Welcome to Paradise Chapter Nine- Ambulance

It didn't take a genius to see that Trey was fading quickly. I knew he would; it wasn't really a shock, it was just that I didn't want to believe it. Everything was happening so fast; I couldn't handle it. I wanted to go home, I wanted to get out. But there was no getting out of this, and I knew it. It was unfortunate, yes, but true. I wanted this all to be a bad dream, to wake up in my own bed at home and let this all be a nightmare. But then again it wasn't really a nightmare; Trey was nice, Derek and Dave were kind too. 'Please don't die...' I thought to myself. Everything seemed to go by in a daze. This was all my fault; I should have been able to defend myself better, I should have been able to get away. I shouldn't have been such a wimp, such a coward. If I had been stronger, I wouldn't have needed help getting away, and Trey wouldn't have been shot. My shoulder was hurting and making me a little nauseous, but I ignored it. "...How...How is he?" I asked quietly. Trey hadn't spoken in a while. His breaths were heavy and rapid, though shallow they were. Derek frowned and chewed on his lower lip for a moment. "...Derek?" I asked again, not really wanting an answer but knowing I had to get one. He only shook his head and closed his eyes. I glared at the ground silently. 'Damn it...where the hell is that ambulance?' I thought to myself, my heart racing in my chest. They had to hurry. They had to get there in time; they just had to. If he died I would never forgive myself. Though he had said that it wasn't my fault, I knew it was. "I'm so sorry..." I sighed and hung my head low.

"For what?" Derek whispered softly. "You didn't do anything wrong, Shadow. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, that's all. It wasn't your fault."

"But..."

"It wasn't your fault," he said again. "Please don't blame yourself." he reached out and grabbed Trey's wrist and held it for a moment, before he sighed and dropped it gently. "Pulse is irratic..." he shook his head slowly. "Shadow...I don't think he's...going to make it through this..." his shoulders trembled a little, and I wanted to reach out and comfort him, but I knew he'd only pull away. Sighing, I clenched my eyes tightly closed.

"Don't say that," I said. "Remember what you told me? Don't think negatively..."

"...Sorry..." he sighed again. "Where the hell is that ambulance?" he whispered, and I frowned. I was wondering the same thing. "I should have contacted Carl..." he murmured then. "He wouldn't have been able to do much for him, but at least he would have gotten here ASAP..." his voice broke off as his shoulders trembled again.

I didn't say anything, battling my own emotional war. In the distance, I could hear sirens, and my hopes soared. Maybe there was hope after all. Maybe he wouldn't die. "They're coming," I said.

He nodded. "But it doesn't matter if they come...if it's too late...damn it, why can't they hurry?"

"They're coming; that's what counts."

He nodded slowly, and went to work on trying to get a response from Trey. "Trey?" he whispered quietly, gripping my roomate's shoulder. "Hey, can you hear me? The ambulance is coming...you'll be okay...Trey...?" He didn't answer. "Are you with me buddy? C'mon, the ambulance is coming..."

Trey gave a small groan and then slowly spoke up. "...Derek...?" he said, and it was so quiet that I only knew what it was that he said by reading his lips.

"Yeah, it's me...hang on, okay? They're almost here."

"...Can't..."

"You can," Derek assured him.

"...N...No..."

"Yes, you can..."

"No...c...can't..." his breathing hitched, and his eyes slowly opened. His eyes, once a vibrant color, were turning into a dullish black, as if all of the light was being sucked out of them, and along with it, his life.

Derek's eyes widened while I watched from the sidelines, silently praying that everything would be okay. "You can...hey?" he waved his hand in front of Trey's eyes as they stared seemingly at nothing. Trey blinked and focused on him. "Trey, you can. Listen to me, okay? You can."

"Yeah," I chimed in. "You can. Hold on...they're almost here."

"No..." he murmured. "I...t...think I'm just...g...going to...rest my eyes...for a minute..." his eyes slowly slid closed, and his breathing began to disappear.

Derek shook his head. "No, Trey...hey? Hey, c'mon..." he gave Trey a small shake, but he didn't answer. "Trey...they're almost here..."

Still, the breathing was becoming fainter and fainter. "Trey..." I whispered, my eyes wide. Damn it, why couldn't that stupid ambulance hurry? "Hold on..."

"Please..." Derek whispered.

"I'm...t...tired..." Trey murmured softly.

"I know you are," said Derek. "But you can't go to sleep. Not for a while. Okay?"

"S...Sleepy..."

"You can't go to sleep...please..." he closed his eyes for a minute. "God Trey, that was so stupid of you...how could you taunt him like that? You knew he'd shoot you!"

"I...know...that was my...p...plan..." blood trailed down the corner of his mouth. "As soon as...he shot me...h...he would...let you go..."

Derek clenched his eyes closed. "Damn it Trey...why...? God...you idiot...why would you do that?"

"B...Because you two...a...are more...important...than my...l...life..." he whispered slowly.

"Damn it...you idiot..."

"I'd...r...really like...to go to...s...sleep now..."

"No," said Derek. "No, you can't."

"But I'm...s...so tired..."

"No. Listen to me, okay? You can't go to sleep." Trey's eyes slipped closed. "Damn it Trey, don't you dare give up on me..."

"...D...Derek...s...sleepy...I just need...t...to rest my...e...eyes..." he laughed a weak and watery laugh. "W...Who am I...k...kidding? I'm dying...I'm n...not making...it out of...h...here alive..."

"No, don't say that," I said. "Don't think negatively. You'll be okay." I prayed that I was right, that he would be okay and wouldn't die here.

Trey didn't answer.

"Damn it, don't give up. Do you hear me? Don't you dare give up and let that bastard win." Trey didn't move, didn't respond, and his breathing began to grow shallow and fainter than it had been. "Trey...God, hang on...just a little longer. They're almost here...damn it, where the hell are they?" about two seconds after he said that, paramedics raced into the room and surrounded us. "Thank you..." Derek whispered.

"Who's the human?" one paramedic asked. I was angry that it even mattered. What the hell? People were people! What did it matter? They couldn't just let non-humans die. It wasn't right.

"What's it matter?" I snarled. "Damn it, help him!"

They just stood there. One of them said, "He's not human."

I saw red. "God damn it, you need to fucking help him! I don't care if he's not human, he's dying! He needs help!" I rose to my feet glared at them.

"He's human," one of them said, and they grabbed me, leading me out of the room. "Get him on the stretcher."

"No!" I shouted, struggling against the lot of them. "Damn it, I'm fine! I'm perfectly fine! Help him! Not me! Him! He needs help!"

"He's not human," said one of them. "You are. We help you first. Then, if there's time, we come back for the monster."

I growled. "He's not a monster, he's a friend."

"We'll come back for him-"

"No, there won't be time! It'll be too late! Please, you have to help him now!" I pulled away from them and ran back into my room, back over toward Derek and Trey. Derek's shoulders were shaking, and I could hear sniffles and shaky breaths. He was getting ready to cry. I stared at him. He never acted like he was really scared of anything until this day. Now I saw how close the two really were.

"I'm sorry," he was saying to Trey in a hushed whisper. "I'm so sorry..."

The paramedics raced into the room after me, determined to get me onto the stretcher. "Kid, you need to come with us-"

"No, I told you I'm fine. He needs help, not me." I said, if not a bit angrilly.

Derek looked at them, and I could see in his eyes that he was becoming desperate. "Please, you have to help him...he'll die if you don't..."

"You're not human either; why should we listen to you?" one asked, glaring at Derek. I growled.

"It doesn't matter if we're human or not! We're still people, we're still living, breathing creatures just like you! And right now he needs help! He's dying!"

"Then let him die," one said with a scrunched up look on his face. The other paramedics turned to look at him.

"That was harsh," said another.

"Yeah," a third agreed. "That was rude."

"Please," Derek cut in, and I felt my heart go out for him at the desperate tone in his voice. "Please, you have to help him. You don't even have to put him on the stretcher; I'll carry him, just please..."

One of the paramedics sighed. "Should we?"

Another paramedic shrugged. "He has a point; and he'll carry him."

A third paramedic nodded. "We should. Not like he'll live anyway."

I flinched at that comment, and I saw Derek do the same. How could the paramedics be so rude and uncaring? Didn't they care that Trey was dying? Damn it, what was wrong with these people? What had happened to the world?

They nodded to Derek and he gently lifted Trey's limp body into his arms and began to leave the room, the paramedics following after him. I hurried after as well, my heart speeding in my chest. We made it outside pretty quickly, and made our way toward the ambulance. Derek carefully climbed in, balancing Trey in his arms. He sat down on a small bench on the side of the vehicle, and I sat down next to him as the paramedics filed into the ambulance. Two of them surrounded Derek and I, inspecting Trey's condition. They put a breathing mask on Trey, and made Derek hold him all the while. They cut Trey's shirt off and began cleaning the blood away from the wounds, but the blood just kept coming back. I couldn't believe that they were being so cruel; why were they making Derek hold him the whole time? Had the world always been this way? What had this planet come to? I couldn't believe it.

I prayed that he'd be okay, and by the look in Derek's eyes, he did too.