Delia's Gift (Delia 3)

Incredibly, none of the other partygoers paid any attention to what I was saying.

I felt for Sophia’s pulse.

“Her heartbeat is too fast. I’m sure her blood pressure is way up, too. We’ve got to get her to a hospital quickly,” I said.

“Oh man, oh man,” Cliff chanted. “I’m going to get into so much trouble. This isn’t the first time I’ve been around something like this. My parents will kill me.”

“Go get Fani,” I told him.

“Hey, I can’t have anything more to do with this. I don’t even know her, really,” Cliff said, nodding at Sophia and backing away. “She’s your cousin, not mine. You guys take care of it.”

Before I could respond, he turned and walked off to disappear in the crowd.

“We’ve got to get her to the hospital!” I screamed at Trudy. She seemed incapable of moving. “She could die!”

The music seemed to get even louder. The laughter and screams around me put me into more of a panic. Was everyone insane? Couldn’t anyone see what was happening? I stood up and reached for the nearest boy, seizing his arm.

“Hey!” he complained.

“Help us get her into a car!” I shouted at him. “She has to go to a hospital.”

He looked at me and then down at Sophia. “She’s just drunk.”

“No. She took drugs. She’s dying,” I said. The girl beside him shrieked and put her hand over her mouth as if she had to shut herself up.

“Wow,” he said.

“I ain’t going to any hospital with you,” he warned. “I could get thrown out of college over something like this.”

“We don’t need you to go to the hospital. Just help me get her there. Please, get her feet,” I said.

I knelt down and lifted under her arms. Sophia was no lightweight, and I struggled.

I looked to the other boys, who were now watching, hoping one of them would step forward. Finally, as I stumbled back, one of them did. He was stocky, so holding her was no effort for him.

“Where are we going with her?” he asked, looking as if he might drop Sophia if I didn’t answer very fast.

“Trudy, show us where your car is. Quickly!” I said.

She nodded and led us around the side of the house. The boy complained when he saw how far down the road Trudy’s car was parked.

“I’m going to get a hernia,” the boy holding her at the legs said.

I told Trudy to rush ahead and get the rear door opened. When we got there, the boy was very clumsy about putting Sophia into the rear. He bumped her shoulders and her head. I got in from the other side and guided her onto the seat. As soon as she was fully in, the stocky boy closed the door and walked away as if he had simply helped someone load his or her car with groceries. Trudy, still in a panic, was just standing there stupidly.

“Get into the car and drive,” I ordered.

“Where?”

“The nearest hospital!” I shouted. How could she be so stupid?

“I don’t know where that is. I don’t live here, Delia.”

“Just drive down the road, and we’ll stop at the first place we see people to get directions.”

She got in and started the engine. I felt Sophia’s face again. Her skin was so hot that it was difficult for me to hold my fingers there. Her pulse was still very, very fast. She’s actually going to die in this car, I thought. Despite all she had done to me, the horror of such an event sent cold chills through my body. I sat back and lowered her head to my lap. Trudy drove erratically. She was crying as she was driving.

“Be careful!” I screamed when she made a turn too close to the side of the road and went over the sidewalk. The moment I saw a lit storefront, I shouted, “Park there, and get directions. Quickly!”