Schrӧdinger

“Is he alive?”

“I don’t know. He looks pretty dead to me.”

I’m alive. I can hear you! Please help me!

“You should check him. Take his pulse.”

“No way, man! I don’t want to touch him if he’s dead. You do it.”

I’m not dead! Check my pulse, please!

“I don’t really know how. I’ve only seen it in the movies. Maybe we should just call an ambulance. They’ll have to come here anyway, whether he’s dead or alive.”

“Good point. I’ll call them, you stick your fingers on his neck and see if you can find his pulse. I’m sure you can figure it out if you’ve seen it in the movies. How did you find this guy, anyway?”

Yeah, how did you find me? I ended up on this rooftop in the first place because nobody ever comes here. Nobody was supposed to see me. Of course, I wasn’t supposed to end up nearly dead, either. Tell you what, if I survive this, I’ll never trust Stuart again!

“He’s just lucky. I got lost trying to find the ferry terminal and climbed up here to try and figure out where I had to go. Found him instead. Guess I’ve missed the ferry now. I’m glad I saw you walking by down there, though. I wouldn’t want to handle this by myself.”

“Gee, thanks. Just what I wanted for my Saturday afternoon. Find a dead guy. Or nearly dead, anyway. You know I’m supposed to be meeting Sarah at the movies right about now. We were going to see that new Avengers movie.”

Lucky? You call this lucky? And you, you think meeting some girl at the movies is more important than saving my life? I’m in masses of pain here, you think I’m dead, and if you don’t call that ambulance soon, I will be! Stop talking and start acting! Oh good, you finally got around to checking my pulse. Please tell me you found it!

“Hey, Chris! I think I found his pulse! Did you call that ambulance yet? Tell them to hurry. I don’t think he’s got too much time left.”

“Keep your shirt on, mate. I’m calling them now. Figured it was better for them to know if there was a pulse or not. You should check if he’s breathing too.”

“I think so. Hang on. I think I remember something about watching a person breathe by putting your head on their chest.”

Ooff! I’m pretty sure if that technique was found in a training manual, it would say something like gently put your head on my chest. You don’t want to make me any worse, do you? I am breathing, aren’t I? Please, tell me I’m still breathing! I’d be gone if I wasn’t, wouldn’t I?

“Yeah, hi. We’ve got some guy pretty badly beaten here. Yeah, he’s got a pulse. Wait a second. Is he breathing? The ambos want to know.”

“Yeah, I think so. Not much, but he’s breathing. Are they coming? Do they know where we are?”

“I have to tell them first. Where are we exactly, anyway? I wasn’t paying attention when I came up here.”

“Just tell them the corner of Wildmer and Eddison. We can wave them up from here. Are they far away?”

“Yeah, we’re at the corner of Wildmer and Eddison streets in Harrison Park. Do you know how long its going to be? This guy looks like he’s in pretty bad shape. I don’t know if he’ll hold on too much longer.”

Please, come quickly! I don’t want to die! It was just a stupid mistake to come here. I thought I could trust Stuart to do the right thing. I had no idea he’d steal my money and try to kill me. Please! It hurts so much but I want to live!

“They say they’ll be here in fifteen minutes. You reckon this guy can hang on that long? I really don’t want to have to be around a dead guy. Nearly dead is creepy enough.”

“Shh, you idiot. What if this guy can hear you? At least pretend you care, won’t you? I hope he can last that long. You hear me, kid? Hold on. Help is coming.”

I hear you. Kid? I know I can’t open my eyes right now, but you don’t sound that much older than me. You’re right though. Nobody wants to be described as creepy. Fifteen minutes sounds like such a long time right now. Am I going to hold on that long? I don’t know…

“Come on, come on. Keep breathing, mate. They’ve gotta be almost here by now. Hey Chris, can you see them yet?”

“Nah, Josh. Not yet. Oh wait. There’s the ambulance now. Hey! HEY! Up here! Josh, they can’t see me. I’m going down.”

“You hear that, mate? The ambos are here. They’ll fix you up. You’ll be good as new in a day or two.”

A day or two? You’re an optimist, aren’t you? I’ll be surprised if I’m ever as good as new again. I’m grateful, though. If you hadn’t found me, I would definitely not have survived this. At least you gave me a chance.

“Is he going to be okay?”

“Hard to tell, kids. Look, here’s my card. I’ll get the hospital to give me updates when they know how he’s doing. Send me a message, and if he pulls through, I’ll try and get him to get in touch with you. Sorry I won’t be able to tell you directly, not without his permission and he’s not exactly talking right now. Now, out of the way. We need to get this guy to hospital.”

Thanks. Please, get in contact. If I manage to survive this, I want to thank you properly. Do something for you. I might not have much money, but there’s gotta be something I can do for you, right?

“Hey, we got some ID here. Ernest Schrӧdinger. Like the cat, huh? Well, hopefully you’ve got as many lives as one. Let’s get him downstairs.”