Skip and Beau

Chapter 13: Miscommunication

*James' Point of View*

My mind is going faster than ever before. I ran over to Beau, he wasn't moving. Why the hell is he in Shiva's basement? There's blood everywhere. The door closing. Beau's shoulders. The car.

THE CAR. That's it!

That was the damned car in the video with Beau and I let those people slip away!

I called the police. I feel like that's the only number we ever call.

"What's your emergency?" the receiver said.

"My name's James Yammouni and I just found my friend in my...uh...girlfriend's basement and he's not moving. I'm pretty sure he's been shot twice, once in each shoulder and uh...the people that shot him I think are driving away in a car that I saw and-" I was out of breath.

"Listen, James." said the receiver. "I need you to check for a pulse. Can you do that for me? An ambulance is on the way. I also need your friend's name." Her voice was calm, much calmer than mine.

"Yeah, of course. His name's Beau Brooks." I said, quickly placing my fingers to his neck. How could I have forgotten to check?

No pulse.

I checked his wrist.

No pulse.

Back to the neck.

No pulse.

"HE DOESN'T HAVE A PULSE." I yelled into the phone.

"James, please stay with me. The ambulance is almost there. Can you check his airway for me?"

"Yeah, yeah. Mmhm." I murmured. This is scary as shit.

I put my ear to his mouth to listen for breathing. Nothing. Shit. I tried again. Nothing. No pulse. No breathing.

"THERE'S NOTHING!" I screamed to her. I felt bad but I couldn't handle this.

"Stay with Beau, James. I've been informed that the ambulance has arrived to your location. Are they here?"

I heard noise upstairs. "Yeah they are."

"James Yammouni?" I heard an EMT call.

"DOWN THE STAIRS TO YOUR LEFT." I yelled to him.

Five EMTs came rushing down the stairs and surrounded Beau, starting to say medical terms that just confused me.

"We have to get him back, his heart's out of it." I heard one say. Get him back? Is Beau dead? NO. Not in this house. This fucked up house is just...fucked up.

I don't know how long they were working on him, I lost track of time.

Then they pulled out those shocky things you only see on TV and started to press them on him.

"WHY THE HELL DO YOU NEED THOSE?" I shouted.

"These are cardiac defibrillators. His heart stopped and we're trying to get him back. We've removed the bullets that lodged in his shoulders and the bleeding has stopped, but his heart stopped from loss of oxygen." one replied.

They kept trying, said the confusing terms, and tried again. I didn't know if death or life was on the winning side.

After a series of shocks, they all stopped and nodded. Relieved that they finally got his heart back beating again, I relaxed and took out my phone, ready to call everyone.

One of the medics looked at me. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Well I should call his family  and everyone to let them know he's okay, right?" I replied. What kind of question is that?