Page 3 of Under Water

Oh my god. I breathe out and peel the condom off his tongue as I check for a pulse. It’s faint and thready. “Ozzie!” I bark. “Give me the BVM.”

“The what?” he demands, his voice high and tight. He damn well knows what a BVM is, but I have a feeling his panic is making his brain fuzzy.

North drops a hand on his shoulder. “The squeezy bag, bud.”

“Right. Right. Fuck.” Ozzie’s shaking, but he manages it, and then North quickly takes over. I try not to smile at him over this poor, suffocating, stoned college kid.

We’re not licensed to carry epi, so I meet Kelsey’s gaze as I force the kid’s chin down to help North bag him. “I need you to get Benny here. Tell them to prepare epi. I’m guessing latex allergy.”

“What the fuck is latex?” the girl screams again.

I look over at her as North begins to bag the guy. “It’s what condoms are made out of. Mostly.”

She blinks at me.

“Some aren’t. Do you guys use condoms when you have sex?”

Her face goes bright red. “I don’t do that.”

I take a deep, calming breath. “I’m Easton. What’s your name?”

She looks at me like I’ve lost my mind, but she licks her lips. “McKayla.”

“Pretty name.”

She smiles, and a bit of tension leaves her. “Thanks.”

“What’s his name?” I ask.

Her chin trembles. “Chris.”

“McKayla, I’m not here to judge you about whether or not you and Chris have sex. I’m asking because I think Chris here has a severe latex allergy. So do you, or do you know if he uses condoms when he has sex?”

“W-we don’t use condoms. But don’t worry, we’re, like, totally safe. I’m on birth control, and we both got tested.”

I manage a smile. “That’s great. Very smart. Did he ever say why he doesn’t use condoms?”

She shrugs. “Dick itch.”

I fight back a laugh, but North doesn’t manage to. He covers it with a cough, and luckily, poor McKayla is too freaked-out to notice. “Right. Okay. That probably means he’s allergic.”

“Is he going to die?” she asks, her voice very thready.

“We are going to do everything we can to take care of him. But it’s probably a good idea that he doesn’t put condoms in his mouth. Especially if they make his dick itch.”

“He was just…” She looks devastated suddenly. “It was my fault. I read this thing about how this STD is causing, like, mouth and throat cancer. And he got freaked-out, but I really wanted him to go down on me, so I said he could use a condom. I didn’t…I didn’t know. Oh my god, do you think I killed him? We’re not even dating! His mom will totally refuse to let me come to the funeral if he dies like this!”

“Breathe,” I tell her. My eyes snap over to Logan and Ozzie. “Hey, maybe you guys can walk McKayla outside.” My fingers go to poor Chris’s neck, and fuck. There’s no pulse. “Right now would be good.”

Logan reads my tone instantly because he takes McKayla gently by the arm and walks her toward the door.

I look up and meet North’s eyes, and he takes a breath before saying, “Start compressions.”

This part is instinctual by this point, so I begin, and I say a little prayer this isn’t going to turn tragic.

It’s always a good day when I can turn a patient over to the paramedics and I’m not covered in some kind of bodily fluid. Sure, my shirt reeks of weed and whatever else is floating around that would-be frat house, but that will wash off.

And, as far as I can tell, Chris is going to make it. Benny got there barely two minutes after Kelsey walked off to get their ETA, and with a shot of epi and some oxygen, Chris was back with us.