Written by Rachna Halker
You witness the young man’s plight and decide to help him escape without provoking the aggression of the attackers yourself. As the attention of the other passersby is on the crowd and not you, you move quickly towards it. You are able to duck into the mob unnoticed, as they are too busy egging on the fight to notice one more person joining the crowd. It’s more packed with people than you expected it to be, but nevertheless you easily weave through the jostling horde until you make it front and center to the source of all the clamor.
The scene looks even more terrible up close. The young man is covered in cuts, scrapes and bruises and is holding his right arm at an awkward angle. One of his legs is in the same condition, so there’s no way that he can walk, let alone run without assistance. The attackers are merciless in their onslaught and almost deliver a fatal hit when you rush out into the middle of the clearing and try to hold them off. The assailants, having spotted new prey, start to ambush you instead. Fortunately, what you lack in size you make up for in agility and are able to avoid their punches for the most part. Out of the corner of your eye, you see the young man crawling away from the scene as quickly as he can. Finally, you decide to punch back, but this act proves to be foolish as it only provokes more aggression from the attacker.
In a last ditch attempt to escape the tense situation, you make a run for it and suddenly dash into the midst of the crowd. Somewhere in the middle of the horde, you spot the young man, still trying to crawl to safety. He is all but being trampled under the numerous pairs of feet. You lift him onto his feet and hold his better arm around your shoulders to keep him somewhat standing. The mob is surging around the both of you, and it seems like you both will be killed by the sheer number of people running behind you. Suddenly, you experience a burst of energy and rush forward along with the young man. The mob is soon several feet behind you, so you both duck into a dark and narrow alleyway that they are sure to overlook in their mad frenzy.
For several minutes, all you both can hear are the elephantine sounds of numerous feet pounding against concrete. You are hardly able to breathe as they get ever closer to your hiding place. The footsteps suddenly stop, and you can hear the attackers and several others conversing madly, wondering where their game had gone. The sound of footsteps retreats, slowly but surely. An agonizingly long stretch of time passes before you’re sure that everyone has gone. The young man, who is sitting to your left, laughs weakly. “Whew, that was a close one.” he sighs with a definite air of relief. “I’ll say,” you agree in an equally mollified tone as you wipe your forehead with the back of your sleeve. “I’m Percy, by the way, Percy Carter.” You shake his hand “Nice to meet you.” “If it weren’t for you, I’d have died back there,” Percy says gratefully. “Ah don’t mention it. All in a day’s work, you know?” you respond jokingly. He starts to laugh, but it quickly turns into a yelp of pain as he clutches his side with a grimace on his face.
Alarmed by this, you ask to take a look at the injury. He brushes it off, saying that it’s nothing. “It’s clearly not nothing,” you say exasperatedly “I’m a doctor Carter, I know a broken rib when I see one, now let me take a look at it!” He relents and you place a hand on his side. Sure enough, there’s not one, but two broken ribs, and they are quite close to puncturing his internal organs. “The fractures are much more serious than I previously thought.” you mutter darkly “What do you mean? How bad is it?” he asks anxiously. You pull your hand away, unable to meet his eyes. “We need to get you to a hospital now. Your life may very well depend on it.” You pull Percy up to his feet and make your way outside the alley. Once back on the street, you realize that the nearest hospital is a whites-only facility. You curse angrily under your breath. The colored hospital where you work is several blocks away, but you don’t have that much time to lose, what with having a grievously injured young man with you. You also realize that your home is closer than the Colored-Only hospital but is farther than the Whites-Only hospital. The problem is, your home does not contain the necessary equipment to keep him stable for long, but it might be long enough to stabilize him so you can safely reach the colored hospital.
What do you do?
The scene looks even more terrible up close. The young man is covered in cuts, scrapes and bruises and is holding his right arm at an awkward angle. One of his legs is in the same condition, so there’s no way that he can walk, let alone run without assistance. The attackers are merciless in their onslaught and almost deliver a fatal hit when you rush out into the middle of the clearing and try to hold them off. The assailants, having spotted new prey, start to ambush you instead. Fortunately, what you lack in size you make up for in agility and are able to avoid their punches for the most part. Out of the corner of your eye, you see the young man crawling away from the scene as quickly as he can. Finally, you decide to punch back, but this act proves to be foolish as it only provokes more aggression from the attacker.
In a last ditch attempt to escape the tense situation, you make a run for it and suddenly dash into the midst of the crowd. Somewhere in the middle of the horde, you spot the young man, still trying to crawl to safety. He is all but being trampled under the numerous pairs of feet. You lift him onto his feet and hold his better arm around your shoulders to keep him somewhat standing. The mob is surging around the both of you, and it seems like you both will be killed by the sheer number of people running behind you. Suddenly, you experience a burst of energy and rush forward along with the young man. The mob is soon several feet behind you, so you both duck into a dark and narrow alleyway that they are sure to overlook in their mad frenzy.
For several minutes, all you both can hear are the elephantine sounds of numerous feet pounding against concrete. You are hardly able to breathe as they get ever closer to your hiding place. The footsteps suddenly stop, and you can hear the attackers and several others conversing madly, wondering where their game had gone. The sound of footsteps retreats, slowly but surely. An agonizingly long stretch of time passes before you’re sure that everyone has gone. The young man, who is sitting to your left, laughs weakly. “Whew, that was a close one.” he sighs with a definite air of relief. “I’ll say,” you agree in an equally mollified tone as you wipe your forehead with the back of your sleeve. “I’m Percy, by the way, Percy Carter.” You shake his hand “Nice to meet you.” “If it weren’t for you, I’d have died back there,” Percy says gratefully. “Ah don’t mention it. All in a day’s work, you know?” you respond jokingly. He starts to laugh, but it quickly turns into a yelp of pain as he clutches his side with a grimace on his face.
Alarmed by this, you ask to take a look at the injury. He brushes it off, saying that it’s nothing. “It’s clearly not nothing,” you say exasperatedly “I’m a doctor Carter, I know a broken rib when I see one, now let me take a look at it!” He relents and you place a hand on his side. Sure enough, there’s not one, but two broken ribs, and they are quite close to puncturing his internal organs. “The fractures are much more serious than I previously thought.” you mutter darkly “What do you mean? How bad is it?” he asks anxiously. You pull your hand away, unable to meet his eyes. “We need to get you to a hospital now. Your life may very well depend on it.” You pull Percy up to his feet and make your way outside the alley. Once back on the street, you realize that the nearest hospital is a whites-only facility. You curse angrily under your breath. The colored hospital where you work is several blocks away, but you don’t have that much time to lose, what with having a grievously injured young man with you. You also realize that your home is closer than the Colored-Only hospital but is farther than the Whites-Only hospital. The problem is, your home does not contain the necessary equipment to keep him stable for long, but it might be long enough to stabilize him so you can safely reach the colored hospital.
What do you do?