The Last Night

Why?

Chapter Ten

"The last night I felt responsible for someone else was... You know what? Forget that. This is a first."

^~^

I just jumped off a cliff. A very steep one at that. Something must be wrong with me. I am absolutely positive that I'm slowly, but surely, going insane. Well, maybe not absolutely positive. More like it's probable that I'll lose my sanity. I mean, seriously, the only people I know that would jump off a cliff out of their own volition are the suicidal and the insane, and I'm pretty sure I'm not suicidal. Am I?

What's wrong with me?

This is really, really, really uncharacteristic of me to do something without thinking. I used three really's. It's a big deal. It was like my body just moved on its own, which is ridiculous of me to say because that obviously can't happen unless some alien parasite entered my body and controlled me. But evidently that did not happen because I am still in control of my body.

I just couldn't let her die right in front of me. She's innocent. What has she ever done to deserve death or any of the pain and suffering she's getting? It's an injustice. She can't die. Not after everything she's gone through. The physical/verbal abuse, the hatred, the rejection-it's just plain unfair. She can't die just because some random person she doesn't even know wants her dead. Not to mention the deaths and life-threatening attacks she's lived through. She's done nothing wrong. Well, unless some psycho thinks caring for people who don't even love you-that hate you for no apparent reason to a point of cruelty-is a major crime that can only be punishable by death.

I can't lose her. She is the only one who has ever accepted the real me who is obnoxious, conceited, awkward, self-centered, sadistic, and a total jerk. I admit it. I'm a horrible person. She's the only one that has even found out about that facade I keep up. Even Luke doesn't know.

Before we could sink any deeper, I swam upward with my arm around Ame's waist, gasping for air as I reached the surface. Large pointy rocks that might've been able to sink a ship surrounded us as the water was tinted with a dark shade of crimson.

I don't know how the heck I survived, but, hey, I did.

"Ame! Are you alright?!" I screamed over the roar of the waves.

No response

I glanced at her. She was unconscious. What the heck, Erik? She just got shot in the shoulder and fell off a cliff. Do you really think she'd be alright?

Shore. The shore has to be somewhere nearby. I'm pretty sure we didn't drift too far from land. As soon as I spotted it not too far away, I swam like our lives depended on it, which it did.

Once we were close enough for me to be able to stand, I carried her bridal style then laid her on the sand. I leaned closer to check if she was breathing.

Okay, she's either not breathing or her breathing is just so weak that I can't detect it, which would probably be the same as the first option.

"Ame!" I called her name as I tapped on her shoulder. She stayed unresponsive.

I took off her jacket. Her wound was looking really bad. Blood was still oozing out of it. Her gray shirt was stained with crimson. Kneeling by her side with one hand over the other, I did thirty chest compressions on her.

Then comes the awkward part that I would really rather not do, but I have to.

I tilted her head up and parted her lips. Pinching her nose shut, I covered her mouth with mine and gave her two rescue breaths. She was still unresponsive so I continued the procedure.