Prologue
A dull thump echoed through his ears and vibration rippled through the floorboards beneath him, Matthew Symonds groaned, he was fed up with the main door downstairs being left open. It didn’t matter how softly you tried to close it, there would always be the draft that took over but leaving it unlatched was even worse. The door clapped again more loudly this time restoring Matt's headache, the daft old man from downstairs must have left it ajar again. It wasn’t the first time he`d had to go downstairs to close it properly. Just at a good part of the film, Matt reluctantly pressed pause on the DVD and went to put some clothes on. The day had been spent slouching on the sofa in only boxer shorts, snuggled under his duvet wallowing in self pity as he`d sneezed and snivelled his way through a cold. Getting soaked through with rain during Saturday`s football match probably hadn`t helped the already brewing virus.
Pulling on a pair of jeans and T-shirt he grabbed his keys from the door hook, he`d made the mistake of leaving his keys inside before. The door slamming behind him had been a costly and inconvenient lesson. Nearing the communal staircase a man flew out of his neighbours' apartment and dashed down the stairs with lightning speed. A blur of a dark hooded figure was all that remained to be seen as Matt peered over the stairwell, the front door opened wide and the elusive man was gone. At least he no longer had to go down to close it. Turning around to go back inside a low moaning disturbed the silence, following the direction of the sound he noticed Abbie`s door half open. He knocked.
“Hello, Abbie?” She had only moved in three weeks ago and they had exchanged little more than a casual greeting. Matt felt uneasy when another moan came again from within her apartment. Whoever had just fled down the stairs had obviously caused harm in some way. He wanted to turn away and pretend he had heard and seen nothing. But he had and for that reason he knew he had to investigate.
Pushing the door open tentatively he was met with resistance, like something was stopping the door opening anymore. Something or someone? Calling her name again the warble of a reply beckoned him further through the doorway. There was a smell of something un-welcoming, hard to describe but almost metallic. There was no time to evaluate the aroma as he stepped inside the apartment. Immediately the source of the putrid odour was identified. The slumped body of his neighbour against the wall, clutching her abdomen as blood seeped through her fingers. What was clearly a white T-shirt had inherited a red glow.
“Jesus Christ, what happened to you?” Whilst her eyes were barely open, her face was taking on a whiter shade of pale. Immediately his emergency aid knowledge kicked in.
“Can you talk to me? Where`s your phone?”
Through a barely heard yes she nodded weakly and cast her eyes towards the kitchen. Matt grabbed the phone amongst the paraphernalia strewn over an antique oak dining table and called 999. Grabbing tea towels from a pile of folded laundry on a chair to his right, he cocked his head onto his shoulder to secure the phone at his ear. The call connected and the predictable question immediately followed.
“Ambulance” he confirmed crouching down beside Abbie. Applying pressure on the wound that was ebbing blood at an alarming rate with the tea towels, he sure hoped it looked worse than it actually was. The operator`s questions continued,
“19 Russell Square, I`m not sure but I think she's been stabbed.” It was some years since he`d attended the workplace emergency aid course. Although he had instantly remembered to assess the situation, check for breathing and pulse, he was rusty of any specifics. Suddenly the phone beeped twice and went dead, the battery had gone flat and his call effectively terminated.
“Oh great” he tossed it aside.
Watching the sickening pallor of Abbie`s face turn a definitive ghostly hue, Matt realised keeping her alert was imperative to stop her losing consciousness and going into shock. Perhaps blood loss the cause because there was undeniably a lot emanating from the wound.
“Listen Abbie keep talking to me. Ok?”
She nodded her head in reply and her eyes flickered rapidly in attempt to stay open, head dropping towards her chest she winced in obvious pain.
“Let`s lie you down eh” Within the few seconds it took to stabilise her comfortably, her hands fell from her wound and blood pooled onto the carpet.
“Aw man, why me?” Matt muttered to himself. His heart was racing and sweat beaded his forehead. “Come on, open your eyes. You got to stay awake, you hear me?”
“Right get her legs up” he instructed himself as his mind raced through the vague memories of first aid procedures. Leaving his patients side, he focused on a leather sofa through the short hall and ran to collect what he hoped he would find. Stubbing his toe during the mission he could have down without and bit down on his bottom lip to stop himself from crying out an obscenity. Why did it always hurt so much?
Retrieving three bulky faux cushions from the sofa, he placed two under her feet.
“Raise the wounded area” his mentor voice encouraged. If the same applied to a abdomen wound he wasn’t sure, taking his chances he positioned one underneath her bottom. Abbie cried out during his efforts but if he didn’t try to slow the bleeding, she was definitely going to be unconscious in a short time. Hearing voices getting closer brought relief with the assumption the paramedics had arrived. However, when the tenants from one of the ground floor apartments walked in the relief disintegrated. He hadn`t actually opened the front door for the ambulance crew and that was a stupid thing to forget.
“What happened?” Billy asked as Cheryl shrieked surprise and her hand immediately covered her mouth. The baby in her arms was fortunately asleep and not woken by the shrilly tone.
“Go and open the main door Billy, for the paramedics.”
“Is she okay?” Cheryl enquired in a still quavering voice.
“Does she look ok?” Matt snapped a sarcastic retort to the pathetic question. “Where are those damn medics?”
“Abbie stay with me, hang in there yeah.” Her lips moved in response but any sound she may have attempted was inaudible now. Feeling for a pulse, it was still there but extremely weak, she was fading fast. “Come on squeeze my fingers.” Placing his hand inside her blood soaked one, the slight movement of her index finger brushed his knuckle lightly. Cupping his hand around hers he squeezed gently.
“What a way to get to know your neighbour eh” he joked. Despite the fact there was nothing to joke about he didn’t know what else to say. All he wanted to do was keep her conscious before expert aid arrived. Billy had returned but still no medics, a very typical reason to hate city life.
Finally, after a couple minutes they did. The relief of the green suited duo making their way towards them was indescribable. You did your first aid training but never knew when your ability could be taken to the test.
“Ok love we`ll take over now,” the female medic placed a hand on his shoulder. Matt`s gaze settled on his blood soaked hands as he took pressure off the wound and backed away. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“I don’t know. I live next door, I just found her like this. A man had been here, I only saw him leaving. Is she going to be okay?”
“I`m sure she`ll be fine. You know her name?”
“Abbie…I don’t know her last name.”
“Maybe she has a handbag or something around?”
At that Matt realised he was still sat next to Abbie, in the blood soaked patch of carpet. Dropping his eyes to the damp sensation at his knees, the sudden reality of what had occurred caused his stomach to lurch.
“I`ll look around” he managed to utter through dry lips. Lifting the phone from the floor and commencing his search, hooked over the back of one of the dining table chairs he spied a handbag. It had to have what they needed because he had no intentions of prying. The ambulance crew had her on a stretcher now; a mask covered her face and nose. With no idea how they had done it so quickly, he tossed the phone inside the bag and followed them down the stairs. Watching whilst they loaded her inside the ambulance, the male medic jumped from the back of the vehicle and took the bag from his hands.
“Are you coming?”
“Uh…no …well… I hardly know her.”
“I suggest you get dosed up on some Paracetemol and a hot toddy for that cold of yours. You’ve done a great job, well done.” The back doors closed on the female medics smile and seconds later the ambulance drove away, blue lights flashing their way down the road,
*
Bumps up and down, up and down, gentle voices, loud voices. I`m listening, I`m trying so hard to keep my eyes open but they want to stay closed. I`m tired so very tired. A cold wind floods my mouth with a suffocating feeling and smell of rubber. Please just go away, leave me alone I plead. Is anyone listening to me? Hello, is anyone there? Leave me alone now; I want to be left alone. I`m drifting, relaxing, it`s nice. The bumping stops, the voices have faded and silence within the darkness comforts me. Like cotton wool I feel light and peace at last.
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