10. Breathe Again
Soaking wet and exhausted beyond belief, Sally collapsed on the beach, gasping for proper breath the entire time. Her mind raced as she lay there, and she did her best to regain any energy that she could. Images flashed through her mind—Sonic attacking Eggman, an explosion going off, Sonic falling out of the aircraft and Sally diving after him—and her heart raced faster. How long had he been in the water before she had dragged him to the shore? Swallowing, Sally pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, trying harder and harder to regain control of her limbs.
"Sonic, are you okay?" She asked as she looked off to the left where she had stopped dragging him. He was still in the same exact spot as she had left him, his arms spread out, his eyes still closed. Sally stared at him for a few moments as she waited for him to answer, still panting the entire time. "Sonic?"
Almost instantly after she had called his name, something clicked in her mind, and fear grasped her by the heart. "Sonic!" She jumped up onto her feet and without another word, rushed to his side. As soon as she was down next to him, her heart skipped another beat, and for a moment, she felt like screaming. His entire body had turned horribly still, and his expression had morphed into one of pure numbness. Had… had he…?
No! She wasn't going to allow it! No matter what, she wasn't going to lose him! Taking in a deep breath, the princess began to run herself through a series of procedures. "Okay… okay, what first?" She sifted through her thoughts until the memory struck her. "Right! Check to see if he's breathing!" Course, since that one was rather obvious, Sally decided to skip it. "Next, tilt chin back, and see if there's anything that would keep him from breathing correctly." Carefully, she pulled his chin up so it was pointed toward the sky, then opened his mouth. From what she could see, there was nothing blocking his airways…
"Administer rescue breathing." Had she actually ever received proper training for this? As Sally plugged his nose and moved forward, doubt began to slowly poison her train of thought. Didn't they say that if you had never received training for stuff like CPR and rescue breathing that it was more dangerous to them than doing nothing at all? Gritting her teeth, Sally shook the thought off. Did it matter? If there was a risk involved, it was easily out-weighed by the chance of saving him.
So with that thought in mind, she began the cycle of rescue breathes. After two of them, though, a thought crossed her mind. Had she checked his pulse? She growled to herself. What had she been thinking? Or rather, what hadn't she been thinking? A quick check proved that he had a faint pulse that was rapidly becoming weaker. Fear plagued her heart again, but she did her best to shake it off and continue.
She gave him a few more breathes, and when he didn't react, she cried out in frustration, "Don't you dare give up on me, Sonic!"
Her heart beginning to drop and her body starting to feel warm from the anger and frustration, Sally nearly squealed in delight when Sonic started coughing. Without another word, she turned him onto his side and patted him on the back a few times. He coughed harder and harder until finally, he began to take deep, ragged breathes. His body shuddered and for a few moments, he was silent.
"Thank goodness," Sally whispered, leaning forward and kissing him on the forehead. "I thought you were a goner…"
He coughed again and ever so slowly, looked up at Sally. "Sal? What… what on Mobius happened? I feel like I just swallowed a handful of thumbtacks…"
Tears brimming in her eyes, Sally smiled. "I just saved your life. No big."
Sonic took a moment to react, but when he did, his reaction was exactly what Sally had been expecting. Smirking, he laughed (and coughed), "Well. Looks like we're about even now."
"Yeah, we are."
Gosh I'm tired. I need to go to bed... hope you guys liked this one! ^^
Thanks to The Dark Omega, Thomas Holmes II, and ShadowEmpress76 for the reviews! And thanks to The Dark Omega and Wrath Of The Heavens for faving and adding this story to your alerts! ^^ It means a lot to me!