Reminiscence 1

                                    

                                          
Warning: profanity, choppy editing, depictions of medical emergency, Shadow being a bitch but still pretty chill as far as Shadow goes, written at 3 am. 
                          
I'm sorry not sorry but I'm posting two human-based one-shots in a row. You've been warned. 
                          
Reminiscence is just gonna be a collection of memoirs and shit. Doesn't really belong to a continuity. Is the closest thing to real life I've ever gotten the courage to post. I'm going through a rough patch in sorting out my relationships with friends and funeral stuff so I figured I'd use this platform as a way to cope and grieve a bit. Hope you'll stick around. Or not. 
                          
And yes, this is a one-in-a-lifetime update after only 6 days of inactivity. 
                          
It's messy and was written at 3 am so don't mind the rough cut-offs and improper use of tenses or conjunctions or whatever they're called. 
                          
——

                          
It was nearing the evening, the sun just starting to ease into the horizon, sending bursts of beautiful colour to filter through the fall trees. I was sitting out in the forest having a one-sided conversation with Shadow, an ally of mine. 
                          
She didn't talk much, her words carefully thought out with each delayed response. If she didn't feel the situation was urgent enough, you could be sitting there for up to two minutes waiting for her to reply. I don't care much since she makes up for it with all the knowledge she willingly shares. She has the best advice for practically everything. Except intimate relationships... but that's not the point. She's fun to talk to if you want an objective view on stuff, which is what a surprising number of people need. The downed birch tree we sat on was flaky beneath my fingers. Like dirtied paper. It had felt nasty and uncomfortable. I wanted to get up and move. 
                          
"Hey, do you wanna go inside where Copper is? I know he's probably asleep and won't mind."
                          
The forest we were in had this small concrete building smack in the middle of it. There was a little path that led up to it, barely wide enough for an off-road vehicle, which flooded on a regular basis. I swung my legs under myself and stood up, shaking out a bit of stiffness. Shadow soon followed, movement controlled yet relaxed. I smiled, and as expected, she didn't react to the friendly expression. I then turn and start making my way towards the building. It was cold, and I'd just turned my back to a troubled woman. Yep, definitely uncomfortable. 
                          
We neared the door and I had sighed upon seeing the barricades covering the windows. However, nothing prepared my mental state for what was waiting for us behind the door.
                          
Down on the floor of the main room, Copper laid flat on his face, unconscious. 
                          
I screamed an undignified screech. 
                          
"Holy shit! Copper?!"
                          
I ran towards him, roughly dropping down on my knees and immediately going over my basic first aid training. Of course, that had all been online and I didn't pay attention to half of it, but it helped. Shadow stood to the side.
                          
I had noticed he wasn't breathing and panic finally broke loose from me. 
                          
"Call EMS!"




                          
Come on, come on!
                          
1, 2, 3...
                          
Chest compression, chest compression, chest compression...
                          
"Come on... stay with me Copper!"
                          
My hearing faded into white noise, adrenaline keeping me from collapsing out of fatigue. I felt my aching elbows struggle to continue to handle this stress being put on them. Copper had gone into cardiac arrest, the poor alcoholic way too young for this. I'd been doing fifteen minutes of compressions at this point. To my left, Shadow stood motionless, only sign of life being her overbearing aura. She wasn't doing anything to help in this medical emergency. I completed a minute of compressions and went through the motions to give Copper air. Again, Shadow stood there, silent. I began my compressions again, turning my head to look straight at her, brows furrowing. The way she stayed so silent was starting to make me upset. 
                          
"Are you just going to stand there?! Do something!"
                          
"There are no defibrillators in a 5 kilometre radius and emergency services have been dispatched." Her voice was calm and quiet in comparison to my panicked yelling. Her report was logical... but it just pissed me off more. 
                          
"What about 10 kilometres?! Just don't fucking stand there and do nothing!" 
                          
A moment of silence from Shadow. 
                          
"There are no defibrillators in a 10-"
                          
"Bloody shut up! Just. Do. Something."
                          
Through my rage, I could feel a warning glare come from her through her covered face. Then, she walked over, motioning for me to move. She rolled up her sleeves and removed her taloned gloves. Once I was out of the way, she dropped down and began compressions. The force of her thrusts more controlled and well-timed than my own. She looked robotic... it was mildly unsettling. 
                          
"There is a room holding various boxes of scrap, go dig through them. I want you to find two wires, some cutters, electrical tape and a charged battery of 200 watts or more."
                          
What? 
                          
"I-... why?"
                          
"Find them."




                          
Time passed in a flurry of hurried searching and dumpster diving. When I returned with the items Shadow had requested, there was less than a minute of silence between us before EMTs arrived. I had set the box down, Shadow motioning for us to switch. As soon as I did, two paramedics came bursting into the half-barricaded room. They carried a stretcher and other equipment with them. I let them take over, rubbing my elbows that were now sore. A third paramedic came in, coming over to me. 
                          
"We got here as soon as we could. From the looks of things, you did a good job with the compressions. Wish more youth knew how to do that..." A brief pause as I chewed on the skin around my nail, "Do you know anything that could help us determine a cause? What was he doing beforehand? If he has a previous history with medical episodes like this?"
                          
"...He's overdosed once before." My voice was now a mumble, adrenaline wearing off the slightest bit. I must've sounded traumatized to the paramedic, because they didn't press for more information. Really, I kind of was in a shocked state. My friend is pretty much dead on the floor. How I hadn't fainted, I will never know. 
                          
"Good to know. Do you... know where the girl who called us went?" I perked up a bit at that, quickly looking around the room. Shadow had disappeared, the sneaky bastard must've slipped out when we switched. Come to think of it, the items I'd collected had disappeared too. The paramedic followed my searching eyes as well, a bit confused. 
                          
"Oh, I... don't know..."
                          
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