Page 46 of Rescued
Why is she asking my name? That seems so stupid. “Jasper.”
“Okay, Jasper. I’m Kara. I’ve tracked your phone, and fire and EMS are on their way to you, but I need you to help your sister until they get there.”
“Sarah,” I say. “Her name’s Sarah.”
“Jasper, I need you to lean down and put your ear right by Sarah’s mouth and let me know if she’s breathing. You should be able to hear it.”
Putting the phone on speaker, I drop it on the grass and lean over Sarah’s body. I don’t hear anything. I listen harder, trying to hear over the sounds our house is making. It’s loud. And it’s hot. I can feel it on my back from here.
“I… I can’t hear any breathing.”
“We’re going to do some compressions together, Jasper, okay?”
“I don’t know how.” My eyes burn, tears blurring my vision.
“That’s alright,” Kara says softly. “I’m gonna walk you through it, alright?”
“Okay,” I choke out, staring down at Sarah.
She looks so small. Smaller than she did when I left her here. I’m so stupid. Why did I leave her alone? What’s wrong with me?
“Okay, I need you to put the heel of your hand on the center of her chest.”
I do what Kara says. “Now what?”
“Place your other hand on top of it, locking your fingers together, then push hard and fast, okay? And count out loud for me.”
I press down a little bit, counting. “One, two, three, four, five…”
“Hard, Jasper. You have to do it hard, okay? Keep going.”
Tears spill down my cheeks, blurring Sarah until I can barely see her.
I listen to Kara, pushing harder as I count out loud. Something cracks under my hand, and I pause. “What happened?” I choke out. “Something cracked.”
“That’s okay. That means you’re doing it right. Keep going, okay? Help is almost there.”
I take a deep breath, my shoulders burning. Pushing and pushing and pushing on Sarah’s chest until there’s another crack.
A sob rips from my throat as I pull my hands off her chest. “I can’t do this. I’m hurting her. I don’t want to hurt her.”
“You’re not.” Kara sounds harsher now. A little less calm. “Keep going, Jasper. You have to. You’re not hurting her.”
Her hair is singed, burned along her hairline. I can’t believe I left her alone. I’m the worst brother ever. This is all my fault.
“Don’t stop, Jasper.”
I press my hands back on Sarah’s chest, counting again as sirens start blaring in the distance. They sound wrong. Distorted. Right on top of me and also too far away.
Lights flash across the yard. Someone’s running toward me.
Push, push, push. One, two, three.
“Okay, let us take over,” someone says, grabbing my arms and gently pulling me away from Sarah.
People surround her. So many that I can’t see her. Someone is trying to put out the fire. I’m sitting on the grass, staring at her.
“Let me check you over,” a man says, kneeling beside me.
