Reaching Out

Savior

    It was cold.



    It was so cold. I huddled into myself, realizing as the deceptively innocent-seeming crystals of snow drifted around my thin form that taking shelter within an open-air playground in the dead middle of winter was probably an absolutely terrible idea. I could feel the tiny snowflakes land on my hair and melt in what remaining heat I had left, icy liquid dripping slowly down my unprepared scalp and chin, creating small wet spots on my blazer as they fell. Everything around me was dark as pitch, except for the small circles of light that nearby street lamps cast like an angler fish does when hunting for prey, the glow faintly reaching me from where the tall poles stood along the path just outside of the playground’s borders.


    White snow filled my entire vision, coming down harder than it seemed to ever have in the years before. Tiny drifts were starting to pile up against the low wall that surrounded the swing set I was sitting on, and a thin coating was slowly covering the ground. I couldn’t tell how long I'd been sitting on that old plastic swing, and I could sense myself becoming drowsy.


    I was starting to lose feeling in all of my limbs, and it felt like the icy air was slyly creeping under my skin and settling into my bones, the chill filling me. My uniform skirt was too short to cover much of my legs, and as I shifted a bit, I could feel my knees creak in protest against the cold. They felt brittle and breakable from what seemed like hours in this never-ending snowfall. As I peered out from under my eyelashes, trying to stay awake, I could tell the sky was lightening at the edges and that dawn was on its way.


    I shuddered, hugging myself tighter as the wind blew more snow in my direction, fingers digging into the fabric covering my biceps.  My eyes wanted badly to close and despite my own common sense yelling at me, I started to give in to their demands, heavy eyelids slipping shut.


    ‘Is this how I die?’ I wondered.


    A faint smile was brought to my lips at how ridiculous all of this was, although they trembled in the freezing air and the tears that were built up under my lashes started to turn to ice. A second wave of awareness hit me like a train, and the upward curve of my mouth dropped as I struggled to lift my lids, desperately fighting the drowsiness deep in my bones.


    ‘I don't want to die...!’


    A voice broke through my inner mental struggle then, with a tinge of panicked squeak in its pitch as they cried out, "Miss! Are you alright?!"


    Running footsteps crunched through the snow towards me and large, warm hands gripped my forearm. Deft fingers expertly felt my wrist for a pulse. There seemed to be a sigh of relief as they found it, weak as it was, and a firm hand gently tapped my shoulder as they spoke to me.


    "Miss, are you awake? You need to stay awake for me."


    I groaned, unable to get my vocal chords to work properly for a moment, but I opened my eyes a bit more. I was trying hard to see who the person was that the voice belonged to, but I could only make out their brown hair and a strong jawline with my unfocused eyes.


    I could make out their smile of relief when I opened my eyes, and them shrugging off their coat, draping it over my shoulders. I instantly drew the thick, warm fabric closer to my body, huddling within the pocket of heat as I felt myself start to wake up a bit more. At the second (clearer) glance, I took in more of my saviour’s features. It was a boy that seemed to be only a couple years older than myself with long brown hair tied back in a tiny ponytail, his bright blue eyes an interesting mix between baby blue and a light gray. He looked somewhat familiar, but I wasn't going to waste my meager energy trying to think too deeply on it.


    He could tell my attention was drifting, and he leaned down to look me in the eyes, smiling kindly although his eyes held worry. He locked those worried, beautifully colored eyes with my own as he asked, "Is your house nearby?"


    I shook my head lightly from side to side.


    “Well,” he started, “I’m a nurse at the hospital nearby. I just finished my shift, but I could help you get there. You have pretty bad hypothermia, it seems, and you need medical attention.”


    I shook my head as firmly as I could, despite the lack of strength I had at the moment. “No,” I rasped, voice a bit slurred, “no hospitals... I can’—” I swallowed, trying desperately to get my words across to the nurse guy. “Can’t afford it...”


    He frowned, and voice seemed was pleading as he asked, “Isn’t there anywhere warm you could go to? Some place? A friend’s house or something?”


    When I shook my head yet again after another long moment, he bit his lip in deep thought, brows furrowed as he searched my face. He looked indecisive, conflicted for almost a full minute. My gaze drifted from him to the sky, wondering vaguely why the world was spinning. My attention was brought back to him as he started speaking, and I barely managed to catch his quick, desperate words as he suggested, “My apartment is just down the street. I could take you there, and at least get you some blankets and something warm to drink. You can’t just stay here, your condition will only get worse and you’ll die before the snow stops.”


    I may have been completely numb from the cold, but I’d rather go back home than trust a random stranger, even if that stranger was a nurse. I continued to stare at him, but this time there was incredulity in my gaze. He noticed this, and added, “Please, I promise I won’t hurt you or anything like that. I’m bound to the Nightingale Pledge, which is like the Hippocratic Oath for nurses like me. We need to bundle you up, or you’ll get worse!”


    There was a moment of pause as I searched his eyes for any intention besides what his mouth was saying, but I couldn’t spot anything besides intense sincerity and worry, with a dash of desperation. Blowing out a small breath of air, I was silent for a few more seconds before I quietly confirmed, “...Fine.”


    The biggest smile of relief I’d ever seen split his face from ear to ear, revealing perfectly white teeth. I barely knew what was happening when he helped me up and I leaned into his side, seventy-five percent of me dead to the world, leaving only twenty-five percent aware. I could only take one wobbling, pathetic step before I started to fall, my knees shaking beneath me. I was so weak, all of my energy had evaporated into thin air as though I were a newborn infant. The embarrassment as I could hear the nurse-boy sigh next to me was quite present. Suddenly I was being carried, cradled against his chest in the perfect way for me to use his shoulder as a pillow. At that point I fell asleep for real, my eyes sliding closed as I curled into the warmth his body gave off.


    A blanket of warmth seemed to envelop me, and a smile reached my face as I drifted off.