CHAPTER 2
767 Words
Hilda's POV
People were screaming. Phones were flying in the air, lights flashing, voices trembling.
"Oh my God!"
"Did you see that?"
"Someone call an ambulance!" I didn't think. I didn't stop. I ran.
The sprinkling wet my coat and hair, and I made my way through the small group. The vehicle was flattened against the lamppost, with smoke coming out of the hood. The first window had been smashed. There was a weak, broken sound of the engine.
"Don't go near it!" a man shouted.
"It might explode!"
My heartbeat and my feet went on.
A man was slumped at the steering wheel in the car. Blood ran down his forehead. His eyes were closed. His hands didn't move.
"Sir," I said loudly. "Can you hear me?"
No answer. I pulled the door handle. It wouldn't open.
"Oh, please," I whispered. "Please open."
I struck it with my utmost force. My leg was aching, and at last the door opened.
Somebody behind me screamed, You are mad!
Maybe I was.
I got the man and pulled him by the arms. He was heavy. My hands slipped. My heart raced.
"Come on," I begged. "Please."
He got out of the car with one final jerk, onto the wet ground, just as there was a loud pop of something under the hood.
People gasped.
I pulled him still farther, trembling in my arms, with a disjointed breath. My chest felt on fire, and I had not stayed till we were safe.
I fell on my knees next to him.
"Sir?" I said again, louder this time. "Please wake up."
The blood continued to run out of his head. I started panicking, and then I remembered that my mother had a nurse, who taught me some lessons.
Pressure, I answered myself.
I removed my scarf, which I was fumbling with, and slipped it over his wound.
"Stay with me," I said. "Please don't sleep."
My hands trembled. My teeth were clenched with cold.
Someone knelt beside me. "The ambulance is coming."
"Good," I said. "Please tell them to hurry."
The man suddenly groaned.
My breath caught.
His eyelids fluttered open. His eyes were dark. Sharp. Confused.
We stood staring at one another for a moment.
"You're… safe," I said softly. "Don’t move."
He attempted to speak, and he recoiled in pain.
"Shh," I said quickly. "Please."
His eyes remained on my face as though he was unremembering it. Then his eyes gradually closed once more.
"Stay awake," I pleaded. "Please."
We heard sirens moaning.
"They’re coming," someone said.
I pressed more on the wound, my hands being slick with blood.
"Don’t die," I whispered. "Please don’t."
The ambulance came with blinking lights. Paramedics rushed in.
Retire, one of them told him.
I stepped aside, my knees weak. He was carried on a stretcher.
You have saved his life, a lady who was by me said.
I shook my head. "I just helped."
"Miss," a paramedic called. "What’s your name?"
I hesitated.
"Hilda," I said softly.
He nodded. "Thank you, Hilda."
When they loaded the man into the ambulance, the reporters came out of nowhere, and the cameras flashed.
"Miss! And how about saving his life?
"Did you know who he was?"
I froze.
I didn’t answer.
I turned and walked away.
I ran.
The tears were concealed beneath the rain, and I went out into the night.
When I got to my basement room, my entire body was aching. My hands were covered with dry blood. I washed them in the sink till my skin smouldered.
"It’s over," I told myself. "It’s done."
I was on my bed staring at the ceiling.
Sleep didn’t come easily.
The following morning, my phone alarm went on once more at 4:30 a.m.
Another day.
Something was not right at the cafe.
People were whispering.
Two colleagues were very near with sparkling eyes.
"Did you see the video?"
"It's everywhere!"
Who runs the risk of her life like that?
I put my head into a cower and wiped the counter.
"Hilda," one of them said slowly.
"Yes?" I replied.
She held out her phone.
My breath stopped.
On the screen, I saw myself.
Running.
Rescuing a man in a crashed vehicle.
Pressing my scarf to his head.
There was flashing of ambulance lights at the end of the video.
Above it was a bold headline:
"Unknown woman saves Gregor Ludwig.
The room went silent.
My stomach sank to my heart.
Gregor Ludwig.
The name echoed in my head.
I whispered, "No…"
And in that moment, I knew--
My life was no longer mine.
- Writer
