Muted Anguish

CHAPTER 20: A GHASTLY TURN OF EVENTS

KEISHA’S POV

“That has to be the best rom-com movie we’ve ever seen!” My voice was fuelled with excitement.
Cameron nodded in acquiescence “As much as I hate rom coms, I have to admit this one really got to me”
“You see?” I halted in my steps and flashed a smile “I told you you’d like it. We’re definitely seeing another one next week”
He shook his head vigorously “No. No bloody way. We’re seeing something different” he looked up thoughtfully “Something with action and a dash of horror maybe”
“As His Majesty pleases” I bowed mockingly, threading his fingers through mine as we made our way to his car.

We were still crossing the road when it happened. A sedan we hadn’t noticed before, suddenly came speeding, bearing down on us. The driver appeared to be in a hurry like he was trying to escape someone. My eyes grew large in fear, my feet rooted to the floor in shock.  I would be hit first because I was the one closest to the speeding vehicle that was now very close. I shut my eyes, expecting the hit because there was no way I could make it away in time. Cameron’s horrifying yell was the last thing I heard before I felt a force so tremendous hit me. It wasn’t from the car, it was from something else. Someone else. I landed some meters away in front and my flesh peeled along the gravelled path in the event of the push. My head spun wildly but I lifted it in time to witness the car run straight into Cameron who was unable to make his escape after pushing me to safety. The force of the collision was so great, that it threw him high up in the air. The driver of the car sped off before Cameron landed on the ground with the front of his body, making a dreadful thud. I let out a blood-curdling scream, leaping to my feet and running to his unconscious body.

He was bleeding badly.
I pulled his head into my lap “Cameron! C-Cameron… my gawd” Another scream tore from my lips “Wake up! Wake up and look at me, please”
There was blood. So much blood…so much blood. It spurted from his mouth. It oozed from the back of his head.
My entire body shuddered.
I stared in the direction of the escaping car, trying to memorize the license plates. My eyes were blurry from the tears but I was able to get some numbers.
Some people had noticed the accident and had come running. A man ran up to me, looking down at Cameron’s body in my hands “My gawd” he swore. Rapidly, he ripped the bottom of his shirt and got on his knees to tightly wrap it around Cameron’s head “Here, keep pressure on it to slow the bleeding” he instructed. I did as I was told.
I could hear someone calling 911. I could hear gasps of shock from people. I could feel them watching me, watching us.
“Cameron, baby… hang on okay? Hang on please…” I burst into tears. His blood was seeping through my white blouse. Then I heard the blaring wail of the ambulance.
“Stay with me baby, stay with me. Y-you’re gonna be-you’re gonna be fine just-just hang in there, Cameron. H-hang in there”

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Doctor Simpson came out of the emergency ward, his face unreadable. Harvey and I leapt to our feet on seeing him. Lester and Keith were present, while Cameron’s parents were on the flight here, I’d informed them of the bad news.
“Doctor?” Lester called “What’s the diagnosis?”
The doctor removed his glasses and sighed deeply “When he was brought in, he was suffering from a hemothorax but we’ve been able to deal with it. The old doctor took in our puzzled expressions and further explained “When his chest made a severe impact with the floor, it damaged his chest wall and lungs causing blood to pool into his pleura cavity” he took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose “The pleura cavity surrounds the lungs. Now, luckily, his lungs hadn’t collapsed from the pressure of the blood before he was brought here. We’ve been able to successfully carry out a thoracostomy”
“What’s that?” Keith asked cluelessly
“It’s when a tube is inserted into the chest muscles, through the ribs and inside the chest cavity to drain out the blood”
Harvey winced beside me
“In the event of the accident, he fractured his cranial bone but it wasn’t serious enough to result in a TBI. We’ve administered medication but it’ll take a couple of weeks for the headaches and drowsiness to wear off. He is a very lucky man. I was expecting a more severe head injury but, I guess we have the universe to thank for that or whatever you people call it"