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I was not sure if giving CPR was the right thing to do in this situation, but it was the only other thing I could think of. Mimicking what I had only seen in movies, I pumped my hands against his chest, and held his nose while I puffed air into his mouth. I did it again, and again, pressing harder each time out of desperation. I had lost track of how many times I repeated the routine. More survivors watched me in silence as they passed by. I averted my eyes from their somber expressions and concentrated on Chase’s face instead.
“Come on, Chase,” I sobbed. “Just wake up already.” Tears spilled down my cheeks as I attempted to breathe the life back into him. As I pressed against his chest, his eyelids fluttered. Unsure if I should stop, I continued pumping my arms. Then, his eyes opened.
“Merritt?” he whispered.
“I’m here. You’re alive.”
“Everything hurts.”
“Can you move your arms and your legs?”
His legs slowly moved, and his hands found their way into mine. “Are you okay?”
I nodded, my face soaked from the tears. “I’m okay as long as you’re okay.” I buried my face in his chest. “I couldn’t find you.”
Chase shifted, attempting to sit up. I pointed the light from my phone onto the floor so he could see. He took the phone and faced the light towards me. My knuckles were swollen and purple, with blood streaks running down my fingers. “You’re hurt. What happened?”
“We’ll talk about it later. We need to get you to a hospital. Let’s get you up.” I wrapped my arm around his back. “Lean on me.”
He growled from the pain as he got to his feet.
I steadied him, holding onto his midsection. “Can you stand?”
He propped himself up against the nearby wall. “I’m good.”
I looked over at the bar. “I’m going to find Dave. He has to be back there somewhere.”
“I’ll come help you.”
“No. You stay here. You’re hurt. I’ll be right back.”
“Please be careful. Nothing in here is stable right now.”
I walked as quickly as I could; pain shot through my ankle, undoubtedly from kicking through the door earlier. I swung myself under the bar, shining my light in front of me. There was broken glass and liquid everywhere from fallen liquor bottles. I spotted Dave’s black rimmed glasses next to my foot, and then saw him lying underneath the shelves that had detached from the wall.
“Dave!” I cried. “Chase, I found him!”
“Is he conscious?” Chase called back to me.
“No.” I crouched down, and checked for his pulse. It was so faint, I barely felt it. “His pulse is weak! I have to get him out of here.” I placed his glasses back on his face, though the lenses were badly cracked. Then, I hooked my arms under his armpits, and began dragging him backwards. I could hear sirens outside. I needed to get Chase and Dave out there as quickly as possible.
“Let me help.” Chase tried to bend over, but winced and clutched his ribs.
“I’ve got Dave. Just focus on walking out that door.” Breathing hard, I kept a steady pace pulling Dave’s body to the exit. “You are heavier than you look, buddy.”
“He’s going to be okay. Don’t worry, baby.”
My heart skipped a beat at Chase’s word choice.
Outside, the lights atop the emergency vehicles were blinding in the darkness. A paramedic saw me dragging Dave into the street, and ran over to help.
“His name is Dave. He has a pulse,” I offered as the man called for a stretcher. “I found him underneath some shelves. He needs medical attention, too,” I said touching Chase’s arm. “He was unconscious when I found him, and I think his ribs are broken.”
“That’s a pretty nasty gash on your forehead,” he said. “Let’s get you into the ambulance.” He pointed to the truck.
I looked up at Chase. “I’m going back in. Your bandmates are still in there.”
“The rescue teams are here, miss. They’ll get them.” The paramedic pointed to the trucks of men and women that were preparing to go inside. “The hospital is quickly filling up. You’ve already saved two lives tonight. You should get checked out, too,” he said, pointing to my hands.
