Portals

I realized then that I was not being pulled down through the water, but out of the water. The light that had frightened me was in fact the sun's rays getting stronger as I was pulled towards the surface. Someone was grasping my destroyed arm, but that didn't bother me for now, the only pain I felt was the burning sensation in my lungs. When I emerged from the surface I drank the air like a person who has been deprived of water in a desert for months. I made dramatic wheezing noises as I sucked in, and though the pain did not subside completely, I felt my body begin to settle back to normal after the horrific panic it had been in.

My sight was blurred, as if film had been stretched over my vision, but I could make out that my 'rescuer' was a man with dark hair, darker then it's usual colour now that it was soaking wet. He had a strong build, a deeply lined face, striking blue eyes framed by really dark, thick eyebrows, and with one hand he was grasping my shattered arm, and with the other he was waving. His waving puzzled me, what was he waving for? Oh, I get it, he was waving at people high above us on the edge of the bridge, where only three minutes before I had plummeted from to my failed death. He was waving to get help.

"Call an ambulance!" He cried in a deep voice.

It was then that I noticed the excruciating pain in my arm. I could feel the shards of broken bones grind painfully against each other under my skin, and when I saw that my limb was bent at an angle that didn't seem remotely possible I felt my heart make a sickening thump with horror. It also didn't help that the man was gripping it tightly, contributing to the crushing movements of my bones.

I screamed, it was the only way I could seem to communicate, I couldn't form words to be spoken from my mouth, it was too tiring. The man looked at me with surprise at my outburst, and with great difficulty, I moaned:

"The other one,"

"The other what?"

"Hold the other one!" I barked, and felt guilty after wards.

That was no way to talk to the man who saved your life. He didn't seem to care, and he promptly held by my other arm instead.

I needed to get out of this water, I wanted to be surrounded head-to-toe by air. My legs unlocked themselves from the useless position they had been in, and I even began kicking as the man helped me swim through the vast stretch of water we had to swim through to reach the heavenly concrete steps that led from the river to the street above. People were waiting on the steps, reaching out, which was stupid. It was physically impossible to touch us from where we were, but I suppose it was some sort of odd characteristic of human instinct, the instinct to help.

After what seemed like an hour, but was really only four minutes, we reached the steps. It was only as I gathered myself and weakly stood on a low step submerged underwater, facing the people on the higher steps that I realized I was only in my underwear and bra. A normal person who had just had a near-death experience wouldn't have cared, but my cheeks flamed red and I covered my arms protectively around my waist. I stared down at my feet, I hated them seeing my body like this. I began to splutter and cough from being in the water, making my cheeks darken even more with the strain of the new sensation of breathing, and I was slightly scared at the amount of water I was coughing up. It was like vomiting water, which was strange to experience.

My rescuer crawled up the steps, exhausted. He obviously was too old for what he had just done, he looked to be in his fifties, and that made me thankful even more. He locked eye-contact with me as a kindly woman wrapped a blanket around my shoulders.

"Sorry," he wheezed, "I had to take off your, er, clothes. They were dragging you down,"

Dragging me down. I shivered, thinking of the power mother nature had over a measly human. Because that's literally what had happened, the water had grabbed me with her strong hands and dragged me down, and there was nothing I could have done to stop it. Suddenly, I realized how stupid I had been. I should never had made the decision to jump off, and it was only now that I realized people cared about me as I looked at the impressive crowd that had gathered, doing anything they could to help. I heard the wailing sound of sirens above me.

But most importantly, I realized I didn't want to die because death had been truly terrifying, more terrifying then life. Maybe it was the fall, the coldness or the darkness that had made it that bit more terrible, but I definitely didn't like it. I looked at my rescuer, who was now sitting on a step, coughing with a faded blue blanket around his shoulders. A younger man sat next to him and patted him on the back, calling him a true hero. And that's what he was, wasn't it? He had been having a normal day, with no intention to jump into a freezing river, but he had done it anyway, even though it had completely screwed up his daily schedule and even endangered his own life. I stared at him, ignoring all the commotion around me. A woman was trying to get me to move, I was still standing on that submerged step. I continued to stare at my rescuer. I cleared my throat.

"Thank you," I said just above a whisper.

He looked up, his blue eyes fascinating me.

"Pardon?"

"I just wanted to say thank you," I said, this time a bit louder.

He smiled weakly, causing the lines on his face to fold like paper.

"Just, don't do it again, sweetie,"

I dropped my gaze, ashamed. I would never do it again, I promise. I was led up the steps, and I stumbled at times when an uneven step came along, causing my face to redden even more. I let out a spare giggle, and clasped my hand over my mouth in a flash. The woman supporting me glanced at me, and I was mortified as I knew she had heard that weird giggle. God, I hated that stupid trait. What must she think? Probably that this was a hilarious prank in my head and I was actually enjoying all this attention. Someone once told me that I spend too much time thinking about what others must think of me, and they were probably right. I also get embarrassed way too easily. It doesn't help that my cheeks stain crimson so effortlessly, too.

When we reached the street above, there was people everywhere. Too many people. So many of them looked so, so sad. Vacant. I hung my head in shame, they must all be disappointed in me to make such a stupid decision. There was also flashing lights and sirens, causing me to squint my eyes, which caused droplets to be squeezed out and drip down my cheeks. When my rescuer followed behind me, a large portion of the crowd clapped, but the saddest faces stayed fixed on me, shaking their heads slowly, closing their eyes. I wish they'd stop. I was led to the back of an ambulance. To my deepest surprise, a girl was already lying on the stretcher inside the van. A small group of paramedics were clumped in a small, bright yellow circle next to their bright yellow van, waiting for me.

They all turned to notice my arrival and rushed to me, politely ushering the woman who helped me away. They began to lead me to the stretcher, but I began to stop. It was already occupied by that girl.

"C'mon, sweetie, it's ok," one of the paramedics, a Latino man with a dark mustache was saying to me in a soothing voice.

"But-" I protested, beginning to point at the stretcher.

The girl on it, still in a pale hospital nightgown, almost as pale as her skin, sat up and literally hopped out of the van and walked away into the crowd. I almost laughed at the absurdity of it.

"Don't worry about her," the Latino paramedic smiled, referring to the travelling patient, "She's fine,"

I decided that I was simply not used to the ways of, er, 'paramedics', so I allowed them to lay me down on the stretcher inside. They began to hook me up to things, which didn't really hurt since my skin had been numbed from the freezing water anyway. The warmth and smell of the inside of the vehicle was comforting. One of my favorite smells in the world is that hand-sanitizer smell, you just know you're in a clean place when you smell it, and I like cleanliness. A paramedic gave me an injection, which pricked slightly, and I found myself drifting off to a deep sleep.

The last thing I saw swimming before my vision before slipping into unconsciousness were those sad, sad faces in the crowd. So vacant, and so devastatingly disappointed.