The Art Of Death

There have been four deaths in the last three or four months of regulars from my bar- some not even in the area, but while they were out of town. Most recently was the sweetest, silliest girl I've ever known, who passed away after several days on life support.
Last Thursday, we had a very quiet, uneventful night at the bar. No fights, a small-ish crowd for a Thursday, no big thing.
And then closing time came, and I was working the parking lot with three of the guys.
To say a fight started isn't an accurate description. We heard yelling, I saw an arm raised and come down, and I pulled a young man off the fight the male bouncers were already trying to break up.
There was so much blood.
I hate it when it's soldiers fighting- I spent more than five relatively uneventful years as a US Army Medic and, truthfully, I've seen more medical trauma in the three or four months I've worked at the bar, from seizures to fights, etc.
This was the worst I've ever seen, though.
One of our bouncers caught a couple nicks from the knife.
The young man covered in blood had some very serious injuries. I just held pressure and talked to him, trying to keep him as calm as possible. There was so little I could do for him, and the injuries were so bad, I didn't think he'd make it until the ambulance arrived. He was so sweet and funny, and so young.
He lived, though, the police told me when I left the station at 6 the following morning that he was still in surgery, but doing far better than had been expected. I cried.
People at work have called me hero and told me I saved his life, and maybe- MAYBE- that's the case, but really, who's to say? He was a fighter, he wasn't giving up that easily and it just wasn't his time. I'm just glad he survived.
Today, I get a text message.
One of my favorite battle buddies took shrapnel in Afghanistan, but has been taken to Germany and is in stable condition.
I've lost a lot of people in my life- far more than most people- but the numbers on this are really starting to scare me. How many people I know will be hurt or killed before this horrible streak is over?