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Tate · 07-10-2020, 06:52 PM

Previously on the Chronicles of Knox Booth:
Chapter 1 - First Article
Chapter 2 - The SMJHL Draft Approaches
Chapter 3 - The Losses Mount
Chapter 4 - Draft Day (SMJHL)
Chapter 5 - Collect $200 when you Pass Go
Chapter 6 - Best Served Cold
Chapter 7 - Lucky Guy
Chapter 8 - The Mid-Day Move
Chapter 9 - The Day the Earth Stood Still
Chapter 10 - Rumors
Chapter 11 - Against All Odds
Chapter 12 - Straight Shooter
Chapter 13 - Bullseye

Chapter 14

One Hand Man

“What are you expecting me to do?” The question was simple and a fair one at that, and Knox Booth could only give it a two-word answer in return.

“Fix this,” Knox said as held up his bloodied right hand, still dripping from a hole in his palm, and one in which had been pierced by a bullet less than twenty-five minutes before. Knox was talking to what he believed to be a friend, the former doctor for his junior hockey team, and one of the few people in this world that he trusted.

The thin and skeleton like Dr. Phillip Lee had left the world of hockey and opened his own practice, doing his best to find work that would be more consistent and stable than that of sports. He wasn’t a young doctor by today’s standard, but he was well accomplished and proud of what he had achieved by making the switch out of sports. The greatest benefit he had gained from it was his ability to now spend more time with his family, and that had made the decision worth it on its own. Dr. Lee had kept ties with some of the players he watched grow from boys into men and would occasionally share phone calls with them or meet with them for a lunch or dinner, whenever they should be back in town.

Dr. Lee had not, however, seen nor heard from Knox since his ascension into the SHL, but it wasn’t due to a lack of effort from either side. People get busy and fall out of touch, and such was the case between them. That is why when Knox showed up on his doorstep, he was surprised, but not bothered. It wasn’t until he saw why Knox had showed up that he become immediately alarmed by his presence. It was clear to him from that instant that Knox was in trouble, and not the kind of trouble that you want to get involved with, “You have to go to the hospital, and then the police,” Dr. Lee told him, frank in his opinion as to what Knox should do.

Knox had expected that reaction from Dr. Lee, and was ready with his answer, “I can’t do that,” he told him honestly, “I’m in trouble, and I need your help.”

“I could lose my license if I do that,” Dr. Lee stepped back from the doorway with his hand sliding along the edge of the frame, he was a moment away from closing the door shut.

“Please let me in,” Knox pleaded, the fear in his voice hid the pain that was radiating from his hand, “If I go to the hospital, it’s all over for me.”

“I don’t have anything here,” Dr. Lee said, his mind searching for any kind of reason he could give to avoid the situation he was now in, “My supplies and tools are-“

“I just need you to bandage me up,” Knox cut him off, also looking for any reason to persuade him, “Please, I’m begging you.”

Dr. Lee broke eye contact as his eyes drifted back down to the wound in Knox’s hand, and he watched for a moment as blood continued to collect on the cement step outside his doorway, “Meet me at the back of the house, don’t touch anything with your bloodied hand,” and with that Dr. Lee closed the front door.

Knox listened for a moment, he could hear Dr. Lee’s footsteps on the inside of the house move away from the door and slowly fade away. Satisfied that Dr. Lee was intent on helping him, Knox did as he had been instructed and made his way to the back of Dr. Lee’s large home, using his left hand to open the gate on the side of his house.

***

“What on Earth did you do, Knox?” Dr. Lee asked him, shocked at the condition of his hand, “I almost don’t want to know the details, but this is what I thought I saw when I looked down at your hand in the doorway- it’s a bullet wound.”

Knox hesitated for a moment as he watched Dr. Lee look through the hole in the middle of the, “Yes, it is,” Knox confirmed.

Dr. Lee looked up at him, “From what I remember, you weren’t a person who played around with guns, did you do this to yourself?”

Knox contemplated how much he should tell Dr. Lee, “It was a mistake,” Knox spoke quickly, but he meant every word. He realized after he had fled from the warehouse that he had made a gigantically poor decision, and one that he wouldn’t be able to fully come back from. There was unfinished business left ahead, some of it between himself and the men who were now pursuing him. Some of it with the Los Angeles Panthers when he returned from his trip. He was going to have to explain his hand to the team management and he wasn’t sure if he would get to remain as a part of the organization. Just looking at his hand from a non-medical perspective told him he would likely never be able to use it the same way again, and the only solace he had in that thought was the fact that it was his glove hand. “Will I be able to open and close my hand after it heals?” Knox asked.

Dr. Lee shook his head slightly, unsure of how much reassurance to give him, “I don’t know,” he told him truthfully, “But you won’t be able to open or close it at all for the next couple of weeks. It could be months,” Dr. Lee said offhandedly, “Everyone heals differently, and this…” Dr. Lee trailed off for a moment, “This… is significant.”

Knox grimaced, partially because of the work Dr. Lee was performing on him, and also at the thought of the playoffs that were ahead. Knox was expected to start, and he was mortified at the idea that he had just given it all up because of an insane idea that he had convinced himself would work. Not only had he failed miserably in avenging his parent’s killer, he had now maimed himself for potentially the rest of his life- however long that might be. “I just need to be able to open and close it,” Knox said aloud, more talking to himself than to that of Dr. Lee, “That’s all I need.”

“Whatever you do,” Dr. Lee told him, “Be careful, especially over the next week or so. Try not to move your hand at all,” Dr. Lee peered inside Knox’s hand, looking for at bits of metal fragments from the bullet that had broken apart and lodged within his hand, “If you aggravate this wound, it will start bleeding again.” Dr. Lee looked up at him again, his facial expression serious, “You’ll need additional care after today, it will have to be checked frequently to ensure it does not become infected. You could lose your whole hand if you don’t follow through on that, do you understand me when I say that?”

Knox nodded, “Yes,” his voice was quiet, but his heart was still racing.

“Did you do this to yourself?” Dr. Lee asked him again, knowing already what the answer was.

“It’s better if that’s what you think,” Knox said as sweat poured down from his brow, “I know I shouldn’t have come here, but I don’t want you involved.”

“I read about your parents,” Dr. Lee said as his eyes drifted back to the wound and he worked to clean it out to the best of his abilities, “I’m sorry.”

“Thank you,” Knox said with sincerity as his eyes watered from pain, he could barely see what Dr. Lee was doing as he cleaned the inside of his hand.

“I’m not here to tell you how to live your life,” Dr. Lee said as he stuffed the wound with gauze and worked to wrap it in bandaging, “I have no choice but to report this.”

“If you do, I’ll lose everything,” Knox said.

“And what about me?” Dr. Lee asked him as he made eye contact with him once more, “I’ve worked my whole life for what I have. Do you expect me to throw it all away?”

Knox shook his head, “Of course not, you’re the only person I could think of. Give me one day to fly back to Los Angeles, please?” Dr. Lee was about to respond but Knox could see already that the answer was no. “If I’m in Los Angeles they won’t be able to arrest me, not right away. Please, it’s my only chance to get back.”

“What kind of trouble are you in?” Dr. Lee asked him, before he shook his head, “Forget it, don’t tell me. When is your flight?”

“I haven’t booked it yet,” Knox wanted to be honest, “But that doesn’t matter, I can practically walk on, and I’ll be gone by tomorrow night.”

Dr. Lee sat back and looked down at Knox’s bandaged hand, “This will likely bleed through by then, and it will have to be changed the moment you’re back. I can give you until five o’clock tomorrow, after that, I make the call.”

“Thank you,” Knox was fighting back tears, the shock of the situation was overwhelming him, and his emotions were out of control.

“Knox,” Dr. Lee spoke in a matter of fact tone, “I can’t have you come here again.”

“I know and I won’t be back in town anytime-“

“No,” Dr. Lee cut him off, “Let me finish. I can’t see you ever again. I don’t know what it is that you’ve done, and I hope I don’t end up reading about it later. But what you’ve done here and now is unacceptable, you’ve put me in danger, and a situation that no person- let alone doctor should have to face. I need you to leave now, and I want you to know that if I ever see you again, I’m going to call the police.”

Knox was stunned, “I’m…,” he tried to find the right words, and used the only one he could think of, “Sorry.”

“Take care of yourself,” Dr. Lee told him, “You were a good kid,” He paused for a moment, “There’s still time to be a good man.”

***

Knox could see the faint color of red through his bandaging as he stood in line, waiting to board his flight. Dr. Lee had done a good job of keeping his hand intact and had done his best to minimize the bleeding, and for that Knox would be forever grateful. Knox knew that booking a flight in advance could be a death sentence, as he was sure that Daniel Murphy was searching for him and that he would have his men staked out at all exits of the city.
Knox had shown up at the crack of dawn to the Vancouver airport and had only needed to wait three hours before he was able to get on a plane to Los Angeles, because just as he had hoped, there was an airline that happened to have a seat available. Knox paid a premium to get his ticket, but he didn’t mind, he would have paid damn near anything to get out of the country. He knew that he wasn’t going to be safe in Los Angeles when he got there. He was a walking target, and a person that would be easy to find when it came to Daniel Murphy’s associates. But what he needed to do was avoid arrest for his actions the day prior. Knox had, after all, fired a weapon at armed men, and while those men were most certainly criminals- he had now officially joined their ranks.

Knox dreaded the conversations that were to come the moment he rejoined the team, but the first thing he intended to do was to go to a private clinic and have the bandaging changed in his hand. After that he would head to the arena and discuss his, “accident,” with management. He could only hope that they would allow him to continue to practice and play, and not shut him down completely. All he needed to do was to be able to open and close his hand, and that would be enough when it came to action of catching a puck. Knox had been fortunate in that one of his strengths in goaltending had been both his blocker and glove, so to lose some functionality in his right hand would hopefully not mean the end of his career. But if it did, he recognized that he deserved that.

He deserved worse.

Knox let off a sigh of relief when he made it past the airplane staff and sat down in his seat, and he was able to lean back into his chair the moment the plane left the ground and ascended into the air. I made it, he thought, I’m out of Canada. The only question now was what he was going to do about Daniel Murphy, and whether he was going to get to do anything about Murphy before he and his men got a hold of him. The game of cat and mouse had officially begun, and the clock was now ticking.

2224 words

*Carpy48* · 07-11-2020, 04:39 AM

Good story again. If I don't see a TPE redistribution coming soon to drop your Glove stats (and keep them low for a while) this isn't very realistic. Tongue

DeletedAtUserRequest · 07-11-2020, 01:46 PM

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Tate · 07-11-2020, 05:46 PM

07-11-2020, 04:39 AMCarpy48 Wrote: Good story again. If I don't see a TPE redistribution coming soon to drop your Glove stats (and keep them low for a while) this isn't very realistic.

It's to explain my performance in the postseason Wink

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