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It was supposed to be a fun outing with Carmen.
Supposed to be.
After Player had turned 19, it was decided that he and Carmen would tour the world together. Player would finally get to experience everything he had previously missed out on. Carmen was absolutely overjoyed to have her best friend along with her for the first time.
But all of it changed when Coach Brunt escaped from prison and caught up with them before Chief could issue a warning. The rest of it was a blur when Player would recall it later on.
Coach Brunt, naturally, wanted revenge.
“I thought you would have learnt by now. Did you really that a puny prison would be enough to contain me?” she smirked.
Carmen screamed as Coach Brunt’s fist connected with her midsection. She clutched her stomach in pain as she threw up violently.
“It’s as if you are not even trying to defend yourself. Years of training, wasted!” she said, disappointed.
“Please, no more.” Carmen begged. She was never one to lower her guard but the extreme pain overwhelmed her senses. She almost wished the Coach ended it as soon as possible. Brunt simply laughed, and raised her fist to strike another crushing blow, but someone threw himself on top of her.
“You have beaten her enough! She needs medical attention.” Player pleaded with Coach Brunt.
Carmen groaned from beneath Player, too consumed by pain to speak. She didn’t think her situation could possibly get any worse, and now her best friend was also in danger. Coach Brunt simply laughed and nodded approvingly.
“You are a brave kid, looking out for your family. But she will soon leave you, just like she left us.”
With that, Coach Brunt grabbed Player by the scruff of his neck, and threw him against the wall, hard enough to knock him out. Carmen steeled herself as she resumed her assault.
.
.
.
Player’s head was spinning as he came to. He looked around blearily but Coach Brunt was nowhere in sight. He caught sight of a red slump on the floor, and immediately shot up. Adrenaline coursed through his body as he hurried over to where his friend lay. Carmen’s body was battered into oblivion, and her leg stook out at an odd angle.
“Red? Carmen, please wake up…” Player yelled but to no avail.
With shaky hands, he pulled out his thankfully intact phone and dialed the number for emergency services. After getting an assurance by the operator that an ambulance would be there in 10 minutes, he finally let himself breathe. Normally, Carmen would avoid a hospital, but this was anything but a normal situation.
He hovered over her, unsure whether to touch her or not. Carmen made no sound, no movement.
“Was she…?’ Player wondered but shook his head. He needed to keep a clear head, and not panic. Hesitantly, he reached out, and grabbed her wrist, feeling for a pulse.
There was none.
Heart racing, Player double checked by pressing two fingers under her neck.
“No red!” He whispered in horror. She can’t be…
But she was. By now his ear was pressed against Carmen’s chest, desperately searching for the thump thump thump of a heartbeat. But there was no sound. Carmen was still as ever.
Player let out a wail, and shook her hard.
“No Red! You can’t die! You promised we would see the world together.” He pleaded. But there was no response from Carmen. Player took a deep breath to stop himself from panicking.
It can’t have been more than a few minutes till Carmen had died. If he could keep up her circulation somehow until the ambulance arrived, then perhaps she would have a chance. It was wishful thinking, Player knew, but better than doing nothing.
Remembering his CPR training from health drives at his school, he straightened his elbows and placed one hand over the other, interlocking his fingers together and starting pushing down on Carmen’s chest.
1…
2…
3…
Carmen showed no sign of being revived but Player pushed on. Once he reached twenty compressions, he filled his lungs and performed two rescue breaths on her, making sure to tilt her head and lift her chin first. He had no idea whether he was doing this correctly, or whether it would even matter, but there was no time to think, as he resumed the compressions.
Within a minute, he soon realised that CPR was not nearly as easy, nor was it as effective as it is usually portrayed. Carmen showing no signs of movement only furthered his despair but he knew he had to press on.
His arms started to ache, and he could feel his palms becoming numb. He didn’t know how much time had passed but it felt like hours to him.
A horrible cracking sound filled the air causing him to almost pause. For a split second he thought Carmen had finally moved but he soon realised to his horror that her ribs were starting to break from the force of his compressions. But he cannot stop now, the paramedics would soon be here.
He hoped that Carmen would forgive him. He would take a bruised and bloodied best friend over a dead one any day.
His own heart beat faster as he continued to pump. In the distance, he thought he heard sirens. But he cannot stop. If he stops, Carmen dies, and that is a reality he simply refused to accept.
Exhaustion overtook him as he desperately continued the rhythmic compressions. His arms screamed in pain. He felt a hand on his shoulder grab him, and voice in his ear.
“Sir, you are going to have to let go of her…” someone spoke behind him.
“N-no, I can’t please…” Player grunted. There is no way he would give up on Carmen. He felt the hand on his shoulder quickly whisk him away.
”I am sorry, Carmen.” He thought as darkness finally engulfed him, his exhaustion taking over.
A mop of red hair was what he first saw when he finally came to. Looking around, he observed a few familiar features before realizing that he was inside Team Red headquarters back in San Diego.
“Playah! You are awake. How do you feel?” Two thick Boston accents yelled in his ear, giving him a severe headache.
“Headache…” Player murmured. Zack pushed a bottle of water in his hands.
“You had a concussion from when Coach Brunt threw you. But the doctors gave you the all-clear and we managed to smuggle you guys back to headquarters.” Ivy said. Player blinked at her blearily.
Coach Brunt…
In a painful flash, Player recalled Brunt brutalizing Carmen. Tears streamed down his eyes as he realised that his oldest friend was gone, forever.
“Player, what’s wrong? Are you in pain?” Zack asked worriedly.
“I am sorry guys, I could not save her, I couldn’t…”
“Player…”
Player almost jumped out of his skin as the familiar voice reached his ear. Ivy and Zack stepped apart to reveal Carmen lying down nearby, but clearly awake and alive.
“C-carmen? I thought you were…” Player stumbled on his feet trying to reach her, still unable to believe his eyes.
“The doctors said that performing CPR ensured that her circulation did not stop, and they were able to revive her enroute to the hospital.” Shadowsan explained, seemingly materializing from thin air. Player gaped at the sight before him, unable to believe his eyes.
“You saved me, Player.” Carmen said softly. “I would have been dead without you.”
He moved forward to hug her, but stopped when he noticed her frail condition. Her ribs had clearly not healed yet and she would probably require bedrest for a long time. Fresh tears sprung to his eyes as he took in the pitiful sight.
Noticing his hesitation, Carmen grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug. Try as he might, he could not stop sobbing on her shoulder. He was supposed to be the one comforting Carmen, not the other way round!
“It’s ok. I am safe. We are safe.” Carmen reiterated firmly. And she meant it.
Over the next few days, Player hardly left her side. Carmen’s recovery was slow and painful, and while she was grateful for her friends’ support, she wished they wouldn’t worry so much.
‘It is you who caused them to worry. They are distraught because of your negligence.’ A voice suspiciously like Coach Brunt whispered in her ear, but she pushed those thoughts away. Now was not the time to be wallowing in regret. She is thankful to everything that Coach Brunt had targeted her and left Player with a minor injury at best. She had no idea what she would have done had the roles been switched.
She still couldn’t believe how lucky she was. Player had always watched out for her whenever she made mistakes. She could count on him to distract the police radio whenever she got cornered or plan out an escape route for her when Vile operatives proved too much for her to handle, but she never once anticipated that he would bring her back from the brink of death itself. It was a debt she could never repay, and she knew Player would not expect her to. Player’s injury had almost healed, but Carmen vowed to herself that no one would touch him as long as she was alive. She still had to find Brunt before she hurts someone else dear to her.
It was moments like these that reminded her why she was able to beat Vile in the first place. Because her friends had her back, no matter what.