On The Corner of 44th

11:54 AM

Screaming. Followed by a loud boom. More screaming. More loud booms.

Clouds of dirt and papers flew in the air, crowds of people ran around.

My first thought was that it was a bomb. If I'm going to die, I'm going to die running away. I won't die in vain, repeated through my head and before I knew it, my feet began to paddle against the concrete.

Then I heard Francesca scream. It was full of fear and pain. It wasn't high pitched like those girls in scary movies. It was strangled and forced, cut off by the thumping of aluminum against bones and flesh. I spun around, catching a glimpse of the maroon Honda and Hope's body flying off the side of the car in slow motion.

Blink.

The car was gone. Hope was on the ground, her left shoe missing. It couldn't have been real. She was going to get up and we were going to calmly walk to the park like nothing happened and have our picnic. Hope's head lifted off the asphalt in the midst of the screaming and panic around us. She sat up, looking around in shock and met eyes with me. With a nod of her head, I ran over and got to the ground next to her. She has a heart condition, she needs help.

Her hands wrapped around her leg, "Vanessa, my leg! It hurts! My leg!" I looked down at her foot and already saw the discoloration of skin. Her small foot quickly became the size and color of a purple softball. Using her hands, she tried to lift her leg off the ground. Her scream pierced the air like a needle in a balloon. Xavier, hyperventilating, stood over us calling 911.

"Hope, I need you to gently put your leg back down. Don't touch it, and don't put pressure on it, okay? You're okay, Hope. You're going to be okay." I shouted to her over the chaos.

Blink.

Where was Francesca? Had she seen Hope get hit and get scared? Did she start running and not stop? "Hope, I'll be right back!"

"Don't! Vanessa, don't leave me!"

"I won't, Hope. I promise! But right now, I need to look for Francesca!" She nodded, tears flowing out. Xavier stood above her, crying, on the phone her 911 operators. A woman in a yellow dress ran over and nodded to me, laying Hope onto the ground. I took the chance to get off the ground and look around.

I spun left. I yelled her name. Nothing, but swarms of terrified strangers.

Blink.

Right. I screamed for her twice, pleading in my mind for her to run out from around the corner. Nothing.

Blink.

I looked behind me. Grace, frozen in shock. Her face was purple and eyes bloodshot. Grace had stopped smiling. "I can't find Francesca! Grace! I can't find her!" Grace still didn't move, but she began to breathe. I turned away from her, Henry taking Grace by the arm and pulling her out of the street. I pulled my phone out, making my way back to Hope, but dialing Fran's number. It rang and rang but she never answered. Xavier took my phone, calling my mother and trying to contact Fran. Hope looked at me with squinted bloodshot blue eyes. I grabbed her hand, "Hope, look at me. Keep looking at me, okay? You will be okay! The ambulance is on it's way!" She nodded but flinched under the sunlight. "Do you want to wear these?" I motioned to my sunglasses. She whimpered a yes. I ripped them off my head and replaced her seeing glasses with my sunglasses. "Hope, I want you to do me a favor okay? I want you to slowly and carefully lift your head so I can put something underneath okay?"

She did as I said. I grabbed the first thing I saw, her backpack, and slid it under her head. I glanced up, my eyes focusing on a random body of a random guy. Their body was contorted and I forced myself to look away.

Blink.

An officer arrived, he knelt down next to me and started to ask questions. "Her name is Hope, she's 18 years old, we're from New Jersey, she has a heart condition."

Blink.

My eyes were once again drawn to the body yards away. Wait... I had a clearer view of the body now. It wasn't a man. A woman.

Blink.

"Ma'am, would would mind removing the flannel from around your waist and covering her face? It'll protect her from the sun." The officer said. I complied, my hands shaking. I struggled to untied the loose knot of sleeves and get it off my waist. "We need to move her out of the street and on to the sidewalk," He said to the woman in the yellow dress and I.

Blink.

Xavier had called my mother. He called his mom along with Hope's. We still couldn't find Francesca. My eyes once again connected to the body across from me.  "Xavier, I think that's Francesca. I think that's Francesca, Xavier, please! Please go look!" He nodded, tears in his eyes. Grace was one step ahead of him and was on her way towards the motionless girl, surrounded by officers and witnesses trying to help.

Blink.

The officer and two random men lifted Hope off the hot ground and carried her to the oil covered pavement. She screamed in pain, throwing her head back with sobs. I noticed her upper thigh was bleeding. It wasn't a deep cut. But it wasn't a simple scratch either.

Blink.

Xavier ran over, tears running down his face. He sobbed, I knew the answer before he said it. I had the feeling. I was hoping, praying that it wasn't, but every bone in my body was telling me that it was. "Vanessa, it's her! It's Francesca!" He was rushed away by officers, pushing him to the sideline alone with Henry, Grace, Noah, and Aaron.

Breathe.

It was like I had tunnel vision. Everything was in slow motion, every sound was a muffled murmur that didn't matter. But then I saw Hope. Her hand reached out towards me and the tunnel vision was gone. My hand grasped her bloodied one. "Don't leave me," she pleaded before a medic placed an air mask over her face.

"I won't," I finally let out a sob, the image of Francesca flashing through my mind. "I promise."

Blink.

A firefighter came over and lifted me off the ground. He pulled me to the side and borrowed a chair from a man with a hot-dog stand. He placed me in the chair and walked away.

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't see. I wanted to go back to Hope. A random man bought a soda for me, trying to place it in my shaking hand. A random woman began to rub my back and pet my hair, asking if she could call someone for me. I just kept gasping for air. Nothing was going in. I reached towards my bag, struggling to get the zipper open, and grabbed my inhaler. As soon as I used it, the woman rubbing my back began to yell for help. "She has a medical condition, she needs help!" I couldn't stop her, I was still trying to get air into my lungs.

My friends were no where to be seen. I could hear Hope scream for me. An officer and medic stood in front of me, "Were you hit?" I shook my head no. "Did you fall?" I shook my head no. "Are you here with that girl?" I nodded. The officer wiped the back of his hand across his forehead."Keep using the inhaler, kid." I nodded.

Blink.

A firefighter stood in front of me, grasping my arm. He pulled me up from the chair and walked me towards an ambulance. Cameras flashed everywhere, people taking selfies in front and over bodies. Crowds of reporters raced to the scene even though it was blocked off by state-troopers, police, fire department, and men and women with big assault rifles.

I was shoved into the ambulance and buckled in. Hope was on a gurney , where she continued to cry out for me, not knowing I was there. "I'm right here, Hope! I'm here, I'm not going to leave!" She reached her hand out to me as the vehicle began to move and I went to scoot forward to hold her hand but was stopped by the seat belt. "I can't right now, Hope. I have a seat belt on."

"Just... stay...with me..." She said through the breaths of an air tank.

I nodded, sobbing and staring at my shaking hands. "I will. I promise."