Changers

7. A Plan

"Wake up. Oh my God, wake up now. What are we going to do? Should we call someone?"

"She's probably going to be fine."

"Relax."

"Relax?"

"You have to calm down, panic won't help."

"She's unconscious."

"But she's breathing. Check to see if there are any cuts or bruises on her. Check for spinal fluids. See if she hit her spine or anywhere else. Check her head. I'll get Beau. He's also been trained as a lifeguard."

Silence.

"What the fuck happened."

"Caroline, relax. I just need you to relax. She's fine. She's breathing. Give her a second and we will see if she wakes up. Check her head in the meantime."

"Okay."

"I'll be back in a second."

"Hurry."

"Check her head!"

"Okay, go."

Quick, determined footsteps distanced themselves.

"Oh God, Pren. What happened to you? Pren, please wake up. Pren! Pren! Come on. I need you to wake up. Wake up, wake up, wake up."

Tap, tap. Something hitting the floor by my ears. Tapping sounds.

Caroline's voice rose in volume as she patted my head. I couldn't respond back, but I slowly began feeling my arms and legs, as if they were also waking up. I wanted to open my eyes, but they remained shut.

The sound of a door opening and footsteps pounding on the ceramic bathroom tiles filled the bathroom; Lincoln was back.

"What happened? Why is she on the floor?" I heard a male voice say.

Beau. I felt a cool hand hold my head as another presence hovered over me, darkening my eyelids even more.

"I don't know. I came to the bathroom to make sure she was okay, and I found her on the floor," Caroline said. Her voice was shrill and frantic. It sounded like she was running out of breath.

"Is she bleeding?" Beau asked.

"She isn't," Caroline replied. "Not that I know of. Maybe I'm missing something, you look."

"Okay, that's good."

"We should call the ambulance."

"I'll take it from here," I heard Lincoln say. "We can go straight to the hospital."

"Oh no, oh no," Caroline shouted frantically.

"You need to calm down," Lincoln said sternly.

"No, no, no," Caroline continued, overriding Lincoln's rationalizations.

Caroline's shouts traveled like a reviving current through my body. Slowly my eyelids lifted to reveal the fluorescent lights fluttering from the ceiling.

"Pren?" a blurry Caroline said. She hovered right over my face, eclipsing the bathroom lights as she cocked her head to the side, eyes wide, pupils dilated.

"Quickly, get cold water and splash it on her," Lincoln said.

A handful of water splashed on my forehead. As if it hit an imaginary button, my eyes opened fully, and the world came into complete view.

"Pren!" Caroline rolled me off the ground and hugged me. "Jesus Christ, Prentice." She had tears in her eyes and a pale face.

I gingerly used my elbows to prop myself up. My head was throbbing in pain, rendering the light above me too bright to look at directly.