Tomas Beats Marissa. Luke Begs God.

Running Toward Hope, Chapter 4

LT holds Bobby up as they stumble into the ER.

“Can I help you?” mumbles the guy behind the triage desk. He’s typing and cradling a phone between shoulder and cheek all at the same time.

“Um? My friend? He’s bleeding.” LT holds out his stained hands. “See?”

The man sounds bored. “Bleeding from where? How long?”

“Stand up, man. Look.” LT points out a trail of red drops leading from the auto-revolving doors of Lenox Hill’s ER entrance. Bobby lifts his head off his older friend’s shoulder for a second and looks down to where a couple of bright red pearls have just splattered onto the white floor. His eyes roll back in his head.

LT catches him just before his face smacks into the glazed tiles.

Incredibly, the man behind the desk continues to look bored. Whatever he says on the phone yields fast action, though.

Two women bustle up from out of nowhere and kneel down. One of them talks slowly and calmly while the other seems to listen to Bobby’s heart. Two men appear, rolling a cart — not rushing, but moving really fast.

The four medical professionals have Bobby stretched out on the top of it before LT even…