Note: Everything in this chapter takes place from Sam's POV.....again.
I awoke with a throbbing pain in my head and daggers in my chest.
I was floating on my back in the icy cold water, feeling numb and disoriented. I moaned softly, in a world of agony. My lungs felt like they were pincushions, and I could feel that some of my ribs were displaced by the pressure on my lungs and below them. I could feel continuous trickles of blood running down the side of my face, starting from my forehead. My legs were almost completely numb, and I knew that I had to get out of the water before I got hypothermia.
I rolled over slowly, wincing and gasping in pain as I felt the water hit my stomach. Freezing cold, I happened to look down below me in the crystal clear water. A little boy, no more than seven, lay trapped underneath a chandelier, his eyes open in hysteria and pain. They pleaded with me to help him.
I knew I couldn't let him die, so I made a split second decision. Moving as fast as I could with my broken ribs, I took as deep of a breath as I could stand, and dove down towards the boy. The water felt like needles sticking into every part of my body. I opened my eyes and could feel the water stinging and tearing at my corneas with every stroke of my arms. I spotted the boy easily enough, about ten feet down.
As I drew closer to him, I could see that the chandelier had impaled his leg in three different places. When I was hovering about two feet above the boy, I grasped the piece of the chandelier that was sticking up, and pulled as hard as I could, bracing my feet on either side of the boy's leg. It came free after two or three pulls. Lighter than I had expected it to be, my momentum carried the chandelier up over my head, pulling me with it. I swam over to the side of the boy and let go of it, watching it slowly float down to the bottom.
I swam to the bottom again, and, grabbing the boy under one arm, pushed up to the surface. We broke the water, gasping. Immediately, my chest throbbed painfully. While I had been underwater, I'd forgotten all about the pain of my chest. This time, I thrust the pain aside, knowing that I had to get the boy and myself out of the water as soon as possible. I sidestroked with him to the partially submerged stairs leading up to the room where the other survivors had gone. "Are you alright?" I managed to gasp after I had pulled us out of the water.
He nodded slowly, shivering uncontrollably. "Thank you for saving my life," he whispered, "I was afraid you'd just leave me there."
My heart broke into a thousand pieces. How could anyone be so cruel as to leave a helpless boy trapped under freezing cold water? I mean, I know there are people like that, but I couldn't fathom doing anything that mean. "I would never do that," I replied.
He smiled through the shudders, and I returned the gesture. As I looked past his quaking shoulders, I spotted a payphone. The grin slowly slipped from my face. Older payphones draw their power directly from the subway. I could make a phone call, if this worked. I slowly eased myself back into the water, grimacing and groaning as I got deeper. I called to the boy, "I'll be right back. I'm going to try and make a phone call."
I slowly wove my way through the floating debris, ignoring the icy-hot pain my lungs felt and the throbbing of my bloody forehead. I stood on the ledge next to the phone, and, taking the phone off the hook, proceeded to punch in the digits of my father's, Jack Hall, work office. I shivered as the phone rang. "Pick up, pick up," I muttered to no one, silently willing my father to pick up the phone. Finally, I heard my father's flustered voice on the other end. "Hello?"
"Dad! Dad! It's me!" I shouted, "It's me, Sam!"
"Sam? Are you all right?!" he yelled back, some relief in his hoarse voice.
"Yes, I'm fine. I'm with a bunch of other people at the public library."
"Thank God. Your mother and I have been so worried about you. Listen, Sam. This storm is going to get worse. It'll be like a hurricane with an eye right in the center of it. When the eye hits, the air's so cold you could freeze to death in seconds."
I noticed that the water level was rising. Instead of where it was before, at my waist, the frigid water was chest deep and rising. "Uh-huh," I replied, "so what do we do?"
"Stay inside, and burn whatever you can to stay warm. Do not leave the library. I will come for you. Do you understand? I will come for you," my father said with such conviction that I almost believed him, "They're evacuating the southern states, and I'm assuming that everybody else will want to head south as well. Do not, under any circumstances, go with them."
I suddenly found I could not speak, because the water was now over my mouth and nose. I could hear Dad on the other end saying, "Sam? Sam? Did you hear me? Sam?" as I ducked and swam under water until I reached the stairs. I gasped as the boy grabbed my chest to pull me up, and nearly passed out from the excruciating pain. "Thank you," I managed to whisper as he looked at me with concern, "I'm Sam Hall."
"I'm Trey Crichton."
"Well, Trey," I said as pulled myself up, "let's go join the others."
I awoke with a throbbing pain in my head and daggers in my chest.
I was floating on my back in the icy cold water, feeling numb and disoriented. I moaned softly, in a world of agony. My lungs felt like they were pincushions, and I could feel that some of my ribs were displaced by the pressure on my lungs and below them. I could feel continuous trickles of blood running down the side of my face, starting from my forehead. My legs were almost completely numb, and I knew that I had to get out of the water before I got hypothermia.
I rolled over slowly, wincing and gasping in pain as I felt the water hit my stomach. Freezing cold, I happened to look down below me in the crystal clear water. A little boy, no more than seven, lay trapped underneath a chandelier, his eyes open in hysteria and pain. They pleaded with me to help him.
I knew I couldn't let him die, so I made a split second decision. Moving as fast as I could with my broken ribs, I took as deep of a breath as I could stand, and dove down towards the boy. The water felt like needles sticking into every part of my body. I opened my eyes and could feel the water stinging and tearing at my corneas with every stroke of my arms. I spotted the boy easily enough, about ten feet down.
As I drew closer to him, I could see that the chandelier had impaled his leg in three different places. When I was hovering about two feet above the boy, I grasped the piece of the chandelier that was sticking up, and pulled as hard as I could, bracing my feet on either side of the boy's leg. It came free after two or three pulls. Lighter than I had expected it to be, my momentum carried the chandelier up over my head, pulling me with it. I swam over to the side of the boy and let go of it, watching it slowly float down to the bottom.
I swam to the bottom again, and, grabbing the boy under one arm, pushed up to the surface. We broke the water, gasping. Immediately, my chest throbbed painfully. While I had been underwater, I'd forgotten all about the pain of my chest. This time, I thrust the pain aside, knowing that I had to get the boy and myself out of the water as soon as possible. I sidestroked with him to the partially submerged stairs leading up to the room where the other survivors had gone. "Are you alright?" I managed to gasp after I had pulled us out of the water.
He nodded slowly, shivering uncontrollably. "Thank you for saving my life," he whispered, "I was afraid you'd just leave me there."
My heart broke into a thousand pieces. How could anyone be so cruel as to leave a helpless boy trapped under freezing cold water? I mean, I know there are people like that, but I couldn't fathom doing anything that mean. "I would never do that," I replied.
He smiled through the shudders, and I returned the gesture. As I looked past his quaking shoulders, I spotted a payphone. The grin slowly slipped from my face. Older payphones draw their power directly from the subway. I could make a phone call, if this worked. I slowly eased myself back into the water, grimacing and groaning as I got deeper. I called to the boy, "I'll be right back. I'm going to try and make a phone call."
I slowly wove my way through the floating debris, ignoring the icy-hot pain my lungs felt and the throbbing of my bloody forehead. I stood on the ledge next to the phone, and, taking the phone off the hook, proceeded to punch in the digits of my father's, Jack Hall, work office. I shivered as the phone rang. "Pick up, pick up," I muttered to no one, silently willing my father to pick up the phone. Finally, I heard my father's flustered voice on the other end. "Hello?"
"Dad! Dad! It's me!" I shouted, "It's me, Sam!"
"Sam? Are you all right?!" he yelled back, some relief in his hoarse voice.
"Yes, I'm fine. I'm with a bunch of other people at the public library."
"Thank God. Your mother and I have been so worried about you. Listen, Sam. This storm is going to get worse. It'll be like a hurricane with an eye right in the center of it. When the eye hits, the air's so cold you could freeze to death in seconds."
I noticed that the water level was rising. Instead of where it was before, at my waist, the frigid water was chest deep and rising. "Uh-huh," I replied, "so what do we do?"
"Stay inside, and burn whatever you can to stay warm. Do not leave the library. I will come for you. Do you understand? I will come for you," my father said with such conviction that I almost believed him, "They're evacuating the southern states, and I'm assuming that everybody else will want to head south as well. Do not, under any circumstances, go with them."
I suddenly found I could not speak, because the water was now over my mouth and nose. I could hear Dad on the other end saying, "Sam? Sam? Did you hear me? Sam?" as I ducked and swam under water until I reached the stairs. I gasped as the boy grabbed my chest to pull me up, and nearly passed out from the excruciating pain. "Thank you," I managed to whisper as he looked at me with concern, "I'm Sam Hall."
"I'm Trey Crichton."
"Well, Trey," I said as pulled myself up, "let's go join the others."