Southern Gothic Story - Blood & Mud: Struck Down in the Feed Trough

The rain was coming down softer now but the mud was still thick under his boots and he could hear the tractor running in the distance even though Tom wasn't anywhere in sight. He opened the gate and ran through the field and saw the body slumped over one of the feed troughs, the upper part laying down inside the now rain-soaked feed and the thick legs dangling over.

"Tom! What's wrong! Tom!"

He grabbed Tom's shirt and pulled him up from the trough and examined his face. The eyes were closed, the light brown feed-dust covered most of his mustache, the mouth was slouching into a morbid death-frown, but no blood anywhere. Lower down however, on Tom's shoulder, he saw the white t-shirt stained a deep red. Next to Tom's limp body were some drilling rods leaning against the feed trough and he guessed Tom had scraped one on his way down.

"Talk to me, Tom. Tell me what happened. Tell me you're all right."

But he could tell Tom was not going to respond anytime soon.

"Don't worry, I'll get you to a hospital. Don't worry about a thing. You'll be fine."

He lifted the body up and hoisted it over his shoulder and his feet started slipping in the mud and he strained and grunted all the way to his pickup. He pulled open the door and pushed Tom into the passenger seat where he slumped over lifeless and he slammed the door and ran around and got in and put his hand on the key to start the engine and he saw his best friend's blood on his hands. He tried to wipe them on his jeans but the blood was already too dry. He hated having his friend's blood on him. He looked over and Tom was still hunched down in the seat, completely lifeless. He started the engine and floored the pickup, roaring off toward the hospital.

He didn't have to wait long in the emergency room. The place was empty and two nurses took Tom right away and after five minutes or so a doctor came out and told him his best friend was dead.

"Massive heart attack. Also a possible stroke. Probably hit him out of nowhere. He never had a chance. I'm sorry, sir."

He stared at the floor, not believing his best friend of over 30 years was really dead. It seemed impossible. "Are you sure?" he asked in complete seriousness.