Siren In The Sky // Bradley Bradshaw

Chapter 17

Bradley's POV

I can see it in her eyes, the moment she gives up. The second she accepts that this is it. With her parting words, her heavy lids shut on their own accord. "Selene? SELENE!?" I frantically shake her and check her pulse with my fingers. There is none. "no. no. no." I mutter over and over to myself. When she continues to lay lifeless in my arms I feel like I'm fighting with reality. This can't be real. I'm suffocating in this nightmare, but it isn't a nightmare. It's very much reality. 

"NO" I roar as loud as I can, my voice turning hoarse from the intensity. I scream at the sky, shouting to the world that I'm experiencing the greatest pain a person can experience. I clutch her to me, rocking back and forth. I see the helicopter almost to us. "They're here," I inform her. "They're here now and they'll make you all better, okay? You're going to be fine." My words mean nothing to her. But, I pretend they do. 

Search and rescue quickly retrieves us, pulling us into the helicopter. "She needs CPR," I quickly tell them. "Her heart's stopped." Saying the words out loud makes me choke on the air. Oh my god. Her heart stopped. "You need to help her!" I demand. My eyes are wild, and I know I'm going hysterical. She's laid on her back while they perform CPR. One of them is trying to check me for wounds, however, I keep pushing him away and looking behind him. "You need to save her, please. Her heart stopped." I repeat the words over and over again. The people speaking to me sound muffled; underwater. I don't even realize I'm hyperventilating until I get dizzy from lack of air. My back hits the wall and I slide down it, my eyes never leaving her body. I painfully pull my hair, trying to distract myself. 

"We've got a heartbeat!" The words cut through the fog surrounding me. She's still alive. I move to go to her but am held back. "Lieutenant, we need you to stay back." I mindlessly nod. I blink a few times to make sure that the rise and fall of her chest is real. She's still unconscious, but she's alive. They apply a tourniquet to stop the bleeding and a lot better than the makeshift one from earlier. "Um her blood type is B+. She's allergic to shellfish and tree nuts. She takes birth control but no other medicines," I begin to ramble off, hoping any of the information is useful. "She's had surgery once to get her appendix out when she was 13." One of the workers nods and marks things on an iPad before asking more questions. 

We arrive at the hospital in no time. Selene is placed on a gurney and carted away. They told me she's being rushed to surgery. I want to follow her but they force me into a room to get examined myself. I fight the urge to argue and hope they hurry and get this done with. Once deeming that I'm fine like I tried to tell them multiple times, I make my way to the waiting room. Mav is already there. 

"Everyone else will get here as soon as they can. I haven't heard any news." I nod at him before speed walking out the doors. The world around me feels like it's caving in. I run the last few steps into the cool night air before throwing up in the grass outside. I sit on my knees and have my hands on the ground as my stomach empties itself. I begin to sob as I sit there. A hand rubs my back, and I don't have to turn around to know it's Mav. I cry and cry, my body shaking from physical and emotional exhaustion. 

"We were supposed to go on vacation," I whimper while my tears flow freely. "I- I was going to ask to move in together," I choke. "I want to spend my life with her. She can't go. She just can't." Maverick pulls me back so he can hug me. We were a sight. Two grown men dawned in navy jumpsuits clutching each other. Dirty. Worn out. And crying like the world was ending because, for us, it was. 

Once I drain myself until I'm dehydrated, we pull apart. Maverick gets me water to slowly sip on while we wait. Other people litter the waiting room over time. Striker and Omaha. Hangman. Pheonix and Bob. Someone picked up food for us, but I could only manage to swallow a few bites. I frequently take breaks and sit outside. The air in the hospital makes me panicky and anxious. Hours and hours pass with no news. I jealously eye Neil and Regina cuddled into each other on the other side of the room. The group drifts in and out of sleep in the uncomfortable chairs except for Maverick and me who fight sleep. My head and throat hurt from my sobs, my stomach is tight with anxiety, and my whole body aches with the need to rest. I'm scared to close my eyes. I'm scared that I'm going to be woken up with the news that she's gone.  If I could make her live from sheer will, she'd live forever. 

She has to make it. If I lose her then I have nothing. I am nothing. She makes me wake up and want to be a better man. I only get a decent night's rest with her wrapped up in my arms. I need her stubborn arguments about Team Gale vs Team Peeta. I need her stolen kisses while I cook. The way her bedhead is the worst I've ever seen, or how she seems to look infinitely better in my clothes than I do. If everyone got one wish in life, I'd make this mine. Whatever is out there in the universe, pulling the strings of my life, I wish for her to grow old with me. 

I glance to my left at Mav. He's lost in his own thoughts staring at the white wall in front of him. Was this what it was like for him? Did he wish with his entire being for Selene's mom to live as he sat in the waiting room? 

"Family of Selene Mitchell?" My eyes snap to the doctor. Rushing out of our seats we stand in front of her, expectantly waiting to hear any news.