The Call
March 2015
11 years old
Erica Bing was waiting in front of the middle school for Jack to meet her. She kept pacing back and forth with impatience. Her homework for tonight was going to take her two hours because of a lazy group member forgetting to do his work, so Erica was in a bit of a grumpy mood.
Jack was soon walking out of the school with a friend laughing at his joke. They waved goodbye to each other and Jack walked over to Erica.
She gave him a nasty glare.
"What took you so long?" she hissed.
Jack looked confused. "I'm actually early today. What's wrong with you?"
Erica rolled her eyes and shifted her backpack on her shoulder. "My stupid group member Charlie forgot to get all of his work done over the weekend and now I have to do it myself, and finish it by tomorrow. Oh, and don't forget the six other periods of homework I have as well."
"Oh," Jack scratched his head, "I'm sorry Eri. I'll try to help you tonight."
"Thanks," Erica mumbled.
Their bus pulled up to the curb and came to a halt, causing a swarm of kids from Erica and Jack's neighborhood to migrate towards the opening doors. Jack and Erica hung back and waited for the mass of kids to pile on.
"I wish we could have two buses," Jack complained when one kid almost shoved him to the ground.
"I wish for a lot of things, but I guess freeing myself from all of this homework can't be one of them," Erica sighed.
The twins were the last ones on the bus, so they took the seats closest to the back. Erica slung her backpack from her shoulder and onto her lap. Jack pulled out his ear buds and plugged them into his IPhone. Smiling, Erica rested her head against the window when she heard Panic! At the disco playing from Jack's phone.
"Can I listen too? I forgot my ear buds at home," Erica asked.
Jack nodded and gave her one ear bud, which she stuck happily into her ear.
The road was very bumpy as they rode back home to their neighborhood. It was a little chilly with the windows letting the cool air in, so Erica pulled her sweatshirt hoodie up over her head. Everything was very peaceful, until the bus came to a sudden halt. All of the kids lurched forward and hit the seat in front of them face first.
Erica hit hard and accidentally bit her lip. Jack heard her yelp and pulled out his ear bud.
"What the heck happened?" he asked. Blood dripped from Erica's lip and sent Jack into panic mode.
"Oh my god Erica you're bleeding!" Jack was starting to sweat and looked around at the other kids frantically.
"You're so not meant to be in these kinds of situations," Erica snickered and wiped the blood from her lip. "I'm fine, I just bit my lip when my face collided with the seat in front of me. Thanks Mr. Bus driver!"
One of the kids asked the bus driver what happened, but he didn't answer back.
Erica asked a similar question.
"Mr. Bus Driver, are you alright?"
The only response she received was heavy breathing.
Erica's heart started to race. Her instincts told her to go investigate, but she was afraid she would get too nervous and freak out.
"Wait here Jack," Erica slid over him and hopped out of the seat.
"Erica?" Jack asked. "What are you doing? Just stay in the seat!"
"But what if something's wrong with the bus driver?" She looked out of the front window and noticed that they were stopped in the middle of the road. They weren't at a stoplight.
"Something is wrong," she whispered.
Erica frantically ran to the front of the bus while the kids could only stare at her action. When she got to the bus driver, she could see the poor old man struggling to breathe while he held his heart with both hands.
"Oh my god!" Erica yelled when she saw his condition. When he tried to talk Erica could only gawk back at him.
"Don't try to talk, I'm going to help you," Erica calmly said to him, but inside her brain was shutting down and her body was going numb.
She pulled out her phone with shaky hands and dialed 911. Pressing the phone to her ear, she inhaled big and exhaled out.
"This is 911 state your emergency."
"Hello?" Erica said with shaky breaths.
"Hello honey, my name is Nancy," a nice woman said over the phone, "relax yourself and please say what is going on."
"Okay," Erica let some air out of her lungs before speaking. "I think my bus driver is having a heart attack. He's struggling to breathe and his face is flushing."
"Okay sweetie, and is he able to speak? Do you know his name?"
One look at the bus driver gave her the answer.
"He can't speak, and I don't know his name."
"Okay sweetie you're doing a great job. Now just tell me your location and we will dispatch an ambulance."
"Um," Erica looked out of the bus window and saw what road they were driving on and immediately told the 911 responder.
"Okay help is on the way. You did a great job keeping calm. It'll be worth it because you probably just saved this man's life."
"Oh okay," Erica didn't know what to say. She was too busy freaking out. "Thank you, goodbye."
Erica hung up her cellphone and covered her mouth with her hand. There was no noise on the bus, but the silence was screaming into Erica's ears. She looked at the fellow students and saw them staring at her with wonderment in their eyes. Jack's eyes held the most amazement. His eyeballs were practically bursting out of his head.
"Help is coming," Erica timidly said.
And with this all of the kids on the bus stood up and started clapping and hollering their appraisal. One kid even started a chant.
"What's your name girl?" an eighth grade boy asked Erica from the front seat.
"Erica," she responded shyly.
The boy stood up in his seat and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Erica, Erica, Erica!" he repeated over and over. The other kids started to chant and stand up as well until the whole bus was shaking from all of the voices melded together. All Erica could do was stand and tremble with a queasy feeling in her stomach. But then she heard sirens off in the distance, and she started to feel better. She knew that help was coming, and that no one was going to die on her watch.
