s i l a s*
My best friend Cade, two of our teammates, Josh and Matt, and I decided to take a road trip. But it's when we're in the car, I'm driving, that everything goes south. At this point, we've been in the car for about four and a half hours, and are in Georgia; we're from South Carolina and are going to Florida. We just randomly decided to take a road trip to Florida over spring break. Cade has become increasingly silent within the past five to ten minutes. I look over at him when we're stopped at a stoplight.
"Are you okay?" I ask him, touching his hand.
He nods, but I have no reason to believe him, he's acting weird, and something in my gut is telling me that something isn't right.
"Are you sure?" I ask him, by this point Josh and Matt have leaned forward. I turn my emergency flashers on and put my emergency brake on. I unbuckle my seat belt, and lean over and unbuckle his. The car behind me honks, and I'm 90% sure that Josh turns around and gives them the finger. They could totally go around me, and I'm not sure why they're not.
"What's wrong?" I ask Cade, the panic rising inside of me. I grab his wrist and feel his pulse--his pulse is rapid.
"Hey, Josh, call 911, please," I tell Josh. He nods, dialing the number and gets out of the car. People are still honking behind me, but I don't pay attention to it. Cade's hands go to his throat and he starts gasping for breath. Cade looks at me, and I see the fear in his eyes.
"It looks like he's going into anaphylactic shock!" Matt exclaims.
You mean--?" I begin.
"An allergic reaction--a severe one, too."
"He doesn't have any allergies, though!"
"When was the last time he was checked, do you know?"
"I don't know. I can text his sister." His parents don't really have much to do with him anymore, and his sister pretty much raised (and still is since he's 17 and a minor) him--she's 26, married and has a daughter and a son on the way; Cade lives with her and her family.
"Don't do that, you'll scare her."
Cade holds up a number two.
"Two years?" Matt asks and Cade nods. "If it's been two years, he might have developed an allergy. Were you allergic to anything then?"
Cade shakes his head. I open my car door and run over to the passenger side. Josh is still on the phone with 911.
"Where are we??" he calls to me.
I shrug. "I don't know, go ask another car or something. Tell them to hurry, he's going into anaphylactic shock--a severe allergic reaction!" I tell him. Josh nods. I open Cade's door.
"I don't know what to do," I tell Matt. "He's still conscious, so I can't do CPR,"
"Do you have an Epi-Pen?" Matt asks, thinking quickly.
"I think I do. My mom made me get one just in case I needed one for something."
I dig through the compartment, finding the Epi-Pen and finding that it's still in date.
"I'm going to take your pants off, okay?" I tell Cade.
He nods, but reaches for my hand. I squeeze it gently, and then let go.
"I need to do this in your thigh. It might hurt, but I need you to hold still for me. Matt, can you--?" I say.
Matt gets the point and grabs both of Cade's shoulder as I lay Cade's seat back, propping up his legs on the dashboard; Matt is holding Cade still as I unbutton his pants and pull them down to his ankles. I stick him with the Epi-Pen, praying with everything that it works--or helps. Tears start running down Cade's face--whether from pain or fear, I don't know. It was only the first dose, and we're supposed to wait five-to-fifteen minutes to see if it gets better.
"It's okay," I whisper as I pull the Epi-Pen out of his thigh. "Ssh..."
I grab a tissue from the box in the floorboard and wipe away the little bit of blood that came out when I pulled out the pen.
"Is it helping?" I ask him. He shakes his head.
"Okay, just, look at me and hold on, give it a few minutes."
Don't close your eyes," I whisper, tilting his head as he shuts his eyes. I lean my head against his, pressing my lips to his forehead.
"Ssh, it's okay," I whisper. I grab his hand. "It's okay,"
Josh comes back. "Five to ten minutes," he announces.
Five minutes pass and Cade points to the Epi-Pen again. I administer the second dose in his thigh, looking at him as soon as I pull it out.
"You okay? Is it helping?" I ask him. He shrugs. The ambulance pulls up--finally-- and paramedics jump out. I vaguely see the woman in the car behind me look guilty. Apparently, she had been honking and cussing me. A paramedic comes over with a hospital gown, draping it over Cade as I pull his pants off of his ankles. I look at Matt.
"Can you drive my car to the hospital? I want to go with him," I ask Matt, pointing to Cade, who's got an oxygen mask on now. I explain what happened to the paramedics and Matt and Josh move up to the front seat. I also tell them that I'd administered two doses of an Epi-Pen.
