Leo opened the door of the cruiser and stepped out before it came to a full stop. The rain pelted his face and head. The wind jerked the poplar tops at the edge of the road where he ran but didn’t see Chick anywhere. He looked at the small clearing the van had to have come from. He waded through the brush at its border, the thicket branches pulling against his legs. He peered into the trees and started to go in when the cop yelled something and there was Chick lying on the road behind his truck on his back. The cop was squatting beside him, holding two fingers up under Chick’s jawbone. When Leo got close he felt something rise and fall in him all at once; Chick’s eyes were closed and his face wasn’t blue anymore, just very pale, and wet, the rain washing away the blood around his nose and mouth. But something looked wrong with his arms and legs. His right elbow was square and turned out, and his wrist was almost as wide as his hand. His left pant leg was stretched out at the thigh, while his right wasn’t.

The cop put his ear to Chick’s chest, saying words Leo couldn’t hear over the rain. He squatted at Chick’s splayed feet, hoping to Jesus the policeman wasn’t saying what he thought he was. “What? What did you say?”

The cop was up and running to his car, his supply belt and gun holster bouncing. Leo closed his eyes and when he opened them the policeman was back, trying to lay a blanket out on the road next to Chick, but the wind picked up the corners and rolled it back. Leo jumped up to hold two of them down. The cop slid his arms underneath Chick’s back, letting Chick’s head rest on his forearm. He tucked his other hand under Chick’s armpit, then pulled him onto the blanket. Leo reached for Chick’s feet.

“Careful, he has breaks all over.”

“They had a bat, they had a frigging bat.”

The cop came around, then gently lifted Chick’s legs over onto the blanket that was so wet now there were puddles in the folds. He went back around to the other end and grabbed the blanket at its corners. “Lift when I say to, and watch where you step.”

Chick wasn’t heavy at all. This didn’t seem right. Both rear doors of the cruiser were open. The cop told Leo to back through one door and exit the other and don’t bump anything as we lay him on the seat. When Leo stepped backwards out of the car, leaving Chick laid out in the back seat, he could see Chick’s stomach move a little with his breathing, but not much. The policeman got an orange rain slicker from the trunk and covered Chick with it. Then he shut both doors, got in behind the wheel, and called in on his radio, telling Sergeant Mike he was going straight to Holyoke Hospital. The blue light on the roof turned back and forth in its globe. He pulled the door shut. “Get in.”