Somewhere in Long Beach
"Fuck," Pierce said, eyes widening as Praia went limp in his arms. He held tighter to her, assuring she didn't fall backwards.
"Aye!" He yelled to some paramedics who were tending to a girl with red hair and a bloody face on a stretcher. "We need help!"
He lightly tapped her face, trying to see if she would wake up, brushing her hair out of her face. NaNa pulled her phone away from her ear, rushing to Praia's side, tears welling in her eyes.
To say she was overwhelmed was an understatement, she didn't know what to do. Her cousin was locked inside of that building, she had just fought someone she didn't even know, her friend had just passed out, and her aunt was yelling into the phone, blaming her for not being with Lina.
She grabbed Praia's hand, quietly crying as she squeezed it for comfort.
A few paramedics from another bus began walking over, "do anybody got water?" He asked with an elevated voice to the crowd that was starting to form around them.
"Sir, what happened?" A female paramedic asked as she reached them.
NaNa explained to them as the medics instructed Pierce to lay her flat onto her back.
NaNa kept a tight grip on her phone, she could still hear her aunt yelling.
The paramedics immediately checked her pulse first, immediately finding it.
"Does she have any allergies or medical issues that we should know about?" The male paramedic asked.
Praia slowly blinked her eyes open, regaining consciousness, dizzily.
She had only passed out from panic attacks twice before, so she wasn't exactly familiar with what was happening.
She tried to lean up, before the female paramedic pushed her back down to lay flat, and asking her simple questions.
"Ma'am, do you know where you are?"
She nodded.
"Can you tell me your name?" She asked, pulling out a stethoscope and placing it against her chest.
She swallowed, trying to wet her dry throat to murmur, "Praia."
Praia's eyes widened as it dawned on her what was still happening. She tried to push herself up from where she lay on the ground, she didn't quite know what she was trying to do, but she needed to get up.
The medics tried to calm her down, pushing gently on her chest, trying to lay her back down. She fought against them, disoriented.
NaNa squeezed her hand, getting her attention. She locked eyes with her, still pushing the paramedics off of her.
She wasn't speaking, but her face conveyed all of the questions she had.
"Ma'am, please." The male paramedic spoke, "are you refusing help?" He asked, loosening his hold on her shoulders.
She nodded her head in confirmation, moving away from them and using NaNa as support to stand up.
Once she stood unsteadily, she took in the look on NaNa's face and registered the yelling coming from her phone. She gently reached for the phone that she was held in NaNa's other hand, quickly hanging it up and pulling NaNa into a hug.
Pierce stood off to the side, his demeanor was controlled and cool as always, despite what was happening. He was overly aware of his surroundings, vigilantly scoping the area from where he was making a phone call.
