I couldn’t get him to respond. I pulled my phone out of the pocket of my pants. I dialed 911 and waited for an operator. I took a few deep breaths as I needed to be able to talk to them. The better they could hear mIt was like I was wite the faster they could get here.
“911 what’s the emergency?” A woman’s voice asked.
“It’s my husband. He’s been shot.” I explained as I tried to speak clearly. “I don’t know how long he’s been like this. I just got home and found him.”
“Okay. Is he still breathing?” the woman’s voice came through the phone again.
“Yes but it’s very shallow.” I answered. I glanced down to Damon lying on the floor and a few tears began to escape. I was on the verge of breaking down again.
“Okay, can I get the address ma’am?” She waited patiently for me to respond. I provided the address and she spoke once again. “Services are on their way ma’am, can you stay on the phone with me while you wait?”
“Sure.” I answered.
She tried to help keep me calm as I waited. My eyes never left Damon’s body while I remained on the phone. The Ambulance pulled up just a few minutes later and I disconnected the call. I met them in the hallway and led them to the study where Damon was.
It was like witnessing a nightmare that I couldn’t wake up from. I couldn’t believe this had happened, we had just talked a couple hours ago. All that I could do was stand back and watch the paramedics as they determined how stable he was. They moved quickly to get him on a gurney and back to the ambulance.
I followed them as they wheeled him out to the doors. I held my purse with my phone and keys tightly. While they got him into the ambulance one of the paramedics, a young man, guided me to the front of the ambulance.
“We’ll have you sit up here to ride to the hospital.” he spoke as he opened the passenger door.
“Thank you.” I responded as I climbed up and sat down.
I buckled my seatbelt as another paramedic got into the driver’s side of the ambulance. She was a woman about my age or a little older. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She glanced over at me. “He’s lost a lot of blood but he seems to be putting up a good fight. I’m sure he’ll be okay.” she tried to be reassuring.
“I hope so.” my voice was low as I spoke.
The woman began to pull out of the driveway and head for the hospital. The ambulance sped along as traffic moved out of the way. I could feel myself slightly shaking. Was this intentional? Was it just that someone broke in and he was in the wrong place at the wrong time? How could I feel safe there, after this.
The ambulance pulled up to the emergency entrance for the hospital. I got out and followed as they wheeled Damon through the hall. One of the paramedics shouted to the nurses. “We got a male with multiple gunshot wounds. He’s unconscious and has had lots of blood loss.”
I watched as a team surrounded him and wheeled him away. A nurse approached me. “Are you his family?” She asked.
“Yes.” I nodded. “I’m his wife.”
“Okay, come with me.” She spoke and led the way to a waiting area. “Once the doctors have an understanding of what’s going on they’ll come out and discuss it with you. Do you have anyone you can call to sit here with you?”
“Yes.” I responded. “I’ll give them a call now. Thank you.” I took a seat as the nurse walked back to the desk.
I took my phone out of my purse. I had Damon’s dried blood on my hands and everywhere else but I didn’t care. I dialed Martin’s number and waited for him to answer.
“Kaydence, hello!” He seemed thrilled to get my call.
“Damon’s been shot.” I couldn’t think of a better way to put it.
“What?!” I could hear the panic in Martin’s voice. “Are you at the hospital?”
“Y-yes.” I stammered.
“I’ll be right there.” Martin hung up quickly.
I waited by myself for Martin to show up. It didn’t take him long before he walked through the doors and found me. I was relieved to see he was by himself and stood up as he approached me. He looked in horror as he saw me covered in blood.
“Are you alright?” he asked worriedly.
“I’m fine physically. The blood is his.” I explained.
Martin pulled me tightly into a hug and I completely lost it at that point. Tears escaped my eyes. I still couldn’t believe this had happened. I was truly scared right now. What if he didn’t make it? A year of his time was not long enough for me. There was still so much for us to do together.
“It’s okay.” Martin tried to help keep me calm. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“I came home from the store and found him in his study.” I responded. “Did he make it to your house today?” I wasn’t even sure he actually had been able to talk to Martin.
“Yes.” Martin answered. “We talked it all out and he left with us on good terms. Did someone break in?”
“I don’t know, I didn’t see anything missing.” I answered.
“Sounds like this was intentional then. Who could have done this?” Martin’s face was plastered with an expression of worry.
That’s when it hit me. There were two people that I knew of that Damon had pissed off recently. “Justin or Meredith Bushemp.” I spoke. “They’re the only ones that I know of that he’s angered. Unless there’s someone else I don’t know about.”
Martin thought for a moment. “I will have this looked into thoroughly. Whoever did this won’t get away with it. I don’t care if it is Justin. I’ll kill him myself.”
“Mrs. Tipton?” A voice caused me to turn around. It was a male doctor.
“Is he going to be okay?” I asked.
“It appears that your husband was shot a few hours ago. He’s lost a lot of blood from being left unattended for so long. His body has gone into shock which is why he was unresponsive. We need to perform surgery to see about removing the bullets and to make any repairs to his organs.” the doctor explained.
“Okay.” I nodded.
“With his current state there is a chance that we may lose him while in surgery.” The doctor spoke. “As his wife we need to know, if we lose him, do we resuscitate him?”
“Yes.” I nodded. “Save him, no matter what. Please.”