Hiding

Chapter 2

*Danny's POV*

After Lacey left, I followed Rico around McNally Park, not paying attention to any of the differences made over the years. We took the long way around, heading towards the woods at the other edge of the park. Rico stopped walking so suddenly that I slammed into him.

"What?" I wondered, looking around. Rico pointed at something in the distance, in the middle of the soccer field. From far away, I couldn't tell what it was.

"That's a person," Rico said, walking towards the shape. I followed him, unsure. As we got closer, I knew he was right. Rico started to jog and I followed just behind him. As we got closer, Rico said,

"It's Jo! Something wrong with her…" We both stopped a few feet away. Steam was rising from her clothing and I smelled something odd.

"Do you smell something burning?" I wondered and Rico nodded. He approached her slowly and walked around in a circle.

"Oh God," Rico said slowly.

"What?" I ran around to see what he was looking at. Jo was on her side, her eyes closed and her arm stretched out before her. Blood leaked from her ears and against her hip was a large, black singe mark, as if something in her pocket had exploded. Her hair was frizzy all over the place and there was an odd, red mark on the back of her hand. Rico reached out and pressed his fingers to her neck.

"She has a pulse, but it feels…wrong. It's going way to slow," he said, leaning over her and gently rolling her onto her back. He held his hand over her nose and said, "She's barely breathing!"

"You call her dad and an ambulance, I'll make sure she doesn't stop breathing," I said quickly. Rico jumped up and pulled out his phone, dialing Chief Masterson. I knelt next to Jo and pushed her hair away from her face. I picked up her hand and studied the odd, red mark, shaped like a spider web, which traced its way up her arm. I held my hand near her nose to make sure she was still breathing and she was, but it was quickly slowing down, so I tilted her head up and balled the hood part of her jacket under her neck to keep it elevated.

I was so focused on Jo that I almost didn't hear the sirens wail.

"They're on their way," Rico said and I glanced up.

"What do you think happened to her?" I asked Rico, who looked around.

"I have no idea," he said. I checked her breathing again. It was so light that I could barely feel it. I held the side of my face close to her nose, feeling her exhale get weaker and weaker until… it stopped altogether.

"Shit…" I muttered, glancing up at Rico who was looking around for the emergency vehicles. I knew CPR, ironically, because I learned it in juvie. I got up on my knees and cupped her chin with one hand and pinched her nose closed with the other. I gave her two rescue breaths and then did chest compressions. I knew I had to do thirty chest compressions for every two rescue breaths, so I got a rhythm going. I did two cycles and quickly checked her breathing. Since she still wasn't breathing, I kept doing CPR. After one more cycle, Rico said,

"You're doing CPR!" I looked up at him during chest compressions. His eyes were wide with worry.

"Yeah, she isn't breathing, I have to do CPR," I said. He nodded and I went in and did two rescue breaths.

Rico started yelling, and when I looked up, I could see Jo's dad and an ambulance driving over the field, leaving muddy track marks. People swarmed the area and Jo's dad ran up, asking questions as the EMT's approached.

"What's happening?" He demanded. I focused on my counting and rescue breathing.

*Rico's POV*

Since Danny was busy, I explained what we found to Chief Masterson. I described how we saw her in the field and how she was breathing funny.

"Danny's doing CPR because I don't know how and she wasn't breathing," I finished quickly. The EMT's were getting a hand held stretcher out.

"You keep doing compressions, okay?" The EMT ordered Danny, who nodded, counting quietly out loud. The slid the stretcher underneath Jo and managed to strap her in, all while Danny continued giving her CPR.

"You're going to let him keep giving her CPR?" Chief Masterson demanded and the EMT shrugged.

"He's doing it perfectly, there's no reason to stop and switch people until he gets tired. Are you willing to ride in the ambulance?" He asked Danny, who nodded and then leaned in and gave Jo two breaths. Danny was able to keep doing compressions while they loaded her into the ambulance and closed the doors.

"I'll follow you to the hospital," Chief Masterson said quickly, "are you coming Rico?"

"Yes!" I jumped into the passenger seat and we sped toward Green Grove Medical Center.

*Danny's POV*

I performed CPR on Jo all the way to the hospital and into the emergency room. Jo's dad and Rico followed along, but were barred from entering the emergency area where I was.

After arriving, they took over and used an AED. I was ushered back into the waiting area where Jo's dad and Rico were pacing. Jo's dad called her mom and she came over quickly. Rico called his parents to let them know where he was and I figured that was my cue to call my mom and tell her what was going on. She didn't sound happy at all.

"Mom, I'm saving someone," I insisted and she sighed.

"I know, but I want you to be careful. If Chief Masterson starts to ask any weird questions, don't answer them," she said before hanging up. I hesitated, then texted Lacey, telling her we found Jo, but that something was wrong with her and we were at the hospital.

"Should I come?" She texted back and I looked around. We were all waiting and pacing.

"You can if you want too. Right now we're waiting to see what's going on," I texted back. Lacey didn't reply right away, so I slid my phone into my pocket to wait for her reply. As soon as I was done with my phone, Jo's parents started asking me questions about what happened, why was Jo in the middle of the field, did I see anything?

"Jo and Lacey had an argument and Jo left my house. I tried to call her and text her, but she wouldn't answer. You talked to Lacey on the phone about where she was and then Rico came around, saying he was looking for her, so we went with him. Lacey's mom texted her about something and she had to leave to Rico and I went out on our own. We found here there, I didn't see what happened before that," I explained. Chief Masterson narrowed his eyes at me and then went to talk to Rico, who was standing near the entrance, looking in the parking lot.

Mrs. Masterson smiled even though she looked like she was worried.

"Thank you, Danny," she said softly.

"You're welcome," I replied quietly. Chief Masterson came back to sit next to his wife; he now looked less irritated at me and more concerned about the situation. Rico's mom showed up, looking worried but happy to see her son doing well. I sat with the Masterson's, anxious about what was going on with Jo.

*Jo's POV*

I was swimming through a huge, clear lake. The bottom of the lake was made of crystals, shimmering beautifully in a light that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere. I moved up toward the surface without trying too, soaring up past the water. It was beautiful and I could see things, pictures and images. I could hear whispering from some distant place and I turned to listen. The dizzying spin of voices and pictures began to fill my head, songs playing delicately in the background. I closed my eyes and let everything consume my mind.

*Danny's POV*

We hadn't been waiting very long, but it felt like hours. Later, I found that we'd been waiting only thirty minutes. A doctor came in and said,

"Masterson?" Jo's parents jumped up and I stood, too. I was behind them. The doctor spotted me and said,

"Are you a family member?" Chief Masterson started to say no, but Jo's mom looked at him.

"He gave Jo CPR, Kyle. Yes, he can be here, too." She said firmly and the doctor led the three of us toward Jo.

"She's pulled through and we think she'll be okay. We can see brain activity and she doesn't appear to have any permanent damage. You gave her CPR?" The doctor asked, looking at me. I nodded.

"You did an excellent job, sir. You most certainly saved her life," he said. I smiled slightly, but I didn't want to appear like I was gloating. We walked into her room; she was hooked up to several different machines, but her eyes were closed.

"What happened?" Mrs. Masterson wondered, sounding like she was about to cry. The doctor checked one of the machines and turned to say, hesitantly,

"Well, we think she may have been struck by lightning."