Carter Ortese is Trouble - completed (The Boys #1)

Chapter 33: Carter

Hang in there. I blink. "How can I possibly?" My voice is barely a whisper as it leaves my lips.

"What was that, Carter?"

I shake my head. "Nothing, I just ..." I trail off, because how do I explain everything going on inside me right now?

"This isn't your fault."

"What?" I choke on a laugh. The whole reason we are here in the first place is because of me. We're in the middle of no where, farther from the hospital than if we were at her house or my apartment.

"This isn't your fault. Whatever happens to Emma, you've done the right thing. They are about four minutes away now."

"Four minutes," I echo. I check the minutes on the screen of my phone. Six minutes. Six minutes since I dialed emergency, since Emma collapsed, since my whole life changed in an instant.

Come back to me, Emma.

"What if it is my fault?"

"Did you do something?"

"No, but what if she doesn't get help in time because I brought her to the cemetery?" I clench my jaw. Maybe my family is cursed. Maybe I am trouble. Maybe none of this would have happened if I had just said no.

But I couldn't, Emma, could I? I couldn't say no to the chance of changing my entire life. You found me because of a stupid dare, but we found each other in the process. I can't lose you now.

"Right now, you need to be strong for her. You've done everything you can. Is she still breathing?"

Emma's chest rises and falls with such a pitiful motion, I barely see it in the dark.

"Yes."

"And her pulse?"

I press on her neck again. "Still there." I run my fingers along to the back of her neck and press my forehead against hers. I whisper, "You can't leave me after you made me care. You can't."

Please, Emma. Please.

The barest hints of sirens sound in the distance. "I can hear the sirens."

"Good, they are close. It won't be long now."

But she's wrong. Three more lifetimes go by as I wait. They grow louder, blaring into the night. The sound grows deafening in my ears, even though I still can't see the flashing lights. The forest around the cemetery prevents any light from getting inside, but the noise echoes off the trunks like I'm inside a canyon.

"Carter?"

"Yeah?"

"They should be coming up soon. I want to say one last thing to you, okay?"

"Okay."

"You have done an incredible thing today. You stayed calm, you called us, and you stayed with her, even if that was the hardest thing to do."

I want to tell her that staying was the easy part; the hardest part is the helplessness that burns me from the inside out. "Thank you," I say just as the flashing lights appear in the parking lot, casting alternating glows of red and white around us. "They are here. Thank you," I say again. The siren cuts out, leaving me in strange eerie silence with empty air on the other end of the line.

"I'll hang up now, Carter. You have this."

The phone goes dead, and I jump up, waving my hands in the direction of the parking lot. "Over here!"

Three people climb out of the vehicle and rush over to us with an orange plank between them. "Carter?" one of the women asks.

"Yeah."

"She collapsed? Where do you think the blood is?"

I point, and one of them flicks on a flashlight and nods.

They work efficiently, fast. One moment, Emma is lying on the ground beside me, the next she's strapped onto the orange plank. After that, they carry her back to the ambulance. I follow behind, not sure what happens next.

"Do you have her parents' phone numbers?"

I shake my head. "But it's Henry Williams."

Two of them exchange a glance, like that name means something to them. I know little about Henry Williams, but the little that I do know, I despise.

"Okay, we'll make sure they get notified. You've done the right thing."

They slide Emma into the ambulance, and one of them climbs in after her, grabbing equipment and performing tests without missing a beat. I go to climb in, but the driver cuts me off. "You're a minor, right?"

"But—"

They nod to Emma's car. "Please follow us in your vehicle. You aren't family, so we can't take you." The woman gives me a sad smile. "Follow right behind us, okay? We'll get there fast."

I hover for a second. "I can't leave her."

"The longer we stay here—"

"I can't." My voice cracks. What I really mean is that she can't leave me.

You have to fight, Emma.

"We'll see you at the hospital."

I bitterly take a step back and watch as they close the doors. The ambulance starts up, bumping down the potholes in the parking lot until it turns out into the street. I am hollow. I am alone. I wanted to stay with her. I should have fought harder.

I rush back to my father's grave and grab my phone and look around for the keys. I find them in another minute, too long of a minute, and I sprint back to the car, clicking it on with a push of a button. Jumping into the driver's seat, I start the engine and take off toward the hospital as fast as I can go.

- - - - - -

I'll be posting playlists for both Emma and Carter soon. There's more of the story to come, so stay tuned.

Any thoughts on what's happened so far? Was there enough lead up to this moment with Emma? Feedback is welcome! As always, thank you for reading!