Chapter 1: Boy in the jean jacket

"Once in a lifetime you meet someone who changes everything."

Jaimie-mae kept her head down as she walked briskly through the dark. The hoodie on her head was held down by one hand to keep the wind from blowing it off again. She was exhausted from a full day of waitressing at a fancy restaurant called the 'Garden Corner'.

Even though she hardly felt like it, she walked home from work every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Not walking would feel strange and she was never really a huge fan of the bus. She enjoyed the cool breeze she received when she walked home at night. The air was a big improvement from the warm and crowded restaurant even though the aroma from the food was mouthwatering.

The air was just starting to turn cool after a hot summer and the sky was clear enough to see the stars, so despite how sore her feet felt from walking back and forth all afternoon after school; she enjoyed the walk and inhaled the fresh fall air.

She pulled her black sweater tighter around her when the wind blew harder and she sped up her walking when she saw three men leaning against the side of an abandoned shop in the dark. Knowing that her apartment was just seven minutes away she slipped her backpack off of her back and held it in front of her so she could grab her keys out faster.

Right before she turned the corner to get to her house she heard the revving of a car behind her. She turned around to see the headlights of a car advancing towards her at a crazy speed. She knew that they weren't going to come up on the sidewalk, but she still pressed herself up against a brick wall. It continued to speed forward and she could hear the music playing loudly from it. The base made her heart thump harder in her chest and throat.

She looked around and noticed that she wasn't the only one on the street. Her eyes widened when she saw a tall male in a jean jacket sprinting further up the street. Her heart rate picked up when she realized he was trying to avoid the car.

The car sped past her and raced towards the guy. Just as he crossed the street to hop over what looked like rose bushes, the car slammed into him, knocking him off his feet and he rolled off onto the side of the road.

She cringed and let out a shrill scream and watched as the car swerved around but didn't stop. It sped away. The music grew fainter as it disappeared from sight.

With her backpack gripped tightly in her hand, she sprinted towards the man and prayed that he was at least breathing.

When she reached him, she dropped down to her knees and hesitantly pushed him so he was laying on his back.

The light from the moon shone on the cuts on his face. His black jeans were patchy with blood and his navy blue t-shirt was ripped slightly along his chest and was also decorated with blood.

"Crap," she mumbled under her breath. She waved her hand in front of his face "Hey, mister can you hear me?"

She lightly shook his shoulder and he groaned lightly. "Oh thank god, you're alive. Just hold on, I'm going to call 911."

She quickly unzipped her backpack and searched through it for her cell phone. When she didn't find it, she quickly flipped her bag over and shook its contents out beside him. She shuffled through the items and finally found her phone.

She dialed 911 quickly and looked at the man carefully as she waited for someone to pick up.

She realized that this 'man' was more a boy around her age. He had a sharp jaw and long eyelashes. He was quite charming looking despite the small cuts that littered his face.

"911, what is your emergency?"

Jaimie-mae jumped when she heard the voice come through her phone but she quickly recovered and pressed the phone tighter to her ear. "Hi, um. There is a boy here on the ground. He just got hit by a car. The car drove away without stopping and..."

"Is he breathing?"

She put her hand on his chest to check. "Yes, but barely."

"How old is the boy?"

She scanned him from head to toe.

"Do you know?" the operator asked.

"Ugh. No. But he looks to be about nineteen or twenty."

The boy groaned and Jaimie-mae began to panic. She didn't know what to do so she just gently grabbed the strangers hand and held it in her lap.

"I think he's in a lot of pain. He looks like he wants to pass o-"

She realized that his breathing was slowing down. "No no no no no. Don't do that. You'll be fine okay."

She quickly put the speaker phone on and rested her phone down.

"Mam, what is your location?"

Jaimie-mae quickly scanned the street for a sign. "We are on 14 Goldcrest Falls street beside some rose buses."

"Okay mam. I have someone coming for him immediately. I need you to stay on the line with me so you can tell me of any changes."

"Okay," she said quietly.

Jaimie-mae kneeled over his body and immediately felt her heart drop.

"He's not breathing! He... he stopped breathing! Should i do CPR or something?"

"Mam, don't panic. Do you know how to perform CPR?"

Jaimie-mae began to feel upset over how emotionless the operator sounded. She knew that the operator had to do this a lot, but there was literally a boy dying right in front of her and the least she could do was add a little emotion or care into her voice.

"Mam, are you there?"

"Yes, i am. I know how." Jaimie-mae was partly lying and she had once learned that if you didn't know how; you shouldn't try. But she had to try. He would die if she didn't and he had a better chance at seeing daylight again if she at least did something.

"Alright. Good. I need you to rotate between chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth."

Jaimie-mae recoiled away from the boy when the operator mentioned mouth-to-mouth. She didn't even know what germs he had but she knew saving his life was important. "Okay sure."

She hesitantly leaned over the boy and put her trembling hands together on his chest. She thought back to something about pressing 2 inches deep and began pressing on his chest.

"You're going to be alright. Tell yourself that, okay," she said shakily to the boy. He didn't respond but she continued to repeat those words to him.

Next she did mouth-to-mouth. She could feel her cheeks heating up, but she ignored it and told herself that he didn't even realize what she was doing and so she refocused on sharing her air with him. She kept rotating between the two until she saw his chest rise up in one swift movement.

She squealed loudly and danced slightly in her kneeling position.

"Mam, are you okay? Did you say something?"

Jaimie-mae laughed nervously, her cheeks burning in embarrassment. "No, sorry."

"Does he have a pulse?"

"Yes, he does."

"Good. Continue doing chest compressions until the ambulance gets there."

"Alright." She continued doing chest compressions until she heard the sickening sound of a crack in his ribs. The boy groaned in discomfort and she gagged lightly.

"I am so so so so so sorry."

"Mam, what happened?"

"I-i think i just... cracked one of his ribs." She felt tears rush to the front of her eyes.

"That's okay. That happens sometimes, especially if the person has fragile bones. It might have been affected earlier from when he was hit by the car. Its worth it because you are saving a life."

"O-okay."

Jaimie-mae gave him a once over and winced when she saw the odd angle that his bones were at. She noticed his eyes flutter and she panicked.

"What if he has a concussion?"

"Don't let him close his eyes."

"Right, i knew that," she mumbled under her breath.

Jaimie-mae tapped his cheek lightly and made him face her. "Hey, hi." He looked at her strangely through squinted eyes but then she noticed him moving his hand around weakly. "What is it?"

He groaned and his fingers stretched out towards her.

"Does your hand hurt?"

He let out a huff of air and his eyes started to flutter again.

"No no no. Don't do that. Stop, you'll be okay."

She grabbed his hand again and ran her thumb across it. He looked up at her and blinked in response. She sighed in relief.

Jaimie-mae then noticed the faint sound of sirens, so she gripped the boys hand tighter and lifted his limp arm into her lap.

"I hear sirens now," she told the phone operator.

"Alright good. You can hang up now. Good job."

"Okay. Bye." She tapped her phone and ended the call.

The ambulance came into view and she relaxed slightly.

"Look. You'll be fine now. You look like a strong dude."

She watched as the boys eyes fluttered open after being half shut and she was immediately met with the boys big brown eyed stare. They held each others stare for a while and Jaimie-mae smiled lightly to reassure him that he would be okay.

She hoped he would be okay.

Deep down, she knew he would be.