The Road Trip

Capter 16 - In One Second

Chapter 16

In One Second

I'm not even sure what was going through my mind at that moment. Panic, shock…Mostly anger at Holden. But when I think back to that moment, all I can feel is the overwhelming feeling of needing to see Trent safe. Whether it was just seeing his smiling face, or getting him out of the water, I needed to see it happen.

When I hit the water, I didn't even bother to come up for air. I immediately opened my eyes and started looking for Trent. The pool of water wasn't very deep, so I spotted him a few seconds later. His limp body was already floating to the top, so all I had to do was help it up. My chest burned as I swam to him, looping my arms under Trent's arms.

Things seemed to be in slow motion. I couldn't move fast enough; I couldn't do anything right. I kicked my feet, forcing myself to the edge of the water. The few people who were around had taken notice in what had happened and started helping me pull Trent to land. Luke appeared next to me at some point, but I'm pretty sure I pushed him away.

Some guys picked Trent up and carried him to the dirt, setting him on his back. Choking on the water I had swallowed, I hovered over Trent. His chest wasn't moving. I pushed his head back, pressing my ears to his chest. Nothing. I put my hand in front of his mouth, no breathing.

"Oh my God, he isn't breathing," I cried, looking around frantically, "Someone call 911!" I forced a deep breath, and slowly my CPR training came back to me. The class had just been precautionary, I never dreamed I would use it, and yet here I was, hovering over Trent, and was forced to pump his chest.

One.

Two.

Three.

All the way up to thirty, I pushed down on his chest, wincing as the bones bent under my weight. I had been warned that, if ever using this technique, it might break bones, and I was just praying that it wouldn't. After thirty chest pumps, I leaned his head back, pinched his nose, and pressed my lips against his.

Even though he was knocked out, a wired feeling shot through my body. I ignored it and breathed two large puffs of air into his mouth. His chest rose and fell from the air, but he still didn't start breathing. The whole time I just kept thinking, this isn't happening. But it was, it was all too real. Tears burned my eyes as I continued, just hoping his heart would start again. Time was frozen and all I could focus on was his limp body. Over and over again I pumped his chest and blew air into his lungs, waiting for him to sit up and tell me he was fine. I just needed to hear his voice and then everything would be better.

Suddenly, two strong arms pulled me back.

"Stop!" I screamed, thrashing around in the person's arms. The paramedics surrounded Trent and started feeling for a pulse.

"Ma'am," One of the paramedics said calmly into my ear, "We need you to calm down. Do you understand me?" I nodded and fell still, hoping he would release me. The man dumped me into Luke's arms and started working on Trent as well. This wasn't happening, right? It was just a joke or a poorly made horror movie that felt way too real.

The sound started to fade away, and all I could see were movements. I started to feel dizzy, but I refused to pass out. Not when Trent was considered 'dead' at the moment. Somehow, I couldn't except the fact that he had no pulse. The men surrounding Trent hooked him up to a machine and started counting down. What was that thing? It looked like-

Zap.

Trent's body jolted around as they shocked him, but then he fell still. The man who had been holding me back quickly checked for a pulse, but there was none.

"Again!" He called, and they started counting down.

Zap.

I'm not sure how many more times they did that, but it felt like an eternity. Luke hugged me tightly to his chest, burying his head in my wet hair so he didn't have to watch. Believe me, I wanted to do the same thing, but I couldn't tear my eyes off of the scene.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, someone called out, "We have a pulse!" Relief washed through my body, and Luke's arms loosened around me slightly. "Let's move!" It seemed like in a blink of an eye they had Trent on a stretcher and were putting him in the back of the ambulance.

How did they get the ambulance back here? Did they drive through the trees?

'Who goes?' I asked Luke. I knew they only let one person in the ambulance, and I wanted that person to be me, but Luke was his brother. If he wanted to go, I would let him.

He must've seen something in my eyes, because he signed, 'You go, I'll get Holden to drive me.' I nodded and started running with the paramedics. They were already in the truck, closing the doors, so I quickly grabbed onto the handle and pulled it open.

"Please, let me go, too." I gasped, and the man nodded. I stepped inside and was immediately pushed into a small seat. It was a cramped space, but I would take it. I still felt in the way, though, so I curled my knees up to my chest. They were hovering over Trent, doing all sorts of things to him. The car started speeding off, and I almost fell out of my chair, but somehow, I was able to stay seated.

By the time we had reached the hospital, they had Trent hooked up to an oxygen tank and were saying he was still unstable. When I heard that word, I swear my heart stopped for a few seconds. When they wheeled Trent out of the car, I ran after them. I kept running with them until they stopped me from entering a room.

"Sorry, Miss, you're going to have to wait in the waiting room." A man said, pushing me aside gently. I was too tired and worried to fight it, so I nodded and shuffled off to the room he told me to wait in. It smelled like old people and hand sanitizer. Ignoring everyone who was sending me weird glances, I curled up and a ball and rested my forehead on my knees. People were still staring at me because I was in my bikini, but I didn't care.

Oh God, Trent was in the hospital again! I replayed the scene in my head over and over, each time I tried to remember exactly what had happened. Had Holden landed on Trent on purpose? No, I don't think he would do that. He may be mean sometimes, but he has never laid a hand on anyone before. It was purely an accident.

"Addie?" A soft hand touched my shoulder, and I looked up slowly. Holden handed me my cover-up, but I tossed it aside and threw my arms around his neck. I was still crying silently, but I could tell I was running out of tears. "Cover yourself up, babe." He whispered, handing me my cover up again. This time, I pulled it roughly over my head before plopping down in my chair.

If he wasn't going to comfort me, then I wasn't going to talk with him. I needed to be held and told it was going to be okay, but all he cared about was covering me up. Really, I didn't care that I was sitting in the hospital, basically wearing a bra and underwear. I just wanted Trent to be safe.

'Hey,' Luke signed as he ran in, 'Where is he?'

'I don't know, they told me to wait here.' I huffed, rolling my eyes. The hospital policy stinks, it really does.

'How's he doing?' Luke's eyes shone with worry as he sat down next to me.

'Still not stable,' I shook my head, tears welling up in my eyes again. Trent didn't really have good luck, you know. First the concussion and now this. 'Should we call your parents?'

'Let's wait to find out how serious this is,' Luke decided, 'If he's just going to be kept here till he wakes up, then I don't think they need to know. They're busy worrying about Alex...' He trailed off, making me raise an eyebrow. Usually, I knew everything about the Daniel's, but I knew nothing about Alex. However, I also knew not to pry into other people's business.

I nodded, glancing at Holden again. He had his fists clenched, his face was slightly red. So, what, he was pissed at me, he almost killed Trent. He needed to show more concern or something.

"Addison," He growled in between gritted teeth, "Can I talk to you for a moment? Alone?"

"Sure," I said slowly, standing to my feet. He roughly grabbed my wrist and yanked me along, so hard I almost fell over. Holden took no notice, though, and kept dragging me down the hallway. I winced in pain; he was holding my wrist too hard. "Holden, let go, I can follow you myself." He didn't listen, he just squeezed my wrist harder. I squeaked in pain.

I was starting to get scared. Holden had never acted like this or hurt me in any way. No matter how mad he got at me, he had never laid a hand on me or pulled me like this. I was so shocked I just bit my lip and let him shove me into the family bathroom.

"What the hell?" He asked as soon as he locked the door. His voice shook with anger, and I could tell he was having a hard time keeping his voice down. Confusion bubbled inside of me.

"What?" I asked quietly, slowly pulling my arm from his grasp. He released it, taking a deep breath.

"Why are you so concerned about Trent? You're acting like he's your boyfriend." He hissed at me, taking a step closer. I took a step back, afraid of the look in his eyes. I had never seen it before.

"What do you mean?" I squeaked, thoroughly confused and freaked out. He ground his teeth together, grabbing a hand full of his blond air and pulling at it.

"You need to be less worried, that kid isn't your freaking boyfriend."

"Less worried?!" I almost screamed. Suddenly, my fear was forgotten. He couldn't be saying things like that. "I need to be more worried, Holden! He's practically my brother! You almost killed him."

"Shut up!" Holden hissed, roughly clamping a hand over my mouth. He pushed me so hard that I slammed into the hard tile wall, his whole body pressed against mine. "I can't have people knowing about that. You know it was an accident, right?"

"Was it?" I accused after getting his hand off his mouth. I knew it was, but I couldn't help thinking that it might not have been. I knew he didn't like Trent very much. "Or did you just want to get him out of the way because you're afraid I'll leave you for him?"

"Are you accusing me of attempted murder?" Holden asked, anger flaring into his eyes. He pressed me harder into the wall with his chest, but I refused to show any pain. I had started something dangerous, it seemed, but I wasn't going to back down.

"So, what if I am?" I spat, "What does it matter? Oh yeah, you could go to prison for it."

"Be. Quiet. Now." He growled, putting both his hands on either side of my face. I was completely trapped, and my fear was slowly coming back, but I had enough left in me to say my peace.

"No, you're just scared I'm going to leave you for Trent." I'm not sure what possessed me to keep taunting him like that, pure madness, maybe, but I didn't stop. "Maybe I should, he's better than you."

"b***h!" I didn't even see what happened, it all went so quickly. I saw Holden move slightly, and then I fell to the ground, screaming in pain. My head jerked to the side so hard my neck jarred. Holden had actually slapped me across the face. I looked up through my tears in shock, gripping the side of my face.

"Oh God," Holden gasped, his face going pale, "I didn't mean too. Addie, I swear, I-" I didn't let him finish. I pushed myself off of the floor and started running. At the door, he gripped my arm, but I roughly shook his hand off. I ran blindly down the hall, trying to ignore the burning sensation in my cheek.

Holden had hit me. He had actually hit me. Never in my life had I dreamed my relationship with Holden would turn abusive, but in one second it had. He hadn’t meant too, I could see the shock in his eyes, but that didn't take away the fact that he had done it. Nothing he could say would erase that moment from my memory.

I ran into the waiting room and quickly spotted Luke. He was standing with a doctor, signing. My first thought was, 'thank God someone here can speak sign language.' My second was, 'well, no duh, this is a hospital.' My third thought, completely erasing the burning sensation in my cheek, was, 'Trent.'