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"Lucas? Lucas buddy, you awake?"

I wake with a start. My partner holds an oxygen mask on my face even as I try to sit up, a shock of pain running through my body. Feeling the solid pavement beneath me, I swallow hard and coat my dry throat with air. Fighting the urge to shut my eyes and regain strength, I suddenly remember the current predicament.

"Maya!" I exclaim through the mask on my face, my raspy voice barely audible. I grab my partner's arm from where he kneels beside me, forcing myself to sit up straight. Taking a deep breath, I remove the mask and deeply inhale the midnight city air.

"Lucas, you sure? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine..." I pause and look around me. "How long was I in there?"

"Not even thirty seconds. I was right there and dragged you both out as soon as you dropped."

I sigh with relief, but my panic soon returns as I stand up, spotting Maya across the parking lot- lying on a stretcher. My eyes are wide as saucers as I steadily walk towards her, knowing that I haven't enough strength to run. As I get closer I see the people rushing around her, monitoring her vitals and keeping an oxygen mask over her lifeless face.

"Is she..is she okay?" I ask, but my grief keeps my voice from traveling to anyone's ears. Walking closer, I stand right beside the stretcher and gaze helplessly.

"She'll be okay. Did you know her?" A fellow paramedic says while she adjusts Maya on the stretcher. Together they all lift her up into the ambulance, I try to assist but my muscles are tense and refuse to move much.

"Friar. Go home, you need rest and fresh air. Your job is done here tonight, we've got this under control." My boss grips my shoulder and says, patting me on the back a few times.

I slouch and look at the ambulance for a moment, my chin quivering as I begin to worry. Taking one last look at my surroundings, I leap into the back of the ambulance before my boss can give any protest. Quickly, I latch the doors shut with another paramedic as they stick an IV into Mays's arm. Turning backwards and facing her, I crouch down and sit beside the stretcher.

"Have you taken her pulse oximetry yet?" I ask, taking Mays's hand in my own without even thinking about it.

"Yes, it's really low, we started supplementing oxygen as soon as we got her out. Her airways are likely to close up though, they need to be intubated."

"Friar, were you trained in intubation?" A third paramedic asks me, meanwhile he takes supplies and medical tools out of the casings in the wall.

"Yes, give me the laragynscope. You can put in the tube, and can you induce anesthesia?" I say to the two other paramedics with me. Suddenly snapping into my game, I know that in order to save Maya's life I'll have to get over my nervous actions.

"We don't have time to administer anesthesia, Friar! We have to get the tube in there before her airways close!" The male paramedic says, handing me the laryngoscope. "She's already very unconscious, there's no way she will feel it." The other agrees, as I remove Maya's oxygen mask and open her mouth my with gloved hands.

Just before inserting the medical device into her mouth, I can't help but promise her a few things.

"Maya, I don't know if you can hear me, but this might hurt a bit... But I promise everything will be okay-"

"Friar! Hurry!"

I silence myself and gently proceed with the procedure, inserting the oxygen into her airway with the help of the two other medics. My hands move with intensity and fragility, I act as if she is a porcelain doll in need of repair.

But of course, Maya is the strongest person I know...

"Okay, the tube is in. Good job guys...They will check her blood oxygen levels again once we get to the hospital. This probably just saved her life, though." The female medic says, watching Maya's heartbeat on a small monitor. I sit still and hold Maya's hand tightly, worrying about it's pale complexion. Taking a deep breath, I prepare myself for whatever lies ahead.

Pacing back and forth under the harsh lighting of the hospital, I individually call Riley, Farkle, Zay, and Smackle. Telling them the news and hearing their panicked responses, I only began to feel worse about the situation.

Nearly ten minutes pass before I see Riley booking down the hallway, wearing pajama shorts and an old sweatshirt. Her attire clearly reflected the time of day that it now was, 1:43 AM. She reaches for me and I embrace her tightly, feeling her body shake as she sobs.

"Riley, she's gonna be fine, she's breathing and her heart is-"

"But why did I let her go by herself!" Riley cuts me off, pulling away and exclaiming through snot and tears.

"What do you mean?"

Riley takes a deep breath, holding back hiccups as she tries to explain.

"J-Josh invited h-her o-over and I told her i-it was too late a-at night to go a-a-alone, but she w-went anyways and I-I di-didn't stop her, and then a-a f-fire almost kills h-her and-"

"That was Josh's apartment? She was at his apartment?"

Riley nods her head slowly, just as Farkle approaches us and she falls into his embrace. He tries to calm her and gently caresses the small of her back, meanwhile making grave eye-contact with me. Farkle stares at me as if something is very wrong, and we are oblivious to all of it.