A Rush of Blood to the Head

Chapter 21

A/N: I HATE THIS CHAPTER!! UGHHH!!!

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"MOVE EVERYBODY, MOVE!!!", a paramedic screamed while the other three pushed the gurney through the lobby.

All eyes fell on the motionless man they were moving. Alarmed and confused, a group of men and women began whispering among themselves. Nobody dared to move. They all cleared a path for the four men in uniform and two others in civilian clothes, who were probably friends or relatives of the man on the cart.

"Is that who I think it is?", someone asked.

"Yes, maybe", someone else answered.

"MOVE!! EVERYONE!! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY", the paramedic screamed again, "OPEN THE DOOR!!!"

Guy pushed the door open while the four men carried the immobile man outside. Cutting through the thick crowd of perplexed men and women that had gathered in the lobby, trying to analyse the situation, Jonny ran after the paramedics. Everything that had happened in the last few minutes were too sudden. Too unforeseen. Too hard for Jonny to process. He had never witnessed anything like this. And to top it off, it was his best friend's life that hung in the balance. He wanted to scream his lungs out. He wanted to cry his heart out. He wanted to punch walls till his hands felt numb. He wanted to turn it all around. But he couldn't.  And that made him wanna die of guilt. His ears burned. His whole body writhed in pain, self-reproach and frustration. Millions of thoughts raced through his mind as he paced outside. A loud noise filled the air. The paramedics were now placing the man in an ambulance. Within a minute, hundreds of people had gathered in the area.

"Oh my God, mum... Is that... Is that Chris Martin?", a little girl asked.

"Wait, let me see... Oh my God, it is him", her mother answered.

Jonny felt distracted, as if the whole world around him was a blur. A blur of altered images and sounds. Only one man stood out in the whole confusing ambience. The man who lay still inside the ambulance holding on to his last fibre of life. The man who he loved with all his heart. The man who made him laugh even in the hardest times, the man who shaped his life, the same man who was dying a little more with every moment that passed and it was all his fault. It was none other than Chris, his best friend. It shattered Jonny's heart to see Chris so lifeless, so still. Fear shook his whole being when he realised that Chris may never move again. But he was quick to shake it all off. 

You will be okay, Chris... You can't leave me... You just can't...

Time slowed down as Jonny's mind worked endlessly, trying to grasp hold of the situation, trying to get his own emotions in order. All this while he had been working in autopilot. He stopped abruptly and looked around. People shouting. Sirens ringing. Two paramedics pushing Chris up the vehicle. He felt a hand on his shoulder. It took him a minute to acknowledge that. He turned round instinctively to see Guy staring at him. His face showed exhaustion and fear. He must have understood what was going on in Jonny's mind as in a minute his expression softened. His face now showed pure concern, not only for Chris, but for Jonny too. He said something. Jonny couldn't make it out.

Chris... Don't ever leave me...

Guy's auburn eyes searched deep into Jonny's green ones, telling him to compose himself. Telling him that Chris needed him to be rational right now. That he couldn't afford to let his emotions overwhelm him, even if it hurt like hell. Right now he needed to be there for Chris. 

"-----to go, Jon", Guy said.

As if shaken from a deep slumber, Jonny looked up.

"Huh?", he asked.