Three terribly injured women try to rebuild their lives. Meanwhile the country goes wild.
“Are the girls OK?”
“Yes, they’re here with you.”
“I asked if they were OK not if they are here. What’s wrong? Are they going to die?”
“You’re all going to live.”
“You’re keeping something from me. They just gave me a shot. I’m feeling some better but my legs hurt like hell till a few minutes ago. My knees felt like they were being twisted off and my ankles felt like someone was bending them back.”
“He shot you in the knees.” It was the first time he admitted this to one of them, in fact it was the first he really admitted it to himself.
“He did that because I kicked the needle, if I hadn’t done that we might be OK. I made noise and it made him mad. That’s why he shot us.”
For the third time Jaci complained that her right foot itched. Sandra felt funny about it but she slid her hand under the sheet and rubbed her leg. She smiled, “Thanks, that felt good. Can you do it some more?”
“Sure, I’ll do it any time you need it.”
“Thanks, that is the first it really stopped feeling funny.” Sandra wondered what rubbing the side of an artificial leg did for the patient but it helped Jaci that was enough.
The press reports that were speculation the day before turned to pure fiction. They found a video camera that was running on site and counted the gunfire. The counts were bursts of 4, 4, 4, 4, 8, and 4 rounds a total of 28 rounds. They knew an agent and the attacker were killed. They speculated that two of the bursts were those actions. This left twenty rounds for the women. The press speculated this was six or seven each. A doctor was asked how many shooting victims that get hit with six heavy bullets survive. He shook his head, “Very few if they hit the body or head.” With the speculation from the day before it was assumed that some of the shots were body and head shots. There was speculation that the president’s family was being kept alive on life support pending his decision to cut it off. By two PM protests were staged outside the White House against him pulling the plug on his family and others protesting that he not keep them alive by artificial means. The media tone was set and everyone was playing to the same pitch.
The First Family: Chapter 1 – Introduction
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