
There is a car crash. Can Will, Emma, Finn and Rachel survive?
Rated: Fiction T - English - Will S. - Words: 1,451 - Reviews: 1 - Follows: 1 - Published: 03-04-11 - Status: Complete - id: 6794990
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"What is this idiot doing?" Will genuinely wanted to know. "You're not supposed to pass on the bridge."
As, Will's remarks got them to wondering, the truck swerved into their lane, colliding with Emma's door, causing the car to run through the simple wooden railing on the side of the bridge, and crash in to the water below.
The green truck moved back into the correct lane, and continued down the road at top speed. Not quite a minute later, it zoomed past an oncoming car. Of course, the driver of the oncoming car wondered why there was a vehicle going that fast on the back roads, and thus, was put on high alert, as he continued down the road.
The car was immediately filled with water, which gushed in through Emma's open window, and the impact seemed to have knocked most of them unconscious. Will was still awake. As he struggled to get his seatbelt unbuckled, he noticed that Finn, too, was still conscious. Finn was struggling, trying to free himself, but his leg was trapped. When impacted, his door had buckled and folded over his leg, trapping him in the rapidly sinking vehicle. Will quickly got himself free, and tried to help Finn out, but he motioned for Will to get the others out. He knew that Will wouldn't be able to get him out, at least not very quickly, and by then the other two would have drowned. Will, who was already running out of breath, started to argue with him, but finally realized the same thing and quickly unbuckled Rachel's seatbelt.
As his body started breathing in some water, against his will, he moved over Rachel, and through the open window, dragging his student with him. He swam to the surface, with Rachel in tow. Gasping for air, he swam to shore and hoisted her up onto a small dock jutting out into a calm but deep spot in the river…no doubt used by the locals for fishing. He quickly checked for a pulse, hoping he would find one, for the obvious reason that he didn't want his student to die, but also, because, if he had to do CPR, he definitely wouldn't have enough air to get the others out, and if he had to do CPR, then the other two would probably be dead by the time he got to them. So, when he felt a pulse, and saw the rise and fall of her chest, he immediately turned around, swam back out to about where he thought the car was, then taking the deepest breath he could, dove under to get the others.
After only a few moments, the man who had passed the green truck, came to the bridge where the accident had happened. He continued onto it, and noticed the broken railing. He put on his flashers and pulled over, as much as he could, to see if he could see anyone in the water. He saw somebody lying on the shore, so called 911, as he ran down to the limp body. 'Fortunately,' he thought, 'luck is with us and I can get a signal on the cell phone, here.'
By the time he reached the car again, Will was already pretty much out of breath. He glanced at the back seat, and noticed that Finn was still conscious, but wouldn't be for long. He was already pretty much out of breath and was struggling to stay awake. But Will knew there was nothing he could do about it at that moment. He knew he had to get Emma out. He was struggling to keep from inhaling any more water, as he quickly unbuckled Emma, and fought to get himself and her out of the window of the car, and to the surface. As he tried to muscle up enough strength to get back to the shore, he noticed someone hunched over next to Rachel.
The Good Samaritan looked up when he heard splashing. He saw a man trying to keep himself and a woman above the water. Satisfied that the girl on the shore was breathing, the would-be rescuer jumped into the water to assist Will. When he reached him, the teacher nodded in the direction of the sunken car, and attempted to tell the man that there was someone else in the car, but had practically no breath left at all so it came out as a breathy whisper, "There's…"
"There's someone else down there?" the man inquired, and when Will nodded, the man asked, "You good?" nodding at Emma.
Will lied and nodded, because he knew that if he responded in the negative, which he would never admit anyway, the man would help him, and Finn wouldn't have a chance. The other man dove under the water, and found the car quickly. He swam in through the front, and tried to free Finn's leg. He knew he wouldn't be able to free it, but continued to try. By this time, Finn was unconscious, but the rescuer still found a fairly strong pulse when he checked.
An ambulance with two EMT's in it was on its way back to the rescue squad building. The friends, Joe and Steven, had just been on a run to free some children trapped in a nearby cave. All four children were fine, just scared, and the EMT's were feeling pretty good about the day so far, when they heard the dispatcher read out the location of the 911 call. They responded to the call, since they were just around the corner from it anyway, hoping their good luck would continue. They had heard that it was a car off a bridge, so expected to need the jaws, and other related equipment.
Will continued to the dock, barely keeping his own head and Emma's above the water. He had a traditional rescue hold on Emma with his left arm. Finally, he reached the dock. As he tried to lift Emma on to it, the two EMT's, each with their share of equipment, came down the bank. The good Samaritan, later identified as Michael Wilson, who was attempting to help Finn, resurfaced for air, and when he noticed the EMT's on the shore, shouted, "There's a man trapped in a car down here!"
Steven grabbed the jaws, jumped in the water, and, as Michael swam back to the dock, he swam down to the car. At the same time, Joe lifted Emma up on to the pier. Then, feeling for a pulse, and finding nothing, he started CPR. The 911 caller approached Joe, he assumed that since Will was still conscious, he could keep himself from dropping back under the water. Neither man noticed that Will was fighting for breath and didn't have the strength to pull himself from the water, or, eventually, to even continue to hold onto the wooden beams that were holding up the dock. The EMT finally got Emma breathing, and turned to help Will up. But just as he did so, Will passed out, and sank limply back under the water.
Joe immediately dove in to the water, near where he had last seen Will. While the EMT was underwater, retrieving the unconscious student. Joe reached the surface with Will. The man on the dock took Will from Joe's arms and while he climbed out of the water, Michael Wilson tried to hoist Will's limp body onto the dock. The EMT soon climbed out to a position beside the other man, and immediately helped him heave Will out of the water.
As they were doing so, the other EMT finally surfaced with Finn. The EMT and the man on the pier laid Will down next to his friends. Joe, who was checking Will for a pulse, noticed that the man's breathing was heavily laboured. He did have a pulse, though, and was breathing on his own, so the EMT advanced to the edge of the water, near the Good Samaritan, to offer his help with what he hoped was the last injured person. Once the other EMT reached them, both Joe and Michael helped them get Finn on to the dock. Once they got him on the wooden platform, Joe checked for a pulse then immediately started CPR, while the civilian rescuer helped the other EMT onto the dock. Steven stepped back, next to Michael and they both checked on the other people, wanting to do something useful, and knowing that there was nothing else that they could do to help at the moment.
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