Hold On to Me

“No,” she screamed with purpose. “Let me help!”

“I can’t let anything happen to you, now go!”

“I’m not leaving, Johnny. You might as well tell me what to do because we’re running out of time.” John could see the steel determination in her eyes and he loved her for it. “He’s my friend, too,” her voice shook as her jaw quivered.

He nodded. “I’m going to lift Jace under his arms, and when I do, reach down and try to pull his legs out. I think they’re stuck under the dash. On my count. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“Three … two … one,” he grunted, and pulled Jace with every ounce of fiber in him.

Nothing.

“Grab his foot,” he grunted. Alyssa’s hands shook as she struggled to get his legs out. She could feel glass grinding into her knees and blood trickle down her leg as she tried to get a better angle. Her mouth dropped in astonishment. No wonder John couldn’t get him out, his legs were pinned between the foot pedals.

“His legs are crushed!” she cried.

“Obviously! Just get them out!”

Twisting his leg to the left and right, Alyssa grabbed the denim and yanked, trying to shimmy him out. Another tug, a pull to the left, a tug and a pull to the right and Jace’s limp body was finally released.

Hooking an arm under Jace’s knees and one under his neck, John stumbled in the grass with the one hundr

ed and eighty pound body in his arms, but he didn’t let go. Alyssa helped as he gently laid Jace on a clear patch of grass in front of John’s truck.

In the distance, red lights flickered and sirens screamed, but they didn’t register. John stared down at the bloody face that was his best friend.

John cupped the sides of his neck as he desperately searched for a pulse. He grabbed the collar of his shirt and ripped it in half. He watched for the telltale sign of a breathing chest, but he was too frantic to spot it. And as much as his headlights were helping him, they were also blinding him.

“Save him, Johnny,” Alyssa cried in agony.

“I’m tryin’, honey.”

Pinching Jace’s nose and tilting his jaw up, John breathed into his friend’s mouth. “Come on, Jace. Come back to us. I need you,” he said as he layered his hands together and started pressing up and down under his breastbone, feeling his ribs crunching under the necessary force.

Nothing.

“Come on, Jace. Wake up!” he yelled a little louder this time.

Two heavy gulps of air and thirty hand compressions.

Nothing.

“Fuck man,” his voice began to crack, his eyes teared up. “Wake the fuck up and open your damn eyes. Please!”

Two more heavy gulps of air and another set of hand compressions.

Nothing.

“Look at me! Wake up, Jace!” he yelled in anguish. “Don’t go out like this!” John began shaking Jace in an effort to wake him up any way he could. He yelled and screamed, pulling him, anything for him to open his eyes.

“Move back!” the paramedic ordered. But John was in complete shock and couldn’t move as he watched his friend’s unresponsive body on the grass. Someone cupped their hands under his armpits and yanked him back.

The fuck …

Alyssa. She was the one who shuffled him back. Looking over, the poor girl was hunched over and on her knees. Alyssa was crying into her lap, her back vibrating with each wale. She peeked up and his heart broke for her.

“Alyssa …” his voice cracked. Alyssa crashed into him and held on for dear life, squeezing his neck tightly.