alley that night." He says slowly waking up in a hospital bed. The commotion stops, he looks around at all the people in the room. No one he recognizes is there. Pain rushes through his body. Mainly in the chest he reaches at his chest feeling bandages. "where is she?" the only words he could say.

"The girl you were with is in the hall way. Do you want to see her?" a voice that was connected to a face he couldn't make out. But he saw the lab coat and figured it was his doctor.

"She's alive...I tho..thought she was dead. I saw the blood over her." He says confused. :Yes, yes I would. Please" The doctor leaves the room and returns and she is standing there in sweats and a t-shirt. "You are as beautiful as ever. What happened?" he said with a grin slowly crossing his face.

"You were shot twice. You jumped in front of a bullet for me. You saved my life."She said with tears rolling down her face. "Thank you, my love." Leaving a wet kiss on his forehead. Thinking what happened to him as he lay there staring into her deep blue eyes. He mustered the courage and strength to ask a question.

"How long was I out for?" with a confused look on his face. Looking around the now empty room he was talking to only death. Death then left the room, it turned ice cold.The doctor came In and turned the light on. Flooding the room with light that blinded him. Finally regaining his sight, he was laying in his bed. Next to his wife, sleeping so quietly. The sunlight was flooding in to the room by the open curtain. He heard the sound of the ocean, realizing that it was all a dream.

 Hearing the ocean calling him he walked out the glass door in their room and sat down on the deck looking at the sunrise over the horizon. The sun made golden waves in the sky and the ocean. He sat there for another few hours watching it rise. By the time, he went back inside his kids were in his room looking at him with a confused sad look. He looked just as confused back at them.

"Dad. Grandpa is dead." They both said like a choir. The rush of the news hit him hard. He collapsed on the bed staring at the ceiling. He closed his tear-filled eyes, trying to deny the news of his father's death. Letting the pain of his bullet wounds sore through his body.