Colorado Shooting Survivors Try to Heal

AURORA, Colo. July 22, 2012 — -- In the wake of a deadly shooting rampage that has devastated Aurora, Colo., and shocked the nation, the shooting's survivors are starting to try to put the pieces of their lives back together.

At a small church in Commerce City, about 10 miles outside of Aurora, the family of Jarell Brooks invited the family of Patricia Legarreta to join them at the New Life Worship Center, where Brooks' father is the pastor.

Legarreta was attending the sold-out midnight premiere of "The Dark Knight Rises" at a mall in Aurora on Friday with her fiance, 4-year-old daughter and infant son when suspected gunman James Holmes allegedly opened fire on the packed movie theater, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others.

When Brooks, 19, saw Legarreta struggling to get herself and her children out of the theater, he helped guide them to the door and got shot in the leg in the process.

Brooks and Legarreta were reunited for the first time on "Good Morning America" on Saturday and their families came together again at church today.

Legarreta attended the church service with her fiancé Jamie Rohrs, her children and her mother. Brooks did not attend because of his injured leg, but his parents, Pastor Jeffrey Brooks and Deidra Brooks, led the service.

"I don't know how long it'll take for the hurt and pain to end," Jeffrey Brooks said to the congregation of about 40 people. "But what I do know is if you put your trust in God, everything will be alright."

"I'm glad New Life is not planning a funeral this morning," he said. "It could have been worse."

The floor of the small church shook from the soulful music, jumping, cheering and dancing.

Legarreta and her family were brought to the front of the church to be introduced and Rohrs was overcome with emotion when Deidra Brooks gave him a tight hug.

"We'll be here for you," Pastor Brooks told the family. "You don't get much closer than that."

Deidra Brooks told that family and the congregation that they should disregard the online criticism about why the family took such young children to a movie showing and to believe that God had a plan for the family.

"It felt really good to just hear encouraging words from the pastor and it's a blessing just to be able to praise God," a choked up Rohrs told ABCNews.com after the service.

Deidra Brooks said her son is in pain, both mentally and physically.

"Emotionally, he's at a point where he tries to make jokes ... but he's not sleeping well," she told ABCNews.com. "He doesn't want to watch any of the news stuff. He hasn't watched TV at all."

She said her son no longer wants to play his video games, especially games that involve combat.

"I'm still concerned about him. I want him to be able to come out of the house," Brooks said. She is planning to set her son up with a counselor or therapist to help him.

About 20 miles away, shooting victim Zack Golditch was at home resting after being shot in the neck. He is taking comfort in the outpouring of support he has received on Facebook and Twitter from family, friends and strangers alike.

Golditch, 17, was in theater eight, right next door to where Holmes allegedly sprayed the audience with bullets. Some of the stray bullets went through the wall and entered theater eight.

Unlike the quiet movie scene playing in theater nine when the shooting broke out, theater eight was in the middle of a gun battle scene. So Golditch at first thought the sound was from the movie, until he saw smoke in the corner of the theater and noticed that another man was bleeding from his arm.

"I heard a bang behind my head and thought someone in the upper row had tossed a firecracker and it hit me," Golditch told ABCNews.com. "My ears were ringing, I was in shock and fell into my friend's lap next to me. I was yelling from the pain in my head and felt blood dripping really bad in my hands. Then I realized I was hit."

Golditch ran out of the theater and saw that his hand was covered in blood.

"I saw other people start to run out and looked to my left to theater nine and everyone was running out," he said. "Everyone was running out screaming, like it is in the movies."

Golditch left the theater building and didn't look back.

"I just ran as far as I could -- across the parking lot, across the street to the mall parking lot. I called 911 and said, 'I'm hit. I'm bleeding a lot,'" he said.

A group of construction workers saw him covered in blood and took hold of him. Golditch said one was a former army doctor who used a towel to put pressure on his neck and kept him in conversation until help arrived.

At the hospital, Golditch discovered that the bullet that hit him entered his neck right below his left earlobe and exited below his hairline. He said he feels pain in that area and cannot feel part of his left ear.

"It's difficult to wrap your head around that you're actually part of this instead of just hearing about it," he said. "I guess I really went through something tragic."

On Saturday, Golditch, a senior at Gateway High School, went to a vigil at the school in honor of classmate AJ Boik, one of 12 people killed in the shooting.

"They wrote out his name in candles on the track and I was looking and thinking, this could have been my name written in candles on the track," Golditch said. "It's scary to think about, so I try not to. I'm grateful that I'm here."

Golditch, a star football player, is focused on healing and said doctors tell him he should be back on the field in about a month. He was recruited to play football for Colorado State University and gave them his verbal commitment just last month. He expects to make a full recovery.

For now, he rests at home and has been watching media coverage of the shooting, with mixed emotions.

When asked how he feels when he sees Holmes on TV, he said, "I don't really want to wish bad upon anyone, but I just think when I saw his face on TV -- he was smiling and it's just really disturbing. I do think he deserves to be punished."