Andy is Trying - Chapter 24

ANDY IS TRYING

Chapter 24: Andy dodges the Bullet

I could not watch him die a few feet from me and do nothing.

The screams had not stopped, but I no longer heard them.

I was in another dimension.

I was still on top of Laurie, but I decided to get off of her and crawl over to David.

We were backstage, we were safe, but David was bleeding to death. He needed help.

“Andy, no! Stay here, stay back!”

I ignored Laurie’s warnings.

I felt the sun hit my face as I came out. It was such a beautiful day of May.

Rebecca was holding onto her podium. She had found a safe place behind it.

I reached David within seconds.

He was alive. His piercing blue eyes were open, and I saw the wound between his shoulder and his left pectoral.

I tore off his white shirt.

There was so much blood.

You have no idea how much there can be… The human body is extraordinary.

He opened his mouth, obviously trying to say something, but no sound came out.

Not knowing what to do, I instinctively put my hands on him to try to stop the bleeding.

"Hold on, David. Hold on!"

My tears fell on his face. I had not realized I was crying until then.

It was a nightmare.

One second, I was fine, and then, I had fallen into a horror movie.

"Dy... Andy... Andy..." David murmured.

"Just stay with me, okay. Don't try to talk, just hold on!"

I finally heard people coming around us, but I was paralyzed.

Were they good guys or were they threatening? I could not tell; I did not care anymore.

“Sir, move!”

I did not react.

Someone grabbed my shoulders, but I wouldn't let go of David. I was afraid that it would be the last time I would touch him.

"Son, we got it."

Two paramedics surrounded me.

One pushed me away and directly took care of David.

My hands were covered in blood.

I stared at the man checking David's wound. He seemed to know what he was doing.

Maybe he could save him.

I looked to the side.

The bullet was there. It had passed through his body. I had never used a gun and never seen ammunition in real life.

Was it good or bad for his chances of survival? I had no idea.

"Andy, come here."

It was Laurie.

She pulled me off the stage.

“They need to… They need to rescue him.”

"Are you hurt? Andy, are you okay?"

Okay. I certainly was not.

But I was not physically hurt either.

"I... I tried... I tried to help him."

"I know, they're bringing David on a stretcher now. They're taking him to the hospital."

I put my hands on Laurie's face as a reflex but I realized how much blood I smeared on her.

The sight disgusted me.

"Ah... Laurie, I... This is..."

Thompson ran toward us.

"Guys, are you okay?” He looked at my hands. “Andy, what's wrong, have you been hit?”

"No, I... I was trying to... I was with David, I… I tried to..."

"What the fuck happened, Robert?" Laurie asked him.

"There was a shooter, he's dead. One of the security guards shot him after David got hit."

Laurie and Thompson started talking about the shooting, if anyone else had been hurt, if the whole thing had been broadcast live, they also mentioned Rebecca.

I was not listening.

Or maybe I was, but the trauma made me forget all about it afterwards.

The next thing I remembered was being in an ambulance myself.

Apparently, I was in a state of shock and needed to be examined.

No one thought to wash my hands. The blood dried on my fingers.

Every time I looked down at them, I wanted to throw up.

At the hospital, they examined me. I had no bruises. The male nurse was nice to me.

"Do you need me to call anyone?"

"I... I need to know how he is. David. David Crown."

"I don't think his life is in danger. He's being taken care of right now."

I was relieved.

"Thank you."

"Mr. White, you're free to go, but I really think you should have someone with you. I’ll also give you the names of therapists.”

I nodded yes.

"That's okay, I just need a moment.”

"I think one of your friends is waiting outside."

Laurie was there. Thank God for her.

After my medical check, she took me to a bathroom and helped me wash my hands.

Finally!

It was cathartic.

We were both terribly silent. No word seemed appropriate.

After a while, we went sitting in a hallway.

"Lea is coming to get me. You should come home with me. Or we can drop you off at your place, you’ll be with Cody." Laurie told me.

"I don't want to go. I want to stay here until David is... Until we know for sure that he's okay."

"I'll stay with you then."

"No, go with your sister. You’ll be better off. I’ll keep you updated on David."

"You’re sure? I texted Cody by the way, I told him we were okay.”

Were we?

"Darius tried to call me, but I... I don't think I'm ready to talk to anyone. Could you just tell him that I'm not hurt and that I'm staying in the hospital until we have more news?"

She held me in her arms.

"Andy, you shouldn't stay alone."

"I think that I should, I need some time to process this. I… I need a few hours before going back to my life.”

"Okay."

"I'll call you."

"We all need to talk and we’ll get through this. Everyone at work and... I mean, there's also going to be an investigation."

"Aside from the shooter, did anyone die?"

I suddenly thought of all the other people I knew who were there.

Adrian Park came to mind.

"No. Someone was slightly injured in the stampede, but David is the only one who was shot."

"That's good news, I guess."

“Yes, it could have been so much worse.”

“What is our stance on guns?” I asked Laurie. “What do we say in our agenda?”

She made a face.

“Strongly in favor of the right to carry a gun.”

I sighed.

“Thank you, Laurie. Take some time with your family. I’ll just go to the waiting room and we’ll stay in touch. I’ll reassure Cody that you’re all right when I’ll return to the apartment.”

“Thanks. It’s… It’s really bad timing.”

“Is there a good timing to be involved in a shooting?”

“No, you’re right… That was stupid to say.”

“Come here.”

We hugged warmly again.

“We’re all right, Andy. We survived. I’ll call Darius now, I’ll tell him.”

I kissed her forehead.

Laurie left and oddly, I felt better on my own.

My phone kept sending me alerts and the more I felt that people wanted to hear from me, the more I did not want to respond. It was way too overwhelming.

Besides, I had troubles understanding my own reactions or feelings.

I did text my mother to reassure her.

*

They played endless episodes of soap operas on a small television screen in the corner of the waiting room.

Not wanting to think about anything else, I let myself get caught up in the (ridiculous) plot.

A woman had been sleeping with her late husband's evil twin for months.

The twist of this episode? The husband was not even dead, but kidnapped, and he had fallen in love with his captor's daughter.  

See, that was some real trouble!

I did not have to complain too much about my life. My love triangle was much simpler than that.

I was very invested in the escape of Gabriella, who had finally realized that the man sharing her bed was a serial killer, when I was interrupted.

Rebecca and her son Zach came sitting in chairs next to me.

It was awkward.

Zachary had returned to Philadelphia after the shooting. That made sense.

I could not imagine how he must have felt watching the live feed while both of his parents were being attacked.

I was not sure how much of David bathing in his own blood was shown.

In any case, the handsome 19-year-old rower seemed very affected by the situation.

He looked handsome but very different from the day I met him months earlier.

He was sitting on his own, a few chairs apart from his mother, and he was visibly nervous.

Rebecca acknowledged me first.

"The entire team will have access to psychological help, Andy." She told me. “I’ll personally make sure everyone gets the support they need.”

"Thank you, Ms. Crown."

"We'll have a meeting in the next few days to discuss what happened, how this will affect the rest of the campaign, analyze Broadhall's reactions, and tackle every other security issue.”

I was stunned that she already had all that in mind.

"Of course. I’ll be there.”

She was certainly the main target of the shooting. I had seen break down behind that podium… She, for sure, saw herself dying.

But there, just a few hours later, Rebecca was back to her robotic self. The campaign, the election, the next steps.

How was she doing that?

My mind was a blank.

Zachary intervened next.

In fact, he stood up and walked toward me.

For a second, I thought he was going to punch me in the face. I would have certainly deserved that.

His blue eyes were so identical to his father's that it was startling.

He did not hit me. He simply wanted to tell me something.

"Thank you for what you did on that stage."

"I... I didn't do anything."

"You were trying to help my dad. I... I thought it was very heroic of you."

He extended his arm for a hand-shake.

My mind was so confused.

Was this even real?

"I didn't think it through, I... I just hope your father’s going to be okay."

At the same time, a doctor entered the room and called for Rebecca and Zach.

David was waiting for them.

"Mrs. Crown, your husband is badly injured, but his condition is not life-threatening. The bullet pierced his left shoulder. But we'll have to take him to surgery tonight."

"Okay... Thank you, Doctor."

"Come with me, you can both see him before surgery."

They hastily left and I let out a heavy sigh of relief.

He would be fine.

I thought it was my turn to leave, David was with his family and I did not belong there.

I finally took a closer look at my phone.

Cody had tried to call me many times before Laurie had reached him. Darius had never stopped trying to reach me.

I was about to call him back when I lifted my head and, like a miraculous apparition, my boyfriend was there, standing in the middle of the waiting room.

"I was worried sick." He said as he approached me.

For a second, I was happy to see him, but immediately after, I hated his tone.

It felt more like criticism than genuine concern.

"I... I asked Laurie to tell you that I was fine."

"Why didn't you go with her?”

“I didn’t want to leave the hospital before…”

I did not finish my sentence.

I could tell that Darius was boiling inside.

“You were going to stay for HIM?!"

People turned their heads at us.

It was embarrassing.

"Darius, there are people here who have real problems to deal with."

He bit his lower lip.

"Can we... Can we talk? Somewhere else?”

I got up and we walked into a hallway with him.

I was seriously confused and offended by the way he had approached me.

"Darius, what are you doing here?"

"What was I supposed to do?"

"I was on my way home."

"Laurie told me what you did and, at first, I couldn’t believe it. But it's been all over the news since then."

"What are you talking about?"

"You risked your own life for that guy!”

"You can say his name."

"I don't want to say his name! I hate the man!"

"So, he deserved to die? What the fuck, Darius? Was I supposed to leave him there, bleeding to death?”

“No, but, I… I don’t understand why you’d do that. Why you’d put yourself in danger for him, and then, why you’d stay here just to see him…”

“God, I just wanted to know if he was all right. I cannot believe that you’re making a scene right now.”

“I’m not… I’m just…”

“You’re what?”

“Nothing. It’s just obvious that you haven’t moved on from him. That’s all. You’ve kept working for him and now, you…”

I cut him off.

I could not believe that he would come out with something so vile at a moment like this.

"Okay, so all those good intentions when you told me you couldn't ask me to quit. That was just bullshit. Right? You were expecting me to leave my job."

"I just thought you'd be smart enough to realize that continuing to work alongside David Crown on a daily basis could be a problem."

"You're talking about someone who just got shot! Do you realize how inappropriate it is for you to be having this conversation here?"

"Do you realize how inappropriate it is for you to be here, Andy?!"

I had enough.

"Let me get this straight, Darius. When your boyfriend, who you're supposed to love and protect, is involved in a shooting, your first thought is about an old affair. Wow.”

"Don’t say that, I was so scared for you!”

"Yes. And so jealous too."

He scratched his hair.

"Come home with me, babe, we'll talk."

I snapped.

"You really don't get it, do you? I don't want to talk right now. Not to you, not to anyone. I'm fucking traumatized! I'm wondering if I'll ever be able to be my normal self again! I'm crumbling down and you’re really not helping!”

Darius' face changed drastically.

He realized how wrongly he had handled the situation. I could see it in his eyes.

But it was too late.

As he walked towards me to hug me, I pushed him back.

"Andy, please..."

"Just go, Darius.”

“Andy…”

“Go!”

He looked at me with a rare intensity.

“If I leave now, I might never come back.”

My heart ached.

“I don’t care, Darius. I’m exhausted.”

He turned on his heels, crying; he stormed down the hall and disappeared.

The cute male nurse who had been taking care of me earlier came to see if I was okay.

Surviving a shooting and possibly breaking up with your boyfriend in the span of a few hours was some kind of day.

Come to think of it, I might have dodged two bullets that day.

I told the nurse that I would be okay.

"Andy? Wait!"

What was that again?

A female voice called out to me.

I turned around and it was Rebecca.

"Yes?"

"David wants to see you."

"Really?"

"I think he wants to thank you for intervening during the shooting."

"I don't think I really helped."

Rebecca bit her nails. It was very unlike her.

Maybe she was not as unfazed by the event as she pretended to be.

"You should talk to him. He has to go into surgery in twenty minutes."

"Ms. Crown, I..."

She put her hand on my shoulder.

"At this point, I think you can call me Rebecca."

I nervously smiled.

"I don't mean to intrude, Rebecca. You're his wife, I shouldn't even be here. I was just making sure his life was no longer threatened.”

"Maybe that’s true but you're the one he wants to talk to. And you've been waiting here all this time. Just go talk to him.”

"Okay.”

"Room 124." She said.

And so, I went.

*

I guess I was lucky, but the only time I set foot in a hospital room was when I tripped on the stairs of my building a few days after I moved to Fort Smith and broke my ankle.

I would say I hated hospitals, but who does not?

When I walked into his room, David looked exhausted, but better than I had imagined.

He was shirtless, with a large bandage wrapped around his chest.

Believe it or not, even in that state, he was gorgeous.

"Rebecca said you wanted to see me?" I spoke, shily.

He smiled.

"I wanted to meet my savior."

"Don't be ridiculous, David. I haven’t done anything.”

“You were there. I was no longer alone.”

I looked at the injury on his left side.

“How are you feeling?"

"Pretty bad, but the painkillers are making me kind of high. Silver lining.”

"Then, you should enjoy the ride."

He nodded.

"It was a pretty intense first rally, huh?"

"It was..."

"Don't make that face, Andy. I'm fine."

"Aren't you worried about the surgery?"

"The doctor is confident, therefore, so am I."

“I saw the bullet. The one that got through you.”

“Should I keep it as a trophy?”

He laughed, but it seemed to hurt him.

"Hey, be careful there."

"I know... Shit, that bastard took the ability to laugh away from me for a little while.”

"Actually, I should let you rest. I... I'll come see you soon."

"Wait, Andy. I... I wanted to see you to tell you something important."

"We'll have time to talk when you're feeling better."

"With what happened today and what might happen during the surgery, I think it's even more important that I talk to you right now. I've already wasted too much time."

I gulped.

My palms were sweaty.

"David... That's not necessary."

"Don't worry, I'm not asking anything of you. I'm just... I'm just telling you where I stand."

"I'm listening."

I put my hand on his wrist.

"I'm going to divorce Rebecca." He stated bluntly.  

"David, you cannot make decisions like that in the state you’re in."

"Rebecca and I discussed it before the shooting. Besides, I think my mind has never been clearer. You asked me if I was happy a few weeks ago and I didn't answer because the truth would have been way too pathetic.”

He held my hand.

I was trembling.

"I think you're right to follow your truth." I told him.

"And this isn't it. Andy, I know how skeptical you were about my feelings for you, but I can tell you this, from the moment we met and until now, I've never stopped wanting you."

That was a lot to take in, I tried not to lose my shit.

"You don't realize it, but once you’ll come out as gay, you'll be able to have any man."

“But it’s you that I want, Andrew White!”

More than what he said, the thrills I felt in my body as we held hands, the way he was looking at me, the connection between us, all of that shook me to my core.

He was so definitive too.

No hesitation, no condition. He wanted to be with me.

The doctor knocked at the door and came in.

I had to leave, that was probably for the better.

I was more disoriented than ever.

*

After what had felt like the longest day of my life, I came back to the apartment around 8 p.m.

Cody practically jumped on me.

I walked in and I was smothered by his hairy pits.

He also kissed my cheek multiple times.

“Fuck, roomie, you’re here!”

“Wow… Relax!”

He grabbed my face and stared at it.

“You’re sure? You’re not hurt? Dude, you almost got shot!”

I chuckled.

“I thought you weren’t talking with me anymore.”

“Shut up, idiot! I was going crazy, like, we argue for the first time ever and then a psycho shoot people at the rally! This day was insane.”

“I’m okay though.”

He kissed my cheek again.

“You think I care about our stupid argument? Fucking hell, this was the worst! I’m so glad that you’re all right.”

“It was the worst, yes.”

Finally, with Cody, I felt like I could be vulnerable and shared my experience.

“I saw Laurie.” He continued. “She was with her sister. It’s been a shock for everyone.”

“Was she doing okay?”

“I think so.”

“Are you two back together?”

“That’s not important.”

I smiled.

“See… This is a normal reaction for someone you love.” I remarked.

“What do you mean?”

“I think I broke up with Darius.”

“Oh no… Andy, come on. Why?”

“He had the worst reaction ever. He got jealous because I was worried about David.”

“He’ll get it, he was shocked too. I’m sure you can fix this.”

“No, Cody. I don’t think I want to. I know that I fucked up, but like, I’ve been trying to be the best version of myself, I’ve been trying to be a perfect boyfriend but he’ll never get over the fact that I was fucking with David before being with him.”

“What do you want to do then?”

“Do we have beers?”

Cody smiled.

“This, I can help you with.”

He got each of us a fresh beer from the fridge.

“You cleaned the floor? From the glass shattered this morning.”

It seemed like that had happened a lifetime ago.

“Yes, I did… Sorry about that, I got a bit heated. I’ll tell you what, a man wants to kill the people you care about and you put many things in perspective.”

“For sure.”

For some reason, I sat down on the wooden floor.

My roommate did not make any comment, he just handed me the beer.

“The news say that the shooter was a sort of hit-man, working for some kind of drug lords. They don’t understand why he attacked Rebecca Crown’s rally.” Cody explained.

“Maybe Broadhall tried to be more literal with his attempt to kill the Crowns’ political careers.” I mentioned.

I did not know if I was serious or not.

“If he did, that was a bad idea.”

“Why?”

“Well, someone who survives a shooting becomes a hero and people want to vote for a hero.”

“You know who called me a hero today?”

“Who?”

“David’s son, Zachary. He thought I was heroic.”

“I think that too. Although, you were a bit stupid as well.”

I laughed.

It felt good.

“What can I say? I’ve never been very clever.”

“May I sit down with you?”

“You want to sit on the floor?”

“Why not? I wiped it clean.”

“Come on in then.”

I moved over.

Cody sat right next to me and he took me his bare arms.

“I’m so relieved that you’re okay. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“You know what, Cody? I made so many mistakes since I’ve gotten here that sometimes, I wonder if my move to Philly was the right decision. But there’s one thing that always reminds me that I can never regret this choice.”

“And what is it?”

“You! I don’t know what I’d do without you either, Cody. You’re my best friend.”

I laid my head on his warm shoulder.

“Don’t make me cry, idiot.”

“I’m not sure this is such a good thing for you…”

“You’re my best friend too, roomie.”

I smiled.

At the very least, there was one place in the world where I felt safe and understood.

[END OF BOOK ONE]

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Author's notes:

And that's it for the first book following Andy's journey in Philadelphia.

It was a risk for this website, and something different for me, as I focused mainly on developing interesting plots, more realistic characters, and intricate relationships.

Or at least, just like Andy... I tried!

I like the idea that none of these characters are perfect and none of the situations have obvious resolutions.

Just like life, it is often messy and definitely never easy.

Who would be a right fit for Andy, if any of these men?

Is Andy an immature guy who makes a lot of mistakes, or is he a good person who tries his best?

I understand that this book, moving further away from erotica, - basically, I only included sex scenes or erotica when I felt it makes sense in the overall story - , may be less appealing to some of you, but I hope that those of you who have invested in Andy's journey have appreciated the twists and turns.

I have many more surprises in store for this particular story and I cannot wait to share them with you... Which brings me to the big announcement. ;)

I can already say that the second book will be released next month on Patreon, with the first chapter of "Andy Keeps Trying" coming out on June 19th!

As always, let me know what you thought of this story in the comments.

Thank you for your support.