Chapter
26
Nick turned his attention back to Brian, and saw that his chest was not
rising. "He's not breathing! Help him, please!" he cried to the man
who had appeared next to him.
Luckily, the man knew what to do because Nick did not. The man leaned
over Brian. He pinched Brian's nose shut and put his mouth over Brian's. Then
he gave Brian two breaths. He leaned back and looked to see if Brian was
breathing. There was nothing. He grabbed his wrist and checked for a pulse. He
yelled something in German and began to give Brian chest compressions. Then he
stopped and gave him two more breaths. He checked for a pulse and did the same
thing over again.
Meanwhile, Nick was losing it. He broke down into tears as he watched
the man giving Brian CPR.
Finally, an ambulance arrived. Luckily, the paramedics spoke English as
well as German. One of them took over CPR for the German man, while another
bagged him and started an IV. Another paramedic gripped Nick's shoulder and led
him away. He sat him down on a nearby bench, seeing that Nick was about to
start hyperventilating, and tried to calm him down. Then he asked him what had
happened to Brian. Nick told him in a shaky voice. By this time, the other
paramedics had gotten Brian onto a stretcher and were putting him in the
ambulance.
"Are you here alone?" the paramedic asked Nick.
"I have three other friends in the city, but they're off
site-seeing right now. I'm not sure exactly where they are," Nick told
him.
"Alright, why don't you ride in the ambulance with me," the
paramedic suggested. He turned out to be the driver. Nick climbed into the
front seat with him, while the other two paramedics got into the back with
Brian. Then the ambulance started up and sped off, the lights flashing and
sirens wailing.
***