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Chapter 18: How To Save A Life

I watched Lilly take the blade and run it across her wrist as though it was in slow motion. I watched to shout, scream, yell, anything but words failed me. I finally mustered myself to yell in terror as my face expression changed from wonder to shock to horror. I watched as the blade fell on the floor. Everything seems to be in slow motion these days.

"It is done." Lilly smiled as blood was pouring out of her arm.

I yelled out in pain as I noticed the calmness coming across her face. How could she have done it? Everything was coming true! I should start planning her funeral if things continue the way they're going.

The blood drain from both of our faces, leaving us both with pale faces. Although in Lilly's case, the blood was literally draining from her face. Suddenly Lilly eyes back into her head and looked like she was going to faint.

"NO!" I shouted, running to catch her just in time as she fainted in my arms.

Would my dream come true? Would all this be for nothing? NO! I would not allow it! I would not allow myself to go though the same things my dream-self went through. It my dream everyone miserable, upset, depressed but I would make sure those emotions would only happen for a bit.

I hurriedly grabbed my phone and dialled 111.

"111 emergency, what service do you require?" The voice, a female voice, at the other end of my cell phone said.

"Yes, my friend is badly wounded; can you please send an ambulance as quickly as possible?" I said in a panicky voice.

Soon the voice at the other end asked where to send the ambulance and I responded with Lilly's address.

"May I ask who I'm speaking to?"

"Miley Stewart." I quickly answered

Come on, I was thinking. The more time we waste is more time for Lilly to continue to bleed out.

"How hurt is your friend Miss Stewart?"

"She has a sliced wrist that has a lot of blood pouring out." I said.

I could almost see the shocked expression on her face as she realised what was going on. Well she must have with what she said next.

"An ambulance is on the way, I have to advise you to keep pressure on the wound till they get there."

PRESSURE! How much Grey's Anatomy does a girl need to watch to learn that when someone is bleeding out, the best way to stop the bleeding is to apply pressure to the wound? Gosh! I could have cost Lilly her life. But she had probably done that for herself anyway.

"Thank you, please hurry." I said.

"They should be there soon. Good luck with saving your friend." The female voice said before hanging up.

Pressure, pressure. I kept thinking to myself as I looked around the room for something to stop the bleeding. I quickly placed both hands on the wrist and applied lots of pressure to stop the bleeding. Hopefully the wound will start to clot soon. I had to find something a little better otherwise I'm gonna be stuck here for ages, holding her like this. The only other thing I could think of would be something like a cloth but all those are downstairs or in Lilly's bathroom across the hall. That would be mission impossible. I couldn't move for long otherwise Lilly would bleed out and lose a lot more blood than she has. I think the best thing for me at the moment would be to wait here for the ambulance; I still have no idea what to do when they show up. Well I shall cross that bridge when I come to it.

I just stayed there, on my knees with my hands covering the injury for what seem ages but in fact was only a few minutes. Soon I heard the relieving sounds of the ambulance approaching. I heaved a sigh of relief. I had done my part; I had found and managed to keep Lilly alive until they got here. I had done my part and now it's there's.

I could hear knocking on the door downstairs. I guess that is the paramedic.

"Come up!" I shouted as loud as I could. "I'm up here!"

I could hear shuffling of feet getting louder and louder. Soon the door burst open and two male paramedics came through the door loaded with supplies. They quickly surveyed the scene and noticed me in the middle of a blood stain carpet, surrounded by a pool of blood (kneeling in it too might I add).

"Here." One said taking some bandages out of his medical kit and taking my place as the person applying pressure to Lilly's wrist.

I tried to get up but the other one grabbed me and studied me. He noticed I had pretty much blood all over me.

"Are you at all hurt?" He asked checking for any sources of blood.

"No," I said. "That's all her blood. I've been here for a bit."

The paramedic nodded.

"So what happened here?" He asked.

I began to tear up as I recounted the events of what had happened today. Suddenly the whole thing just hit me. I had been so emerged in trying to save Lilly that I had completely forgotten what I was trying to save her from: herself.

"It's okay." He said gently. "The police were right behind us, why don't you call your family and then give a statement if you can?"

I nodded as I pulled out my cell phone and called home. Jackson ended up being the one to pick up.

"Hey, Jackson speaking." Jackson answered.

"J-Jackson," I manage to say through my tears.

"Woah, Miley are you crying?" His voice had shifted from casual to alarm.

"J-Jackson, c-could y-you and d-dad c-come over-er to L-Lillys. S-something has c-come up, can you g-guys come quickly? I-I'll e-explain l-later!"

"Sure Miles! Let me tell Dad." He said. "HEY DAD! Miles needs us at Lilly's!"

"Why?" I heard Dad answer back.

"Dunno, she said she'll explain later."

"Alright tell her we'll be there as soon as we can."

" ''Kay! Miles?" I could hear Jackson's voice a lot clearer now.

"I know I heard." I said.

"Good, we should be there in about ten. Is that alright?"

"Good, see you soon." I hung up after that.

"Now what?" I asked the paramedic.

"Let's go back down to talk to the police and then I'll come back and help my partner fix your friend. Okay?"

I nodded and followed him downstairs.

"By the way, what is your name?" He asked.

"Miley." I said simply.

This time he nodded and we soon reached the police cars parked outside Lilly's house. Three armed policemen were waiting for me.

"This is Sergeant Andrews, Miley. He will be taking your statement when your family gets here."

I nodded.

"Don't worry you're in safe hands." Sergeant Andrews said.

I nodded again. That was all I could muster for the time being

"Right now I need to check on your friend." The paramedic said and he raced off back upstairs loaded with more supplies.

"So," said Sergeant Andrews breaking the silence. "Should we wait for your family? Or do you want to give your statement now?"

"Can we wait for Lilly's family as well?" I asked and the sergeant nodded.

I just stood there for what seem ages, I was nervous and jumpy. I had no idea what to do. I was completely lost. I had no idea what to do, what to expect. I had never been in this situation before and I hoped never have to again. This was not the kind of thing you wanna find yourself in. So yes, I just went along with the flow for now. Soon I heard my Dad's car pull into Lilly's driveway. I felt so relieved. Finally, someone to talk to.

"Miley! What is going on?" Jackson asked as soon as he saw me.

I didn't answer instead I just ran up and gave him a hug. Jackson looked a little weird and patted my should awkwardly. I guess I don't do this very often. Then he noticed the police cars and the ambulance. He just stared at them. I guess what gave him the biggest shock of them all was when the two paramedics came down carrying Lilly on a stretcher with an oxygen mask.
"What the hell is going on?" Jackson gasped, saying something at last.

"W-well,' But that was all I could get out because Dad came touring in a second later and just gaped at the scene.

"Miley Ray Stewart, what in all the blue blazes is going on here?" He said.

"I just asked that very question." Jackson commented.

"Dad, I think you're going to have to ring Mr and Mrs Truscott." I said after taking in a deep breath.

"Why?" Dad looked confused. "Miley, Lilly just passed us on a stretcher with an oxygen mask. What could be so horrible that she need that equipment? Can you please tell us what is going on here?"

"I will, when the Truscotts come."

"Miley, if it was a simple accident like Lilly accidently sliced herself with a meat cleaver or something you would tell us straight away. Obviously this is way more than that." Jackson observed.

I breathed a lot more heavier now. Jackson was for the first time, being smart. I decided it would be a lot easier to tell everyone at one time. I didn't want to repeat myself more than once. Once would be enough.

"I'll tell everyone at once." I said at last.

Jackson and Dad nodded. Suddenly I heard my name being shouted across the street. Of course; Oliver lived across the street. He would have seen the flashing lights of the sirens and thought something was surely up. Now I have to face yet another family to talk to. This was not going to fun.

"Miley!" Oliver shouted running over. "What's going on? Is Lilly okay? What's happening? I saw Lilly on a stretcher, is she okay?"

Oliver rambled out about hundred questions that were basically the same question just worded differently. I held up my hand to make him stop. He stopped immediately and looked at me questionably.

"I'll tell you once the Truscotts get here." I said and Oliver nodded.

"Hey kid," The paramedic from before came back. "The work you did may have actually saved her life. Good job." He patted me on the back.

I felt relieved once again. Lilly would be alright, she would make it. I breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone was going to be okay.

"Now what?" I asked the paramedic.

"You can ride in the ambulance if you want." He shrugged.

I nodded.

"Okay, hop in." He said opening the door.

I saw Lilly on a bed with an oxygen mask and a UV drip attached to her. I jumped in but before sitting next to Lilly, I turned to Dad and Jackson.

"Tell the Truscotts to meet us at the hospital." I said to them and they nodded.

I sat next to Lilly and put my hand on her shoulder.

"Please get through this." I whispered gently.

Lilly just looked pale and unconscious as ever.

Soon the huge, white building of Malibu General came into view. I breathed another sigh of relief as I saw the big red cross on the sign and the flashing lights.

The ambulance swerved around and came to a halt in front of an automatic doorway which probably lead to the ER or Trauma room. Three doctors stood waiting at the doorway looking excited.

"What do we got?" One of them asked as soon as the ambulance doors opened.

"Female, 16, major loss of blood due to the sliced wrist which resulted in severed bone and bone tissue. Maybe have multiple more traumas due to the loss of blood." The paramedic who has been with me earlier said to the doctors.

"Okay," Said the doctor who had asked about Lilly. "Order an X-Ray of the wrist and start by giving her blood."

"Her blood type is A-" I said jumping out of the ambulance.

"Who's this?" asked the second doctor taking Lilly's chart and examining it.

"Her friend who helped to applied pressure on the wrist." The second paramedic said also climbing out of the ambulance to help unload Lilly.

"Please will Lilly be okay?" I asked as they took her away.

"Don't worry, we'll do everything possible but right now it looks quite serious. The work you did help but it looked like she had loss quite a lot of blood so it could be a while before we know anything more." The first doctor said.

I nodded as the third doctor said "Clear the way"

Just as they were taking her away, Dad and Jackson pulled up in Dad's car while the Oken's pulled up in there's. I rushed up to them with a worried expression etched on my face. They turned to me, also looking worried.

"Is she going to be alright?" Oliver asked me getting out.

"I don't know they're taking her to be looked up but they think there may be long term effects."

Oliver looked even more worried now.

"Well I've called Lilly's parents. They're quite hysterical." Dad said.

"I bet they are." Jackson said and the rest of us nodded in agreement.

Dad ignored him and continued.

"They said they'll be here in a few minutes. We were lucky that they had quite a few errands to do before they left for the weekend."

"That's good." I noted.

"Well shall we?" Mrs Oken said gesturing towards the door.

We all nodded and headed inside.

We emerged inside what seemed a pretty hectic room. If you've watched any medical show like House or Grey's Anatomy when they show a pretty traumatic with lots of causalities well think again. There must have been a serious accident because several people had what looked like pretty serious conditions wrong with them. Several doctors ran passed us with a patient which a huge stick of glass protruding from his chest. We all gapped at that. It was pretty intense what was going on. But that's not the worse of it. As we past Trauma Room 1, I heard a doctor call time of death. Man, if that doesn't say serious and intense then I don't know what does. I now remembered what happened: there was a bus or something that had crashed into several cars.

"Hi I'm Doctor Sinclair," The first doctor who had approached us before said. "I need to ask some questions about your friend."

"Fire away." I said.

"First, what's her name?"

"Lilly, Lilly Truscott."

"Age?"

"16 like the paramedic said."

"Does she have a parent or guardian?"

"Her parents are coming."

"Good, we'll need to talk to them later."

"Why can't you talk to us?" Mrs Oken said.

"Confidently of the patient m'am." The doctor said.

"We're like family."

"But you're still not though. I'm sorry but I'm going to have to wait for Mr and Mrs Truscott."

We all groaned. The not knowing was getting really agonising and now we have to wait longer because we have no idea where or how long Mr and Mrs Truscott could be. They could be here in minutes or in hours. We have no idea! Gosh, this was starting to seriously get on my nerves.

"I guess we should find somewhere and wait." Jackson said.

Thanks for pointing out the obvious I though while mentally rolling my eyes. But no one else said anything so we went to the waiting room, found a good spot and sat down.

So we waited and waited…..and waited.

Even though people were talking all around me I felt like there was no sound. Like I had gone suddenly deaf. I didn't even hear Oliver yelling at me.

"Miley!" Oliver yelled into my ear getting my attention at last.

"Yeah what?" I said turning around.

"Wanna do something?" He asked.

"Yeah why not?" I shrugged.

"Hey why not play cards with me?" Someone from behind us said.

We turned around, a man in about his twenties was grinning us at while pulling out a deck. Oliver and I looked at each other with expressions that said 'Don't see why not' and we nodded.

The man shuffled the deck and dealt out cards.

"The game is Scum." He said.

I grinned. I love Scum.

"Names Cedric." The man said.

"Miley." I said.

"Oliver."

"What you in here for?" Cedric placing three threes on the chair we were using for a table.

"Our friend is badly injured and we're waiting for her parents to come so she can get consent." Oliver filled in Cedric as he place three sixes on the pile. "You?"

"My fiancée has to have surgery after someone stupidly crashed his car into hers She was in that bus accident. She was driving to the bank and got hit." He said glumly

"Ouch." I grimaced, placing three kings on the pile.

"Bet you're gonna sue." Oliver said.

"Oh yeah! Big time!" He said. "I'm out."

"Me too." Oliver said.

"YAY! I start." I said grabbing the pile and placing down a straight of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and a Jack.

"Woah! Eight card straight." Cedric admired. "Joker beats straight though!"

Cedric tossed a Joker down and I groaned. At least one joker was out thought.

"Come to papa!" He added grabbing the pile and starting a new run with a pair of fours.

We continued to play a number of games like Cheat, Kings In The Corner, Blackjack, Last Card, more Scum, Poker and Jin for about three hours. I was very surprised about how much time had gone by. It was actually quite fun. Thank God we had something to do otherwise we'd be bored out of our skulls.

While we were playing we found out a lot about Cedric. He's currently studying to be accountant, twenty two years old, been dating his girlfriend Julie and proposed to her a few months ago. It was all really interesting.

After our fifth game of Cheat however, Dad drew me to the fact that the Truscotts had now arrived. About time! I thought as I got up to say hello to them.

"Well?" I said as before they could even open their mouths.

"Her X-Ray showed that her bone had been severed and broken." Mr Truscott said before Mrs Truscott could get all emotional. "The lost of blood have had some effect on her vital organs and she went into a multisystem failure. She's had a quick surgery to fix all that and now she's resting. The doctor said she should wake up anytime now."

I gestured for him to continue.

"She should be okay." Mr Truscott added quickly.

Phew! Lilly was going to be okay. But before I could have a few seconds of relief, Sergeant Andrews came along. I knew he'd be around here somewhere and now that Lilly's was probably going to be alright and that the Truscotts had shown up, he'd be wanting my statement and so would everyone else, now that I think about it. This was not going to be easy.

"You ready?" He asked gently

I nodded and everyone gathered around to listen to what I had to say.

"What I have to say will not be easy." I started, they all nodded for me to continue.

I cleared my throat and continued.

"Jackson was right before, if it was a simple accident I would have come clean and just told everyone but nothing is ever that simple."

They all looked confused. I took this as a cue to carry on. I thought I would just say it.

"Lilly tried to commit suicide." I said simply.

The reactions vary but all pretty much said the same thing. Mrs Truscott looked at as though she could faint, Oliver and Mr Truscott looked horrified, Mr and Mrs Oken looked mortified, Dad gaped and Jackson just looked at me as though he couldn't believe it.

"B-but why?" Oliver asked.

"Lilly had been feeling neglected a lot."

"We have never-" Mrs Truscott began but I put a hand up to shut her up.

"Did you notice that Damien had been beating her up till a point that she couldn't breathe?" I asked looking directly to her.

That bit I knew was true. Everything in my dream had been making so much sense. Everything that I missed was becoming clear to me now. It seems my subconscious had been trying to warn me.

Mrs Truscott shook her head slightly with an amazed look on her face as though she too, couldn't believe it.

"I thought not." I said.

"But why though?" Oliver asked.

I knew they'd want a full explanation so I launched into the story. Everything that my dream-self had found out seemed to fit and so I said everything that my dream-self had found out. When I finished everyone looked amazed.

"How do you know all this stuff?" Oliver asked, looking confused again. "I mean, we never noticed any of it, so how did you?"

"This is going to sound really weird but I had a dream about all of this." I said getting shocked and disbelieved expressions from everyone.

"What?" Everyone said and it was on their faces as well.

So I decided to tell them all about my experiences in my dream state.

"How do we know that's true?" Mr Oken seemed sceptical and let's face it, I would be too if a seventeen year old was telling me that she knew all this through her dreams.

"How did I know Lilly was trying to kill herself?" I argued back.

"Good point." He said.

"But when I talked to her about Damien it seemed to trigger something." I said looking back on my conversation with her.

Nobody had time to answer me because a voice said suddenly "You Lilly Truscott's family and friends?"

The speaker was one of those doctors who had met me at the ambulance bay. Next to him stood Doctor Sinclair.

"Yes?" Mrs Truscott said.

"I have the X-Rays you wanted." Doctor Sinclair said handing a folder to her. "And you should go and visit your daughter." He added.

"We got side tracked talking to the police." Mr Truscott explained gesturing towards Sergeant Andrews.

Sergeant Andrews had not talked this entire time but instead had been taking notes. He looked up at the sound of his name.

"I think I'm all done, go and visit her." He said waving at us to go; we all nodded and headed upstairs.

But before I went up I turned to Cedric.

"Good luck, I hope Julie gets better real quick."

"Thanks you too with your friend. I'm sorry but I heard. I'm so sorry." He said softly.

"Thanks. I don't blame ya for overhearing. We weren't exactly quite."

He just laughed.

"Maybe I'll see you soon after all this is over?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'll come visit you. I wanna meet Julie." I said.

"She'd like you. You're a lot like her when she was your age."

It was my time to laugh.

"See you soon." I said walking backwards.

"Bye!" He said waving.

We soon reached Lilly's room and walked in. She was hooked up to a machine that I had no idea what it was doing. Probably one of those 'after surgeries' machines as I liked to call them.

We just sat there staring at Lilly, willing her to wake. But the minutes ticked by and she still hadn't woken. I was getting more anxious now. So many thoughts were racing through my head like 'Will she wake up?' But I forced myself to calm down, slowdown and think 'Happy thoughts'

I soon got lost in my thoughts thinking about all of this but I wasn't able to think for long because suddenly I heard a groan and looked around.

"Miley?"

Lilly had woken.

A/N: A nice long chapter for you guys to make up for the wait. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter =) Longest chapter I think I've written about 8 pages I think =) Well I'm gonna go and do my Income Statment now =(
See ya =)