Chase's P.O.V.
I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. I went over it in my head a billion times, imagining a dozen different ways it could have gone better. Or worse. I was frustrated with myself, which didn't happen often. Usually it was other people making the mistakes.
What I regretted the most is not being there when Amina got hurt. I could have saved her. But I was too slow.
I should have been calmer. I should have been faster. And for God's sake, I should have been smarter! What is wrong with me? When did I become such a...disappointment. To myself, to my family...and to her.
I remember stumbling blindly through the cafeteria, unable to see past the dust. I mean, I have enhanced sight, so I should have been good, right? Wrong. Wrong. Nothing was right about that day. But despite my temporary blindness, I could hear Amina's every whimper and cry.
I knew the moment I saw her blood, shining on the white floors that something had gone terribly wrong. I remember seeing her the first time through the dust, lying on the stained floor, clenching her eyes in pain. There was a terribly large piece of the ceiling impaled into her leg, and I couldn't help gagging. I have certainly seen much worse...but seeing Amina like that, I felt sick to my stomach.
As soon I saw her, I should have moved. I could have gotten the force field up in time, not like I'd done before. I was already upset about that. The lamp nearly crashed on us, but thanks to Amina's reflexes we dodged out of the way just in time- but we couldn't do anything about the falling sheet rock. We were lucky not to have been hurt earlier. But I knew our luck had ran out as soon as I saw a large chunk of mortar from the very roots of the academy fall from the heavens...and shatter right over Amina's head. I shouted at her, even though I knew she wouldn't have been able to move in time. Or move at all with her injured leg.
Everything after that seemed to happen in slow motion. My bionic vision very inconveniently decided to kick in right then to focus on how her dark, unseeing eyes rolled back into her head, and all her muscles went slack. She slumped to the ground awkwardly, the shard in her thigh digging deep into her leg.
Somehow, without me telling it too, my body had moved by itself, and within seconds I was crouched over Amina, throwing up a force-field around us, just as a precautionary. While I had one hand holding up the glimmering blue force-field, I pressed my other to her arched neck, testing for a pulse. It was there, thankfully, but it was faint. She was fading. As I stared down at her, my fingertips and the sleeve of my white uniform became stained with the blood that had spilled from her temple. She had an injury on the back of her head too, probably a concussion.
The rumblings of the building soon faded away, and if I looked up, I could see straight up into the training arena. I could see a boy's legs dangling from the unstable floor, and I could hear the shouts of my siblings and father. The training room floor had totally caved in.
"Help!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. I watched as Adam and Bree pulled up the boy, pushing him behind them. I shouted again, and the three worried faces of my family peered down through the hole at me and Amina.
"Chase?" Mr. Davenport shouted back. "What are you doing down there?" He asked. I shook my head, not finding the words to explain. The why's and the how's didn't matter right now...All that mattered was Amina. "It doesn't matter!" I yelled. "But Amina's hurt, bad, and the doorway is blocked. We're in the cafeteria."
Mr. Davenport nodded and pulled Bree from the edge. Adam lingered and stared down at us, confused. "Whose Amina?" He asked. I flushed with anger, and pulled down my force field to give him a glimpse of the broken girl in my arms. "The girl that's going to die if you don't get down here and help me!"
There. I said it. I asked him for help. I didn't listen for a response from him. I just turned back to Amina and stroked her hair back, careful not to scrape her head wound. In a stroke of insanity, I bent down and pressed my lips to her cheek, before pulling away and whispering in her ear. "Please, Amina. Please...be okay."