Speak Up

Chapter 26

Liam removes the knife from Trey, taking a step back from where he stood. He glances at his pocket knife that is now covered in Trey's blood. Without saying anything or apologising for what he has done, he turns and runs off before a teacher comes along to see what he has done.

I stand there, unsure what I should be doing. What are you supposed to do when someone gets stabbed right in front of you?

Trey glances down at his wound, pressing his hands on it. It doesn't take long for the blood to soak through his dark blue shirt. Students around us stood there speechless. Trey looks up at me where I see the pain in his eyes. He leans on the lockers and then slid down until he was on the floor.

I hurry over to him, kneeling beside him. I think back to when we first did first aid in health class, but my mind was flooded with panic that I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I remove Trey's backpack from his shoulders so he could rest his back comfortably against the lockers, setting it beside him. What do I do now? Do I get him to lie down or should I just let him sit up? What do you do if someone is losing a lot of blood? What do you do if someone gets stabbed on the side of their waist? It's his left side so there aren't really any organs there besides your intestines, right?

"Stay with me, Trey," I say as help him to lie down. I press down on his wound.

"I'm going to die, aren't I?" Trey asks me.

Tears are falling down my face now. I shake my head. "No. You aren't. I'm not going to let you. Not when you saved my life. I'm going to save you."

Trey gives me a small smile.

The other students around us just stand there rather than helping us out. I don't look at anyone besides my friend, pressing as hard as I can to stop the bleeding.

I then hear Kara's voice as she pushes her way through the crowd with the phone pressed to her ear, on the phone with 911. Behind her is Mrs Kingston as she asks students to move aside. When she sees Trey on the floor, she gasps. She then turns to the vice principal who is behind her, telling him to stand at the front of the school to meet the paramedics.

Mrs Kingston joins me on the floor beside me. She yells out to the students for someone to fetch the school nurse. Within minutes we hear the sirens. I look down at Trey where he lies there in silence staring at me. I pleaded my eyes with him to stay with me. His eyes were in pain, fighting to keep himself alive.

Just as the school nurse came rushing over to us to assist with Trey's injuries, the paramedics show up as the vice principal leads them. Mrs Kingston and I move aside as the paramedics could do their job to keep Trey alive long enough for them to get him into surgery at the hospital.

Kara stands beside me, taking my hand into hers as we watch Trey being lifted onto the stretcher and then being rush away out of the building and into the ambulance. She then turns to me once they were gone and hugs me tightly as I cry into her shoulder.

"Please tell me he is going to be okay," I say, my voice cracking.

Kara rubs a hand up and down my back. It takes her awhile to say, "He is going to be okay."

Her voice sounds doubtful, and I knew in a way I couldn't get my hopes up with anything. Trey may have saved my life three times, and I can only hope I did my best to keep him alive before the paramedics arrived to take over. Now I just want him to make it through. I want to go to the hospital right now to see him, but I doubt Mrs Kingston will allow me to leave the school grounds. How could I remain in school, trying to focus on my work when all I would be doing is eating myself up wondering and hoping Trey makes it.