Abacus

brilliant muzzle flash light up a shooter in the darkened lane, followed by the unmistakable blast of the gun. His ears rang out loud as a burning sensation coursed through his chest. He looked up to see a second bright muzzle flash. He staggered against the wall and tried to draw his weapon. But he couldn’t use his arm. “Fuck you!” he yelled, chasing the retreating shooter down the lane.
    The loud roar of a Harley Davidson motorcycle echoed between the cold buildings as he watched the shooter escape as pillion. Randall sat down in the lane. He had been hit in the right chest, and judging by the pain and immobility of his right arm, it had passed out through the back of his right shoulder. As he breathed, a wheezing, sucking sound came from the entry wound in his chest. He was sure the bullet had passed through his lung. Holding his hand over the wound to prevent the air escaping, he staggered out into the street where the shooter had ridden off. Passersby stared at him as he searched the gutter and road for the casings with a blood-soaked shirt and hand. With a crowd now gathering, he walked back into the lane and continued his search until he located a metal jacket about fifteen metres from the laneway entry. Reaching down to pick it up, everything began to spin before he collapsed onto the roadway, totally losing consciousness.
    * * *
    “Good morning, Detective,” the nurse greeted as she pulled on the blind cord inviting the warming sunrays into his room. Gawking at her petite uniformed figure, he had an instant flashback of Nurse Helen Florence. As she walked towards him he could not help but smile.
    “Well , you seem to be improving.”
    R andall looked at her name plate. “Why, thank you, Nurse… Peters, I feel much better. So do you think I will pull through?”
    “I think you will be fine.”
    “This is nothing really, a beautiful nurse, much like you, broke my heart earlier this year, that was much more painful.”
    “Is that right?” She laughed. “I find that hard to believe you’d be heartbroken for any length of time.”
    “Ouch, now that hurt,” he said playfully.
    Once she left the room, Randall gently touched his heavily bandaged chest and shoulder as his surgeon entered the room.
    “Ex cellent, you are up,” he said, pulling the clipboard from the end of the bed.
    “I feel good as new , Doc, and ready to go once you give me the all clear.”
    “Well , steady up there, you only had surgery last night. You are going to have to stay in for a few days before we can give you the all clear. We need to keep an eye on that lung, then there are infections to think about.”
    Randall looked out the window into the blue sky. “How did the surgery go, Doc? I feel pretty good.”
    “Well , the bullet passed right through you, so we didn’t have to dig around for it. It went through your right lung, which as a result had collapsed. Then left through your right shoulder. You are quite lucky as it just missed a major artery. If it hit that, we wouldn’t be talking right now.”
    “L et’s just work on the positives, eh, Doc,” he said, dreading the thought of dying and leaving his children behind. “So how long do you think I will be in for?”
    “At least three days, we’ll see ho w things go from there.” Tapping on his wrist, the doctor continued. “Well, it’s almost lunchtime, I want you to eat up, rest up and I will be back to see you tomorrow.”
    As the d octor left, Randall looked out the window in deep thought. He now felt very confused. Perhaps it was DL trying to kill me, but I have never heard of them failing. The longer I stay in hospital, the easier a target I will become. I need to get out of here to get some answers.
    Looking up at the drip bag, he followed the clear tube that entered his inner arm. After checking the hall was clear, he pulled the catheter from his arm and held his thumb over the puncture to stop the bleeding. He winced in pain as he pulled himself up off the bed. He pulled the plastic liner from the waste bin and slowly gathered his belongings and put them in.
    “Where are you off to ?” came a familiar voice from behind the dividing curtain.
    Ripping the curtain open , Randall looked into the eyes of the frail elderly man. He looked much older than he had expected, but he could tell from his build he would have been quite a tall, solid man in his younger years.
    “I suppose you ’re here to finish me off?” Randall asked calmly.
    “No,