Hayley POV
The loud squeal of tyres skidding across asphalt disrupts the peaceful morning air and I whip around to see where the noise is coming from. Then I see him. A young boy in a bright blue coat, standing in the road, his little face frozen in shock, staring wide-eyed, as a large dark grey van hurtles towards him. My heart jumps into my mouth and I take a step towards him, already knowing that I am too far away to help. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a blur of movement as a man launches himself into the road.
In a split second, he has somehow pushed the boy clear, but just as he climbs to his feet to get out of the way, the van barrels into him with a sickening thud, and his body is sent flying through the air by the force of the impact. My stomach lurches at the sight, and I'm frozen in place, horrified at the scene unfolding in front of me.
The sound of screaming fills the air and breaks me from my stupor. The little boy's mother races to his side and collapses on her knees beside him, sobbing, holding his little round cheeks between her two hands gently as she checks his body over for injuries. He's sitting up already, and even though he is crying and clutching his leg, at least he doesn't seem to be too seriously hurt. The driver of the van clambers out from behind the deployed airbag with a loud groan before collapsing on his hands and knees, bright red blood pouring down the side of his face from a gash above his brow.
My feet have already started carrying me in the direction the man's body was thrown, despite dreading to think what I might find when I reach him. I sprint across the grass verge at the side of the road and scramble down the steep slope almost on my backside, using my hands to keep my balance as my feet slip and slide on the loose rocks.
As I hit the flatter gravel section at the bottom, I straighten and look around, desperately searching for where he has landed. I see him, and my blood runs cold. He is floating face down in the middle of the water, arms spread out, his head bobbing slightly in the slow-moving current.
Shit, shit, shit.
He is not moving and is clearly unconscious, if not already dead.
Don't think like that.
I kick off my runners, peel off my hoodie and t-shirt and launch myself into the ice-cold water in just my running shorts and sports bra. It is a beautiful sunny spring day, with clear blue skies, but the water is still shockingly cold. I gasp as plunge into the dark river and my lungs constrict, refusing to work properly. I fight to keep my breathing even as I swim out to reach him, grabbing him from behind and rolling him over quickly to get his mouth and nose out of the water.
I tip his head back, wrap my arm under his chin and start to swim back towards the riverbed. I am going against the current and I'm panting hard by the time I reach the edge. Grabbing him under the armpits, I plant my feet firmly into the mud, pulling him backwards onto the bank, using every ounce of strength I have left to haul him onto dry land.
He is tall and well built, compared to my slight frame and shorter height, and I won't be able to move him any further than this by myself. It's probably not a good idea anyway with potential spinal injuries to worry about. I drop down to my knees beside him, stones sticking into my bare skin, but I can hardly feel them as I've gone so numb from the cold water. A couple of bystanders watch horrified from the top of the bank, but nobody comes down to help me, perhaps thinking he's already dead.
I can't give up though, I have to at least try.
I touch under his clean-shaven jaw and check for a pulse but feel nothing. I put my cheek to his mouth to see if there is any air flowing past his lips or nose, but I feel nothing again. Rocking back onto my heels, I focus on his muscular chest, but I can't see any movement to indicate he is still breathing either.
I grimace at the nasty cuts across his forehead, right cheek, and jaw, his clearly broken nose, and the blood dripping down the side of his face into his wet dark hair. A quick glance confirms that he has suffered some serious injuries, his left forearm is bent at an odd angle, and his shoulder on the same side appears to be dislocated, maybe broken at the collarbone as well.
And that's just what I can see on the outside.
It seems too cruel for him to die after committing such an act of heroism, but any other outcome seems unrealistic looking at him now, deathly pale and still.
I shake my head and refocus, silently thanking the gods for mandatory health and safety training as I start CPR, even though my limbs feel tired and heavy from dragging him ashore. I pray that the approaching sirens get here quickly. I'm aware of someone sinking to their knees in the mud beside me and gripping the man by his shoulders as I continue compressions.
"Cooper! Jesus, this can't be happening." The man beside me says, leaning over to take his pulse again. Suddenly Cooper jerks and coughs violently, choking and retching as his body expels the water from his lungs. Tears of relief prick my eyes as I tilt his large shoulders over to allow the water to pour past his almost blue lips and into the dirt.
"It's ok, you're going to be ok," I whisper into his ear with as much conviction as I can muster. I smooth back the hair from his beautiful deep brown eyes as they blink open slowly. I hear the rattle of a stretcher being carried down the bank and paramedics surround us, crouching down beside him to take over.
I attempt to stand from my kneeling position to give them more space but collapse backward when my legs refuse to work, landing on my ass on the hard ground. Strong hands reach under my armpits from behind, gently pulling me up to a standing position and back a couple of steps so that I'm out of the way.
"Thanks," I mutter, looking over my shoulder at my helper but he isn't even looking at me, he is staring at the man on the ground and knows him well judging by the look on his face. He pushes his jaw-length blonde hair back roughly with one hand, blinking back tears and cursing under his breath. I'm not optimistic that his friend is out of the woods yet, so I say nothing. Once my jelly legs start to work again and can hold me upright on their own, I step away and wrap my arms around myself and watch as they load Cooper onto a backboard to carry him back up the hill.
My body starts to shiver now that the initial adrenaline rush has passed and the cold that has seeped into my bones finally registers with my brain. My legs start to give way again but the man behind me catches me before I hit the ground. He turns me to face him, holding me steady by my shoulders and I stare dumbly into the brightest pair of icy blue eyes that I have ever seen. He bends down till we're eye to eye and looks at me with concern as my teeth start to chatter, before slowly looking me up and down, taking in my wet hair and lack of clothing.
"Are you ok? Fuck, I think you need to get warm..." he looks at me, expecting me to move or to formulate some kind of an answer, but my brain can't seem to force out any words through the fog in my mind and so I just continue to stare. I don't think I even manage a nod.
He frowns before sweeping me up into his arms, and my head rolls back to rest on his shoulder as I just kind of flop in his arms, all my energy spent. He adjusts my position and holds me tightly against his solid chest before turning to carry me up the hill behind the stretcher. A deep rumble reaches us, sounding almost like a growl to me, and he jerks his head up quickly to stare at his friend, before looking back to me with a curious look on his face. After depositing me carefully on a waiting stretcher parked behind one of the ambulance's open doors, he cups my face in both hands and leans in close.
"Cooper would be dead without you; I have no words." He shakes his head before meeting my eyes again, "Thank you." I grip his hand and give it a quick squeeze.
"Is he going to be ok?" I manage to stutter out as I am strapped down and loaded into the back of the ambulance.
"He'll be ok." He reassures me, giving me a little wink before nodding once, sprinting to the back of another ambulance where Cooper is and jumping in beside him before the doors slam closed. There is a crowd gathered now, drawn by the flashing red and blue lights, all huddled around with worried faces and speaking in hushed voices.
So much for laying low and avoiding any drama.
All that work trying to find somewhere to hide and build a new life, and something tells me I've just ruined it all. I shut my eyes and despite the paramedic beside me asking me to try and stay awake, I feel myself drifting into sleep as the siren turns on and the ambulance pulls away.
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