Chapter 2
Jason rolled the kiosk away from his office door and positioned it next to one of the windows. He then looked at the small image and read the instructions on the black display board. Jason rolled up his sleeves and placed his left arm through the blood pressure cuff.
"Here we go…" Jason said – pressing the green button on the kiosk. A low humming noise came from the kiosk as the cuff inflated and began to squeeze Jason's arm. Although the machine sounded a little scary, Jason didn't worry. The cuff grew tighter and tighter around his arm – almost to the point of discomfort, but again, he didn't worry.
The cuff stopped inflating, but surprisingly, it didn't begin deflating as expected. Jason waited patiently for fifteen seconds before realizing that the machine was unresponsive. Considering that – as well as the fact that his arm was getting sore, Jason pressed the red button to abort the blood pressure test. However, to his surprise, the cuff didn't deflate. Jason's eyes grew wide. He pressed the red and white buttons several times, but the kiosk still had a firm grip on Jason's arm.
"Oh no…" groaned Jason. As he continued mashing the red and white buttons, he accidentally pressed the green button, which caused the machine to start inflating the cuff and humming again. Jason cried as the cuff became unbearably tight. His face and left arm were now bright pink. As the cuff grew tighter and tighter, Jason's face lit up when he saw the manual cuff release switch just below the cuff. Jason tried to flip the switch, but for some reason, it was extremely stiff. Jason groaned as he used all his strength to pull the stubborn switch – only to suddenly jerk backwards. Jason then realized that he had broken the switch.
Jason began to panic and whimpered a little. He tugged on his arm a little, but it wouldn't move. Jason trembled as he kept mashing the red button. Despite that, the cuff grew tighter and tighter. "What is the matter with this thing?" Jason cried in frustration. He then looked down and saw the inverter and battery attached to the right side of the kiosk. Jason bent down and tried yanking the plug out of the inverter. However, after a few pulls, he realized that the plug was actually screwed into the inverter.
"Oh, come on!" Jason yelled in frustration. He started panting heavily and squirming in place as the blood pressure cuff grew ever tighter. "Screwdriver…" breathed Jason. "I need a screwdriver." Jason used his feet to try to roll the blood pressure kiosk out of the office – but only moved a few inches before the wheels got jammed. Jason yelped as the kiosk abruptly stopped rolling.
Jason stared at the office door. "HELP! MAGGIE! MIKE! CAROL! BEN! CHRISSY! LUKE! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" However, seconds passed without a single response. Jason remembered that his wife was at work – and that the kids were at school. Jason turned his attention back to the unbearable clench of the blood pressure cuff. Being stuck in the cuff was so tight and painful that it felt like being squeezed by a vise. By now, the cuff had just about squeezed Jason's left arm all the way through. His arm now was bright red and felt like a balloon about to explode.
"COME ON, COME ON! PLEASE!" begged Jason – groaning as he tried pulling his arm out of the cuff. However, the cuff still got tighter and tighter, and Jason continued to squirm and groan as he tried to free his arm from the cuff. However, before he realized it, he felt a sharp, unbearable pain in his arm as he tumbled backwards. As Jason got his bearings, he saw that the blood pressure machine was now smoking and emitting sparks. He then felt a burning sensation in his left shoulder. Jason then looked down at himself and hollered in fright.