I woke up to water dripping down my cheek, I could feel my curly dark hair matted to my cheek thickly. There was something soft pushing into my face. Light like air, but yet stifling and laborious, I tried to push it away with my right arm. I could feel the pressure in my right arm and knew the growing pain and pressure could be from a fractured shaft in my humerus.
I did a mental check. Going through what I could feel for pain and checking off the list mentally. Reminding myself how good a thing pain could be.
Because ultimately the ability to move and control both fingers and toes meant that no matter how much my back hurt my spine was fine. Which meant that I could safely move and turn my head to assess the situation, and yet while my shoulders hurt. Essentially, my clavicle bone was okay, because I could move my shoulders with no pain at all. Which also meant other than a painful right arm and some slight tingling in my back. I was relatively okay.
The good news in his situation, even better that meant I could open my eyes. The moment I did there was something bright dancing in front of my lids and from the crispy, hot, oil smell, I knew it was fire.
I opened them slowly so my brain and cornea could adjust to the light change.
Sure enough, there was a fire beside the front of Mina’s side of the vehicle where an electrical wire that the other vehicle had obviously mown down was broken and dangling dangerously near her outer door.
My brain froze, and I turned my neck slowly so I could get a better look at the situation.
Mina’s side was bright from the light and I could see her body dangling half out of the vehicle, in a sort of crunched shape. Her head on the ground outside, the wire slowly oscillated back and forth nearby each swing becoming closer than before.
“Mina!... Mina!” My mind raced with fear at the situation she was in and I realized she was so close to danger my heart felt like it would burst from the fear of the situation at hand.
Because she was close to both fire and open electricity.
And she was.
Entirely… Unconscious.
Rain poured down her beautiful creamy skin. Her normally gorgeous dark hair was thrown about everywhere, matted to her face and body from the water.
I tried to think as calmly as I could.
I tried to be level headed. To remember my training, the basic one that all doctors had to undergo for emergency situations.
Immediately, I realized getting her body someplace safe was the only option that led to the most positive outcome for her.
I reached down with my left arm and clicked the button that released my seatbelt. When it retracted, I let out a few slow, long breaths in and out to see if I had injured myself there and to just regain a moment. In situations like this, the small moments mattered most. Outside of a few small surface wounds from glass, there was really no damage anywhere that I could see on the surface of my body.
So, I groped around for the door handle, time seemed to move so slow for me, agonizingly so. But I knew it wasn’t, that really my impaired state was making it so that everything was moving at half speed, despite everything occurring the same way it always did.
But my brain wasn’t functioning the same because my brain froze, stuck. It shouted at me, glaringly loud, I NEED to get to her.
Despite my worry and panicked heart rate, my training was in control and I was doing things as I should if I wanted us both to make it out of this as uninjured as possible.
I located the handle and pressed it. The door popped open, and I heard a shout.
“There’s someone alive in this one!”
I cleared my throat, knowing I needed to tell them what I was doing. I needed to tell them to check on her.
‘NO! They could hurt her, you need to assess the situation if anyone else touches her they could move her without knowing that what they are doing is bad.’
‘You need to be smarter. Her life depends on it!’
“Do you need help?” Someone asked, and I crawled out, slowly pushing forward using only my good arm.
“It’s actually, best if you don’t thanks, for the offer...” I heard my voice sound horrid, broken, dry. And I tasted his own blood in the back of my throat and mouth. Probably from his swollen, throbbing lip.
I crawled, painstakingly slow around to the other side of the car, around the back... Towards her.
“Mina!” I called gently.
“Mina...” I reached her body. Close enough to touch her, but still an arm’s length away because of the wire. I knew I would have to time it right so I wouldn’t get hit. I could hear the sirens from behind me. Far off and knew from the sounds they were too far away for such a precarious situation.
I heard people shouting at me, but it all seemed far off, as if from another world.
I timed it right and with all my might pushed off from both arms. The jolt of pain that shot through my arm was a light fire. Rough, hot through my blood. And I winced, knowing I hadn’t done it any real hard damage yet.
But knew... KNEW I would hurt so bad later. Because of the pain, I knew I had to inflict on it at this moment was utterly unavoidable.
“Please, Mina, please babe, Please be okay.” I whimpered, and I reached out with my left hand then felt for her pulse. It was slow. But there, I stared at her. Mentally looking at all her outward injuries. I needed to find out if anything internal was broken or bleeding badly before I tried to move her. I knew it but I also didn’t have the time nor the right equipment to run those full checks here before it was too late for her.
I knew I must jump to action now.
Because the wind made that wire swing all the more dangerously around us.
I pressed in places gently; cautiously. Carefully checking her inch by inch, when she didn’t seem to have any external injuries. I stopped and listened carefully, her breathing seemed labored.
‘Labored breathing? A puncture wound inside? Something is wrong internally and I can’t tell if it is just swelling. I will have to move her carefully taking all the weight onto myself.’
I braced myself and put both my arms under her, cradling her in a way that it would be safe to drag her body out.
I could feel the flames' heat right near my hips and could feel the wind and rain around me. My muscles froze and my heart skipped with fear. I know how dangerous this was. I knew that pulling her ten feet through the small opening away from the car would hurt tremendously and I also knew that if I didn’t, then she would die. But my body knew and fought me for its own survival.
I carefully painstakingly slow straightened her and got her into a position that would be safe to drag from. Then re-wrapped my arms around her in the same position as before, just more supported weight for myself.
I braced and pulled myself to my feet still crouching, mentally counting down, and then pulled with all my might without stopping. Each step was agonizing, but I knew that I needed to get her out of here and to as far away as I could and so I pulled past when I thought I could. Pulled through the fire that was licking through my system as my bones ached and I felt a small crunch a scream followed that as the pain ate away at me.
But then she was free. And all I had to do was go to the opposite end and move her feet out of the path of the wire."Breathe baby breathe." I wished. Hoping that she could make it, that whatever I had done had not hurt her too badly inside. She took a few gasping, choking breaths and a wave of relief washed over me, as her breathing improved slightly.
I walked back, nursing my arm and pushed her feet lightly to the side, tears streaked my cheek from the pain.
And I saw out of the corner of my eye, it was too late.
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