“I’ve gone to the hospital and gotten nowhere. I talked to the police, and they’re aware that he’s missing. Not knowing what else to do, I called Frank Ingram because he might put me in touch with Rita. He told me you were all here, so I came over,” Kent said.
My phone rang. It was a local number, so I answered.
“Mr. Dawson?”
“Yes.”
“This is Cheryl at the hospital. I have some bad news. Your friend Craig Wild has been identified as one of the dead.”
“Thank you so much for letting me know,” I said and hung up.
I looked at Kent; it must have shown on my face.
“NO!” he cried in anguish.
“What did they say?” Fritz asked.
“That was the woman I talked to at the hospital. She promised to call me if she had news. Craig didn’t make it.”
Kent was inconsolable. He and Craig had been friends for years. Kent’s job was to keep Craig out of trouble. Craig had been in the business since he was younger than I was. He’d gone through his Lindsay Lohan phase and ended up in rehab more than once. Kent had held Craig’s hand through the worst of it and gotten him straightened out.
◊◊◊
Rita got a call that Trip was awake and asking for her. We all drove to the hospital. They’d moved him from recovery to his own room. They were only letting two people in at a time, so Halle and Rita got to go in first. When Halle came out, Fritz was let in. When they came out, Kent and I got our turn.
His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked wan.
“Did they tell you about Craig and Andy?” I asked.
“Yeah, that was messed up. I heard the shots, and my first thought was just to get out of there. I saw Craig … it was terrible. Then it felt like I’d been hit with a sledgehammer, and the next thing I remember is waking up here.
“I can’t believe they’re gone. Fritz told me that I owe Andy my life. What am I supposed to do with that?” he asked.
Neither Kent nor I had an answer for him.
I’d gotten to know Trip through Halle and Rita and considered him a friend. It was hard to see him with his head wrapped and shoulder patched. He put on a good act, but you could see in his eyes that he was hurting. All I had to do was think of Jeff Rigger, and I understood how Trip felt right now.
Trip started to feel tired, so we said our goodbyes.
◊◊◊
We came out to the waiting room where Rita was talking to someone from the hospital with Frank at her side. When they were done, he motioned Halle and me over.
“Someone leaked to the press that Trip is here and that Rita’s in the building. They want to have her make a statement. I fear the alternative is them hounding you when you come or go,” Frank said.
“Won’t they do that anyway?” Rita asked.
She had a point.
“I imagine so, but I would advise you to give them a brief statement.”
“Okay, let’s do it,” Rita said.
◊◊◊
The hospital had a place for the press to talk to Rita. Frank wanted Halle and me to stand behind her to show support. Rita stepped up to the podium and read her statement.
“I received a frightening message last night that my son Trip had been shot. They say there are five stages of grief. I think I’ve gone through the first two, denial and bargaining. I’m at the third stage, anger.
“How dare someone think they can move their political agenda forward by killing or wounding our youth? My son accompanied his friend out for a night of fun. They were ready to wrap up their night and go home when they were gunned down by this … this …” she got out and then turned to clutch Halle.
I stepped forward.
“I’m David A. Dawson, a close friend of the James family. As you can see, this tragedy has a personal face to it. Trip James was with his friend Craig Wild who was here to appear at the Hero Hype convention for comic books. After Craig had finished for the day, he had dinner with his friends, and then Trip and he went to Pulse. Trip was accompanied by his personal bodyguard, Andy Lewis.
“Unfortunately, both Craig and Andy lost their lives. Trip was shot twice and is now recovering from those wounds. Our sympathy goes out to everyone who was there last night, and to the families and friends who either lost someone or who are related to one of the injured.
“Today, Rita James is just like you. She is grieving that she almost lost her son and praying that he will fully recover. We would ask that you respect that and allow her and her family to deal with this tragedy with dignity. We ask that you keep the James family and all the other families in your prayers. This tragedy strikes too close to home. We need to come together and support each other now more than ever.
“Thank you for allowing Rita to make a statement. When she’s feeling better, she will make herself available for questions. I’m sorry, but she’s not in a state of mind to answer any at this time,” I said and stepped back.
Of course, that didn’t stop the press from yelling their questions. Rita led us out of the room, and Fritz had a car waiting for us. We were safely away before anyone said anything.
“Thank you, David. I almost said some things I could never take back,” Rita said.
“It was almost like he’s done this a time or two,” Frank said.
“I just read what you put in front of me.”
“No, seriously. Good job,” Frank said.
◊◊◊
When we got back to the hotel, Fritz had more information. Someone had sent over a copy of the 911 transcript of the terrorist’s call.
Dispatcher: Emergency 911, this is being recorded.
Gunman: In the name of God the Merciful, the beneficent [said in Arabic]
Dispatcher: What?
Gunman: Praise be to God, and prayers, as well as peace, be upon the prophet of God [said in Arabic]. I wanna let you know, I’m in Orlando, and I did the shootings.
Dispatcher: What’s your name?
Gunman: My name is I pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of the Islamic State.
Dispatcher: Okay, what’s your name?
Gunman: I pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may God protect him [said in Arabic], on behalf of the Islamic State.
Dispatcher: All right, where are you at?
Gunman: In Orlando.
Dispatcher: Where in Orlando?
“Who is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi?” Kent asked.
“I think he just became the world’s most wanted terrorist,” I said, and then Googled him. “He’s the leader of ISIS. It looks like they’ve tried to kill him a couple of times, but no one can confirm if he’s still alive or not.”
◊◊◊
I needed to get home. I had to prepare for my U-18 tryouts and hadn’t seen my family in over a month. Rita and Halle assured me they would be okay, so I grabbed a cab to the airport; Flo accompanied me and then took a taxi back to the hotel. Paul picked me up at the Chicago airport and drove me home.
Duke met me at the back door of my apartment. He bowled me over, licked me to death to show his love for me, and sniffed me all over to assure himself I was okay. Then I let him out to run off some energy. At least he was happy to see me. It was close to three in the morning, so I had to try to keep him quiet. When we walked upstairs, I found two cribs in my living room. Duke making a ruckus had awakened Coby.