A man lies face down on the sidewalk outside the 14th Avenue Bodega after being shot by a young police officer. A pool of blackish red blood slowly oozes out from under him and a small quantity of cash is spread out beside him, some of it bloodstained. Four feet away lies a cheap revolver known as a black Saturday Night Special, safely kicked away by the officer who stands over him with his gun still drawn. The officer is understandably shaken after the dramatic events that just played out.
Remembering his rookie training, he speaks into his microphone mounted on his left shoulder and calls his dispatcher as a crowd of onlookers gathers, sharing a commentary of events to anyone within earshot.
“Seven-eight-one to dispatch. Shots fired. Suspect down and in custody. White male approximately 20 years old suffering from gunshot wounds to the abdomen. I need an ambulance for transport immediately”.
An old Spanish speaking man approaches the police officer to explain that the man on the ground had robbed his magazine and newspaper stand.
He tells the officer that he saw the man raising his gun and pointing it when he was ordered to drop it. Without hesitation, the officer shot the man.
Minutes later the area is filled with the sounds of sirens approaching the intersection. Additional police officers and an ambulance arrive, blocking the streets. Before moving the gunshot victim, the attending sergeant on duty removed the man’s wallet to try and to identify the injured man. He is identified as 21 year old Robert “Bobby” Smith, who was recently released from State prison after serving one year for a variety of petty drug, assault and property crimes.
The paramedics assessed the situation and rolled the man over on his back and began emergency first aid to stem the flow of blood by packing large white gauze pads on top of his wounds. Once he was loaded onto a gurney and pushed into the ambulance, they closed the back doors and raced towards the nearest hospital.
A few miles away, the late afternoon’s cloudy skies released a deluge of rain on the city below as another ambulance arrived in front of a public walk-in medical clinic. Two construction workers walking just a few steps away, witnessed a man slumping forward in obvious medical distress while seated on a bench reading a newspaper.
One of the construction workers who had recently received basic industrial first aid training, reasoned that the injured man hadn’t fallen or had any visible injuries. He quickly determined it would be safer to move him inside the clinic, rather than leave him out in the pouring rain.
Spotting an empty wheelchair parked just inside the clinic’s vestibule glass doors, they maneuvered the man onto it, moved him inside and called 9-1-1.
Although the man appeared to be around sixty years old, he looked healthy, but what the workers couldn’t know was he was in the midst of having a brain aneurysm, a potentially fatal affliction if not treated immediately.
Both ambulances arrived at the same hospital within a few minutes of each other. Each patient was rushed into the ER. After being triaged, the patients were wheeled into separate operating rooms where specialized medical teams were waiting.
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A week later “Bobby” Smith, who entered the hospital suffering from abdominal gunshot wounds, opened his eyes for the first time after receiving life saving emergency surgery. Woozy and confused, he tried to understand where he was. Looking around, he realized he was in a hospital bed that was surrounded with an eight foot tall blue curtain. It didn’t take long for him to discover he had been shackled to the bed with his left hand and right leg handcuffed to the rail of the bed.
He yelled out for someone, anyone within earshot, “Hey, anyone there? I need help!”
Now that he was awake, his body screamed in pain from the wounds in his gut, which were increasing in intensity by the minute.
A uniformed police officer entered the room and told him to keep the noise down. He then said he would get a nurse to come in and see him when she was free.
Bobby yelled at the cop saying, "I'm in a lot of pain here and why am I handcuffed?”
The officer replied “You’re handcuffed because you committed armed robbery, pointed a gun at police and when you get out of here, I imagine you’ll be going right back to jail buddy!”
The last thing Bobby remembered was approaching the street vendor’s stand. Everything else at this point was just a blur.
His mind was struggling to recall anything else from that day. Was it yesterday or was it a month ago? He couldn’t know. The opioid meds he was given after the operation work extremely well at controlling severe pain, but can cause confusion and hallucinations.
Eventually he would have a brief flash of memory of facing the patrolman on the sidewalk and being ordered to drop his weapon. He didn’t comply and was immediately shot. That was the extent of his recall of the event. He was also unaware of any other medical procedures he went through after being admitted to the hospital.
A few minutes later, a nurse entered his room, checked his chart and brought him a cup of ice chips to quench his thirst. Above the head of his bed was a sign that read “No Foods by Mouth.” She also told him that a doctor would be in to see him shortly to check on him.
“Hey, what about my pain? I’m hurtin’ here!”
She replied, “A doctor will be in to see you shortly”, turned and left the room.
He cursed her, “Bitch”, and yanked on his handcuffed arm which reminded him he was going nowhere any time soon.
Twenty minutes later both the police guard stationed outside his doorway, and the doctor entered his room, drew open the curtain on the left side of Bobby’s hospital bed revealing the room’s door and a metal chair to the right of the door opening.
Bobby immediately greeted both of them by angrily shouting, “It’s about time! I need pain meds!”
Both the doctor and police officer gave a sideways glance to each other as if to say, This guy’s a real piece of work!
The officer sat down on the chair in the corner and listened to what the doctor was saying to Bobby.
“Mr. Smith, my name is Doctor Chin. You have been under my care since you were brought in here a week ago. When you came into the hospital you were suffering from a gunshot wound to your abdomen and had lost a lot of blood.”
Bobby interrupted the doctor and said, “Yeah a cop shot me, cold blooded and I didn’t do nothin! And I want a real doctor, not some lady nurse!“
The doctor continued, “Mr. Smith, I am a real doctor, not a nurse, orderly, police officer or a lawyer. How you came to be shot is none of my concern. My only responsibility is your medical condition. Okay, got that?”
Bobby came back, “Ya, whatever Doctor Chink, I’m in agony here, what are you going to do about that?”
The doctor, taken back, paused for a moment before continuing, “I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that the drugs you’ve been receiving since your operations have affected your ears or disposition, so I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. My name is Doctor Chin, C-H-I-N, please remember that. After I’m done here, I’ll have the nurse bring you some pain meds, but first I need you to calm down and listen carefully to what I have to say, all right?”
“Ok doc, you go ahead and tell me what a great job you did on me by saving my life. Whadda ya want, a medal, or maybe a fortune cookie?”
The officer sitting in the corner, stood up and said, “Hey Smith, why don’t you show some respect and gratitude to the doctor here who saved your life?”
Doctor Chin continued, “Mr. Smith, whether you are aware of it or not, being shot is not your only issue. We successfully removed the bullet, but blood tests show that you have severe kidney disease. I suspect this is a result of prolonged drug and alcohol abuse. Am I right about that?”
Bobby interrupted, “Yeah okay, but what’s that got to do with me getting shot?”
The doctor continued, “When the bullet entered your abdomen, it ended up severely damaging your right kidney meaning it had to be removed. Everyone is born with two kidneys and under normal circumstances most people can live a long and healthy life with just one kidney assuming it is a healthy one. However your kidneys are at the critical stage due to some of your lifestyle choices. Your right kidney was damaged to the point of putting your life in serious jeopardy! So, after removing the remaining metal fragments from the area around the bullet damaged kidney, we had to perform a kidney transplant to keep you alive.
It was fortunate that we had a donor kidney from a man who had the same blood type as you, so it was an excellent match.”
Bobby yelled back at her, “So you’re telling me I have someone else’s kidney inside of me and I have no say in the matter?
Can you tell me who this donor was seeing that I’m carrying his kidney around in my gut for the rest of my life?”
The doctor explained, “No I’m sorry, due to privacy laws I do not know who the donor is, and even if I did know, I couldn’t reveal any information about the person”.
Bobby, becoming agitated asked, “Well will you at least tell me if he is white, cause I don’t want no kidney, from some darky, or illegal immigrant inside me!”
Visibly angered now, the doctor tried to remain calm and said, “Mr. Smith, the donor has given you a second chance at life. Medically it makes no difference what color or race he was. His generous gift is saving your life whether you like it or not. I can’t believe how ungrateful you are!”
Bobby came back, “You had no right to give me someone else’s kidney without my permission! I want you to take it out of me, right now!”
Trying very hard not to lose her cool, the doctor said, “No that’s not going to happen! If I could yank that kidney out of your body right now and give it to someone who truly deserves it, I would gladly do that, but I can’t!
I know you won’t believe me but being shot has actually saved your life! If you hadn’t been shot, I guarantee you would be dead within six months from total kidney failure and that’s a horrible way to die, so you might want to think about that Mr. Smith! I’ll send the nurse in now.”
The doctor closed the curtain around the bed, turned off the lights as both he and the guard left the room and slammed the door leaving Bobby alone in the dark room.
That both shocked and shut Bobby up!
Twenty minutes later a very young nurse came into the room and hung a small plastic vial and opioid pump onto the chrome metal intravenous pole beside his bed and connected it to the needle that had already been inserted into a vein on his wrist during the operation. The pain meds would begin to flow through his bloodstream in minutes.
She looked at Bobby and said, “I don’t know what went on in here between the doctor and you, but I have never seen him so mad! What did you say to him?”
The pain meds slowly started to enter Bobby’s body and take effect almost immediately. Bobby was starting to calm down and said, “I just told the doctor that I wanted to know where the kidney he put in me came from, and he wouldn’t tell me and that really pissed me off.”
The nurse said, “He’s right in not telling you. There’s a possible liability issue and most donor’s don’t want to be involved in any legal issues, plus sometimes the donor’s family doesn’t want to know who received their loved ones organ.”
“Bobby said, “I just want to know what type of person would give away a part of their body, that’s all.”
The nurse said, “I would think it was a very generous person that would donate any bodily organ. Sorry but I can’t help you, and she turned and left the room.”
As the opioids were starting to relieve Bobby’s pain he closed his eyes and dozed off, awakening about an hour later to the darkened room.
Upon opening his eyes, still groggy but starting to get his bearings, a voice called out, “You awake?”
Bobby replied, "I guess so, who are you?”
The voice came back, “Oh I guess I’m your new roommate. They moved me in here after the doctors were finished with me. My name is Daniel Reyes, what’s yours?”
Bobby replied, “Daniel eh? My name is Robert, but I go by Bobby. Bobby Smith. Whatcha you in for?”
Daniel replied, “Oh I had a bit of a problem in my brain, and they had to give me an operation and I ended up here, and what about you? What brings you here Bobby?”
Bobby replied, “I got shot if you can believe it.”
“Shot! How’d that happen?”
Bobby came back, “Oh just a misunderstanding.”
Daniel said, “I’ve never met anyone who’s been shot before. Hopefully you’ll be okay.”
“Oh I guess so. The doctors patched me up and gave me a new kidney while they were in there. I just hope the kidney came from the right kind of person cause I wouldn’t want any parts from just anyone” was Bobby’s reply.
Daniel stayed silent for a few moments before continuing, “I don’t know what you mean when you say, the right kind of person.”
Without hesitation Bobby said, “You know someone who’s different from me and has the right kind of blood.”
Daniel replied, “Oh, don’t worry about that. They make sure that your blood type matches the donor’s, so you’ve got nothing to worry about.”
Bobby paused for a second before explaining, “No, you know what I mean. Someone who looks different from me.”
Daniel asked, “What do you mean looks different?”
Bobby answered back, “Different like those darkies and immigrants who come in here stealing our jobs and living off our welfare system. It’s not right if you ask me.”
Daniel paused to think about what Bobby was saying and then said, “I’m sorry but I can’t agree with you on that. You received the gift of life from someone and you’re worried about where they come from or how they feed their family? I don’t get it.”
Bobby, starting to get defensive, asked, “Well let me ask you, what do you do for a living? You sound like you’re probably a lot like me. I’ll bet you’re from around here right.”
Daniel answered, “Well yes I live here in the city and I own a restaurant.”
“See, you’re like me. You’re a hard working man making an honest living on your own with no handouts from nobody. I’ll bet your family has been here for generations. Am I right?” was Bobby’s reply.
Trying to contain himself, Daniel answered, “I do have my own business, but it hasn’t always been easy for me or my family.
My parents came here from Mexico before I was born and worked their asses off to feed and clothe me. My father started off as a dishwasher in a diner and over the years he eventually was able to open up his own restaurant. There was a short period of time when they didn’t want to, but had to accept some help from their friends and church to keep food on the table. They were very hard working, proud people, so that wasn’t an easy thing for them to have to do. When I got older, they somehow found the money to send me to college and when I finished school I got a decent job. Now I repay them by supporting them because they are too old to work. So you and I are not alike, not in any way!
I don’t know much about you, but the fact that you’d reject a life saving organ from someone who is somehow different from you, tells me all I need to know. The only thing you and I have in common is that it’s MY kidney inside you that’s keeping you alive!”
Bobby, for all his bravado, was stunned at this revelation, but Daniel wasn’t finished yet and said, “I can only hope that God forgives you and takes mercy on you.”
Taking a few moments to collect himself he asked Daniel, “Why did you agree to donate your kidney when you didn’t know who would get it?”
Daniel replied, “Whoever got my kidney wasn’t important to me. I just hoped that whoever received it needed and appreciated it. That’s all that mattered to me, knowing that a piece of me might give someone a chance at a better life.
I would never have agreed to donate my kidney to anyone with a racist attitude like yours!”
Bobby sat quiet when Daniel raised his voice and said, “What’s the matter Gringo, cat got your tongue?
He continued, “Oh and here’s something else I need to tell you so you remember me during your lonely dark nights while you’re thinking about a bit of Mexican blood in you. I’m a gay man in a life long relationship with my husband!”
Bobby jolted, “You’re Gay?”
Daniel came back, “Yes I am. Now I haven’t been tested lately but I don’t think I’m HIV positive, but you never know with us Mexican gays Amigo!”
Chuckling, Daniel continued, “Whadda ya think about that?” You hit the trifecta boy. I am one of those darkies who’s family comes from Mexico, I’m a gay man and I’ll be inside your head for the rest for the rest of your miserable life, and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it. Oh, and just think what your racist buddies will think if they ever discover you’re now part Mexican.
And finally, every time you get a fever, think of me.
Every time you have a sore throat, think of me.
Every time you have the night sweats, think of me, and then ask yourself, do I or don’t I have HIV?
Sweet dreams Bobby boy. Enjoy the rest of your life!”
A moment later, Doctor Chin and the guard walked in.
The doctor spoke first, “So, Mr Smith, how are we doing? Feeling any better about things today?”
Bobby wasted no time in shouting his response, “Hell No!
Did you know about the man who donated my new kidney? He’s a darkie, he’s a Mexican and that son of a bitch is GAY! What the Hell have you done to me?”
The Doctor replied, “What are you talking about? I told you I didn’t know who the donor was, nor would I even care as long as the two of you were a solid match for the transplant. Where did you get the idea that the donor was a gay Mexican?”
Bobby yelled back, “The guy’s in the bed next to me. Ask him yourself!”
The Doctor reached around and pulled the curtains back from the entire bed revealing just one bed in the room, Bobby’s. She then said, “See for yourself there’s no one else in here. I don’t know who or what you think you were talking to, but there’s not been anyone in the room since I saw you last night. Patrolman Thomas, has anyone been into Mr. Smith’s room at all? “
His reply was simple, “No Ma'am, no one.”
Bobby was not convinced, he said to the Doctor, “Well this must be some kind trick you’re pullin’ on me. I know there was someone in here.”
The Doctor answered back, “Did you actually see this person?”
“No," was Bobby’s answer, “I told you he was on the other side of the curtain.”
Doctor Chin continued, “Did he tell you his name?”
Bobby said, “Yes! He said his name was Daniel Ryes and he was in here for some type of head operation.”
The doctor appeared stunned. “Well, there was a patient in here by that name that underwent an emergency operation for a brain aneurysm. I wasn’t involved in the surgery so I don’t know all the details, but I know Mr. Reyes unfortunately passed away on the operating table.
Come to think about it, it was on the same day that you were brought in here.
I’m afraid you must be mistaken Mr. Smith.”
Bobby was still sure Daniel was real and had been in his room, so he said, “Well I know he was here!”
With that the Doctor said, “I’m sorry, but there’s nothing else I can tell you.”
With that the doctor shut the lights off as she and the guard walked out the room leaving Bobby to think about Daniel and the events of the day in the quiet darkness in the room and in his mind.
COPYRIGHT 2025 K L SMITH ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
