Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“Run,” one of the boys yells and Matthew, who is among them, takes off to the door that leads to outside with two other boys running out right behind him.
“Zuri is stuck behind the bleachers.” The girl the boys had surrounded tells me as she runs over to the side of the bleachers that are shoved flat against the wall. I follow behind her and stop at the end of the bleachers as she attempts to look behind them by pressing her face against the wall. “Zuri!” she yells as I scan the bleachers for the mechanism to release them. “She’s not answering. Zuri!” she yells louder.
Finally, finding the switch, I hit it, but nothing happens. I hit it again, still nothing.
Pressing the side of my face to the wall, I look behind the bleachers, there’s barely five inches of space. I can just make out Zuri she looks like she’s asleep which sends fear spiraling down my spine.
Worried that the pressure from the weight of the steps has crushed her chest, I run around to the front of the stairs and pull from the bottom, hoping that if I use enough force, I can get it to unlock and gravity will do the rest. It takes me multiple tries before I’m finally able to yank the steps free, and I have to jump out of the way as they come sliding out in one swift woosh. With my heart racing, I jog behind the now descended steps to the empty, angled space where Zuri is lying on the ground. I fall to my knees next to her and press my fingers to her neck, checking for a pulse. It’s there, steady and strong, and her chest is moving.
Thank fuck.
“Is she okay?” her friend asks, and I look up at her as I adjust Zuri’s body so she’s flat on her back.
“Yes, but I want you to go and tell the first person you see to call 911.”
“But?”
“Go get help, run as fast as you can.”
Still looking terrified, she runs away.
“Honey, you need to wake up.” I lean over Zuri and try to talk myself out of losing my shit. She’s breathing and has a pulse; she’s okay. I need her to wake up before Nalia gets here.
I feel someone join me, and when I look up, my dad is falling to his knees on the opposite side of me.
“Is she okay?”
“Yeah, I think so, I just need her to wake up.” I turn to look towards the exit of the stairs when I hear a gasp and find Nalia standing there with her dad.
“Logan.” The pain in her voice makes my chest ache.
“She’s breathing, baby,” I tell her, then look at her dad when he appears at her side. “Does anyone know if an ambulance is on the way?”
“They should be here any minute,” my dad tells me.
“Let's get her out of here, so it’s easier for them to move her,” I tell him, and he and Nico help me get her out from behind the stairs.
As Nalia comes over to her once we have her on the ground, I check her pulse and her breathing again, while I pray like I have never prayed before.
“She’s right over here.” A voice says, and I look up and watch two EMTs come into the gym with a gurney. Neither of them hesitates, loading her onto it, and within minutes, Nalia and I are following them outside. I don’t even give them the option to leave either of us behind. I push Nalia into the back of the ambulance and get in with her, telling my dad and hers to keep an eye on the kids and to let them know that we will call when we can.
Sitting in the chair next to Zuri’s hospital bed, I watch her and Nalia as they both sleep peacefully. Before we even arrived at the hospital, Zuri had woken up disoriented and confused, but she was awake and talking, which was a relief to me but more to Nalia, who was terrified up until that point.
After we arrived at the hospital, the ER doctor came in to check Zuri over, and she told him what happened. She said that when she was behind the bleachers and realized that she wasn’t going to be able to get out, she couldn’t seem to catch her breath and doesn’t remember anything after that. After hearing her explain things, he concluded that she probably had a panic attack from being confined in the small space and hyperventilated, which caused her to pass out. Still, he told us that he wanted to keep her overnight to monitor her, and I knew that I would feel better having her in a place where we could get her help if something out of the ordinary happened.