hand on top of mine. I stop my compressions and watch as Grace carefully pinches Liam’s nose closed and puts her lips on his, creating a tight seal. She then breathes into him, and I feel his chest rise once, then twice.
“Now you,” Grace says.
I do two dozen compressions before she stops me and gives Liam more air.
We alternate for another couple of rounds. I compress Liam’s chest, and Grace relentlessly forces her breath into his lungs. The air around me is cold, but sweat is pouring down my face. Not all the moisture on my face is solely from sweat, though; some of it is from the burning tears streaming from my eyes.
“Liam,” Grace says after another round. “Liam, can you hear us?”
Fighting the chill of fear inside me, I stare at Liam, but he’s still comatose.
“He’s breathing on his own,” Grace says, answering my unspoken question when I glance up at her. “And his heart rate is more stable.”
I move my hand on Liam’s chest to the left, and my breath whooshes out in relief.
She’s right. His heart is beating steadily.
“You don’t need to do the compressions anymore,” Grace says. “We just have to wait for him to regain consciousness.”
Even in my dazed state, I have to wonder at Grace’s unusual competence. “How did you know how to—”
“I want to be a Nurse one day, remember?” Grace says with a slight disappointment in her voice.
As soon as she says it, I recall her talking about that when we were very young, back when she was friendly with our crew. I even recall her going by the Nurse’s stall on that Birth Day.
“I thought you might’ve changed your mind by now,” I mumble in an effort to cover up my faux pas. The icy panic inside me is receding slightly. “It was more than a decade ago.”
Grace opens her mouth to reply when, with a gasp and a grunt, Liam opens his eyes. “Grace?” he says faintly. “What are you doing in my room at this time of n—”
He notices me then and falls silent, his gaze moving slowly from side to side. I turn around and, for the first time, notice the Youths around us, their faces pale and worried.
“There was an emergency, and we got out of the Dorm,” I say, turning back to Liam. “You might’ve blacked out a little toward the end.”
Liam closes his eyes, furrowing his caterpillar-like eyebrows. Then he says, “Oh yeah. We were going down the stairs when—”
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Grace says. “But I have to go.”
“Wait, what? Where are you going?” My question comes out a little too forceful. More calmly, I say, “What if Liam loses consciousness again?”
“Now that he’s outside and conscious, he should be fine,” Grace says. “I just spoke to Nicky.” She nods toward a white-faced Youth about twelve years of age. “He evacuated the Middle-Grade Dorms for the same reason we evacuated ours. Their alarm went off even earlier.”
She looks at me as if that explains everything.
I rub my temples. “Sorry, but I don’t see why that means you have to run off. My mind is—”
“It must be all the adrenaline,” Grace says. “I need to go because I’m worried they might’ve had the same oxygen issues at the Elementary Dorms.” She glances in the direction of the forest, where the cylindrical building in question is located. “The little ones might need help.”
“She has a point,” Liam says and attempts to sit up. “We should go help.”
“You need to lie here for a bit,” Grace says sternly, kneeling to push him back down. “But you, Theo, couldbe useful.”
“I don’t know,” I say, my hesitation at the idea of leaving my just-regained-consciousness friend fighting with mental images of little kids suffocating. “What about—”
“I’ll be fine,” Liam says. “Go help Grace.”
I scan the faces of the Youths around us for someone to volunteer as Grace’s helper in my place. I spot Kevin, a Youth we don’t know too well. We make eye contact, and I wave him
“Now you,” Grace says.
I do two dozen compressions before she stops me and gives Liam more air.
We alternate for another couple of rounds. I compress Liam’s chest, and Grace relentlessly forces her breath into his lungs. The air around me is cold, but sweat is pouring down my face. Not all the moisture on my face is solely from sweat, though; some of it is from the burning tears streaming from my eyes.
“Liam,” Grace says after another round. “Liam, can you hear us?”
Fighting the chill of fear inside me, I stare at Liam, but he’s still comatose.
“He’s breathing on his own,” Grace says, answering my unspoken question when I glance up at her. “And his heart rate is more stable.”
I move my hand on Liam’s chest to the left, and my breath whooshes out in relief.
She’s right. His heart is beating steadily.
“You don’t need to do the compressions anymore,” Grace says. “We just have to wait for him to regain consciousness.”
Even in my dazed state, I have to wonder at Grace’s unusual competence. “How did you know how to—”
“I want to be a Nurse one day, remember?” Grace says with a slight disappointment in her voice.
As soon as she says it, I recall her talking about that when we were very young, back when she was friendly with our crew. I even recall her going by the Nurse’s stall on that Birth Day.
“I thought you might’ve changed your mind by now,” I mumble in an effort to cover up my faux pas. The icy panic inside me is receding slightly. “It was more than a decade ago.”
Grace opens her mouth to reply when, with a gasp and a grunt, Liam opens his eyes. “Grace?” he says faintly. “What are you doing in my room at this time of n—”
He notices me then and falls silent, his gaze moving slowly from side to side. I turn around and, for the first time, notice the Youths around us, their faces pale and worried.
“There was an emergency, and we got out of the Dorm,” I say, turning back to Liam. “You might’ve blacked out a little toward the end.”
Liam closes his eyes, furrowing his caterpillar-like eyebrows. Then he says, “Oh yeah. We were going down the stairs when—”
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Grace says. “But I have to go.”
“Wait, what? Where are you going?” My question comes out a little too forceful. More calmly, I say, “What if Liam loses consciousness again?”
“Now that he’s outside and conscious, he should be fine,” Grace says. “I just spoke to Nicky.” She nods toward a white-faced Youth about twelve years of age. “He evacuated the Middle-Grade Dorms for the same reason we evacuated ours. Their alarm went off even earlier.”
She looks at me as if that explains everything.
I rub my temples. “Sorry, but I don’t see why that means you have to run off. My mind is—”
“It must be all the adrenaline,” Grace says. “I need to go because I’m worried they might’ve had the same oxygen issues at the Elementary Dorms.” She glances in the direction of the forest, where the cylindrical building in question is located. “The little ones might need help.”
“She has a point,” Liam says and attempts to sit up. “We should go help.”
“You need to lie here for a bit,” Grace says sternly, kneeling to push him back down. “But you, Theo, couldbe useful.”
“I don’t know,” I say, my hesitation at the idea of leaving my just-regained-consciousness friend fighting with mental images of little kids suffocating. “What about—”
“I’ll be fine,” Liam says. “Go help Grace.”
I scan the faces of the Youths around us for someone to volunteer as Grace’s helper in my place. I spot Kevin, a Youth we don’t know too well. We make eye contact, and I wave him
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