Saving You

Introduction

"Down there. Look-"

"What is it?"

"I, I think.. It's a body! Someone's in the water!"

"Jesus! Call an ambulance! I'll try to get them out!"

"I'm already calling!"

-

I rush down the side of the hill to the river. The body is floating close to the edge of the water. I rush to the water and hold onto a branch as I reach for it.

It's not moving, "Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead." I chant to myself as I pull it closer to the side by their arm.

I pull them up onto land and bring them up the hill slightly, "It's a guy!" I pull his body up and then stop once I reach the top.

I lay him down and check for a breath, "Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead. Please don't b-"

I don't feel a breath, "He's not breathing!"

"Do CPR or something! The ambulance is on their way!"

I nod and do the prep I learnt in high school, "Okay, tilt the head..."

I place my hands against his chest and apply pressure, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,..." after 30 beats I move to his head and tilt his head back covering his nostrils. I open his mouth and give 2 breaths.

I go back to applying pressure to his chest. After another 24 beats, the person coughs up water. I tilt him onto his side so that he doesn't choke on the water.

He takes deep breaths and lays back down, "Are you okay?" He doesn't respond. His eyes shut as he tried to breathe properly.

Before I can say something else a fire truck arrives. One of the men rushes over, "What's the problem?"

"We found him lying in the water..." As I explain to the man how I found him, an ambulance shows up and a paramedic rushes over and they bring him into the ambulance.

"You did good with CPR. Because of you he's not dead."

I nod to the fireman. I walk over to the ambulance, forgetting my friend as I rush over to it, "Is he okay?"

The paramedic finishes to tie him down on the bed, "He's going to be fine, we just need to get to the hospital."

"C-can I come?" The paramedic stops for a second and then nods. I get up into the ambulance and sit down on the side bench.

The paramedic shuts the ambulance door and then goes back to him. He puts an oxygen mask over his mouth. The ambulance starts to drive off.

I watch them for a second and then my phone starts ringing. The paramedic looks over at me. I give an awkward smile and take out my phone.

I answer it without checking the contact, "Hello?"

"Where the fuck are you?"

"Shit. Sorry, I got in the ambulance. I'll talk to you later. Get home, I'm all good."

She scoffs, "Like hell you're good! You almost gave me a fucking heart attack! Do you know how worried I was about you!-" I pulled the phone away from my ear to save my eardrums from hearing loss.

The paramedic just watches me slightly, keeping the oxygen mask in place.

"You need to come home as soon as you get off that fucking ambulance!"

I sigh, "Okay."

"Good. Jesus Y/n, don't just get up and leave like that."

"I'm sorry." I play with my fingers, "I won't do it again."

We say our goodbyes and hang up. I put my phone back in my pocket and lay my head back against the ambulance wall, a little too hard. I pull my head forward and hold the back of it, "Ow."

"I'm guessing that was your friend giving you shit for abandoning her."

I nod, "Yeah."

The man moves and tries to sit up. The paramedic keeps the oxygen mask over his mouth and keeps him down, "Sir. Please, don't move. You're going to the hospital."

The man tries to pull his hands out of the restraints that hold him in place.

"Sir, you need to stay calm. Everythings alright." The paramedic tries to keep him in place.

The man shakes his head to the side, the oxygen mask comes off his face, "Get me out of these restraints."

"The restraints are what are keeping you from falling over."

The man looks over at me, "I don't care. I need to get out of them. Now."

"Sir, you're not getting out of them. You're being brought to the hospital, you most likely inhaled a lot of water so we need to make sure it gets out of your system."

The man pushes against the restraints again, "I don't give a shit. Let me go."

The paramedic rolls his eyes, "Sir, if you don't calm down I'm going to have to give you a sedative."

The man ignores him and continues to push against the restraints. I stay in my place feeling a little stressed from the situation.

The paramedic sighs and grabs a bottle along with a needle from the shelf. He takes out some of the liquid and then puts the bottle back.

"I'm warning you one last time. Stop struggling or I will sedate you."

The man frees his hand from the restraint and sits up slightly. He manages to throw things towards us while doing so. I feel something hit my cheek. I duck down and hide.

The paramedics' eyes widened, "Shit!" He rushes over to him and pushes him down, "Sir stop! You're going to hurt yourself!"

The man tries to push against him, "Stop!"

The paramedic gets his arm back down in the restraint and then inserts the needle into his arm.

"Stop!" The man tries to push against him, "Stop! Stop! Stop. Stop, stop..."

The paramedic sighs, "Jesus this dude needs to chill." He goes back to his seat. I sit back up and sit down on the bench, "You're bleeding."

My eyes widened slightly, "I'm what?"

He comes over to me with a cloth of some sort, "You're cheek." He places it against my cheek. I feel a slight sting from the contact. He pulls it away and looks it over, "It's just a scratch, you'll be fine."

I nod. He puts a small bandage over it. I look over at the bed and notice the man staring up at the ceiling, mumbling something that I can't seem to hear.