If Only Aaron Knew

He was sitting on a bench in the park, awaiting for Shane to show up for the fight that would decide the outcome of all of this. About fifteen minutes later, no one had showed up to watch the fight. A few moments after that, he noticed two men standing by a car over in the park’s parking lot. One of the men was exchanging something in a small bag for a roll of what looked like money. Aaron looked around at the setting, and he realized it was the exact setting as all of his nightmares. He quickly got up off of his feet and tried to start making a run for it, when one of the men pulled out a gun from his pocket. Even though he was running, Aaron didn’t have enough time to react to the situation. The gun fired off two shots, and the noise was loud enough that anyone could hear it from a mile away. One of the bullets had gone through a nearby tree, but the other tore through Aaron’s back and plunged into his chest.

Aaron couldn’t believe how this could have happened to him, how fate had put him in the path of death. The two men suddenly got into their car and hurriedly pulled out of the park’s parking lot. The bullet slowly tore at Aaron inside, and he was barely able to manage to apply pressure to the wound using both of his hands. The cool, spring breeze made Aaron start coughing mouthfuls of his blood as he started to walk back to the field. Steven saw as Aaron began walking back over to the field in a very slow pace and told him that the fight had been called off for a long time. Aaron didn’t really care as he slowly made his way to about a few feet away from his friends sitting at a table by the concession stand. “Dude, you’re missing a very good game,” Michael told him pointing to the scoreboard, but the pale-faced Aaron couldn’t care. As Aaron was ready about to reply, another mouthful of blood leapt from Aaron’s mouth.

“Are you okay, Aaron?” Steven paused, “you don’t look too well.” Aaron removed his hands from his chest to reveal the bullet hole and fell swiftly to the ground.

“Oh my god!” Christine exclaimed as his friends got up and rushed over to their dying friend. A lot of people were completely stunned as they watched Aaron gasp for the smallest amount of fresh air.

“Hurry, someone call 911!” Tiffany exclaimed in a horrified manner because she was still in disbelief that this had actually happened. She continued, “Christine, keep his head raised and keep him awake until the ambulance gets here.”

Tiffany looked at Aaron with a tear in her eye and said, “Aaron, stay with us, the ambulance is on the way.”

Andrew closed his cell phone and said, “the ambulance will be here in five minutes.” Aaron, who was now fighting for every breath to stay alive, looked up at the kneeling Ann with a very sincere look.

“I’m so sorry Ann,” Aaron paused as tears fell rapidly down his eyes, “I’m so sorry.” Aaron began to fade in and out and was falling out of consciousness with every minute that passed.

Ann, who had tears too falling from her eyes, said to Aaron, “Stay with me, Aaron, please don’t die.” Five minutes later the ambulance arrived, and the paramedics sprinted over to the dying Aaron.

“We have a gunshot victim,” the head paramedic said. “Let’s hurry and get him onto a stretcher.” Three of the paramedics lifted Aaron onto a stretcher and hastily put him into the back of the ambulance. People were running out of the stands to see what was going on. Most of them were either still unaware what was going on or in complete shock. Aaron’s friends watched as their friend was barely hanging on for his life and were still wondering how this had happened. Ann began crying in dismay and watched the ambulance turn right and head for the nearby hospital. All of them listened as the siren became softer until they could no longer hear it. If only Aaron knew that this was now a matter of life and death to him, and that this story could possibly end not so happily ever after.