Page 77 of Final Temptation
The narrow street began to straighten, taking away the curves threatening to make me puke. Ahead on the right, almost blending in with the darkness of the night, a black Jeep that looked just like Myles’ was pulled over with its lights off.
The pounding in my heart grew, thumping louder and louder as I approached his vehicle. Pulling up behind the Jeep, I kept my lights on so I could see, threw the car in park, and ran up to the driver’s side window.
“Myles.” His name slipped off my tongue.
I pulled against the handle, thanking God that his door was unlocked. Once I got a better look, I realized he was reclined in his seat, slumped over to the side.
“MYLES!” I shook his body, attempting to wake him up.
Right away, my eyes shifted to his passenger seat, noticing he had an empty bottle of booze and his phone face down.
Using the step that popped off the side of his Jeep, I hopped up, setting my weight on his lap, and shook him aggressively.
“Fuck, Myles. Wake up, please!” I cried.
The light gray shirt he wore clung to his body, completely soaked through with sweat, turning it a darker shade of gray. With the back of my hand pressed against his face, his skin proved to be cold and clammy. I tried not to weep as my cheek rested against his chest, only to find his breathing didn’t seem normal.
“Please, Myles. Please. Please. Please.” Each sob came out harder.
It only took me a second to observe the situation before I realized I didn’t have a choice; I needed to call for help.
I ran toward the bright headlights, ripping my phone off the charger and returning to Myles while I dialed 9-1-1.
“9-1-1, what’s the location of your emergency?” the monotone operator answered.
“I need an ambulance. It’s my boyfriend. He’s passed out, and he’s not waking up or responding to me. Please, I need your help—” I rambled through each weep, the sobs taking away my ability to breathe.
“Ma’am, slow down and breathe, tell me where you are so I can send help.”
“I’m onOld Creek Road.” I focused on taking one breath at a time. “By the accident site from last year. The one w-with Anthony Wilson,” I stuttered.
We were in the middle of nowhere for fuck’s sake, and it was dark as hell out here. One perk of living in a small town—there wasn’t a lot of crime that went on. When the accident happened last year, everyone knew about it. Everyone still talked about it to this day. The operator had to know exactly where I was.
“I’m sending help now. In the meantime, ma’am, what’s your name?”
“Sophie,” I answered, my eyes drifting between the dark road and Myles.
“Sophie, is your boyfriend breathing?”
“Yes! But something doesn’t seem right. I’m pretty sure he’s had an entire bottle of tequila tonight.” I stood on the step, elevating my height in order to be closer to him.
“Can you feel his pulse?” she asked.
I put two fingers on his neck, my hands uncontrollablyshaking when I tried to locate a thump beneath his skin. After a few seconds of holding my fingers against his clammy skin, a small pulse beat through. “Y-Yes, and I can feel short breaths coming from his nose,” I answered, my hands trembling.
“Good. You’re doing great, Sophie.”
“What can I do? There has to be something I can do to help while I wait!” I pleaded.
“Keep doing what you’re doing. Stay on the line with me while we wait for paramedics to arrive. As long as he continues breathing, everything seems stable enough until help arrives.”
“How long is that going to be?” I cried impatiently, once again looking down the dark mountain road, willing for help to turn the corner any second now.
“Any minute now. In the meantime, I want to ask you more questions in order to give the paramedics as much information as possible.”
“Okay.” I sniffled.
“Okay, thank you for being so cooperative. You said there was a bottle of tequila. Do you know the size of the bottle?” I reached over Myles, my fingers stretching out to grab the clear container.
