Monday, April 20, 2009

Fish, Fish, Got My Wish

Remember when I was tired of strangers?
Got to know a girl really quickly via the bus Thursday.
It was 6:28, and just a Brazillian lady who didn't speak English, a sleeping girl, a mysterious man, and me occupied the 811 Southbound. A few minutes outside UVU, Sleeping Girl awoke with a start and frantically asked the bus driver if he had AC because she was going to pass out. She opened the tiny vents and immediately let us know those weren't going to be sufficient-When Brazillian lady and I realized she was actually about to pass out, we rushed back to her. She wanted water, all I could provide was the bus driver's OJ; she needed to puke, all I could rattle up was the trash can-I felt so helpless, trying to cool her off and help her stay conscious just a while longer until we could get off the freeway.
I've never seen someone pass out before. I was freaking out a little bit.
I rolled up her sleeve and found a bandage wrapped around her arm.
"Sweetie, what's this?"
She mumbled something about plasma. Great. She tried to tell us she'd been donating for years and this had never happened before, that she had eaten and had felt fine and wasn't pregnant. Mysterious Man wasn't ruffled a bit, and Brazillian Lady just kept smiling and saying, " Is okay." "Is okay?" with different inflections.
I guessed that left me.
I called 911 and the paramedics arrived at UVU in time to whisk her off to the hospital. As she was going, she thanked me for my help and I wished her well in getting better.
While we went the rest of the way, I just felt so good. I was so glad I was there to help-and I mean, although it wasn't a life-or-death situation, it was pretty intense! And although I'd prefer the shout-out favorite questions method to the near-pass-out 911 helper method, I connected with 26-year-old Alisha for that moment when she needed me. I love feeling like we all need each other. Because yeah, we do.

Bust it out! You better believe it.

3 comments:

Allie said...

thank you so much for putting we're all in this together at the end. nothing better than a good high school musical reference.

Breanna Stutz said...

Brooke! What a great story. We do all need each other. And we all need YOU the most :).

kaylie jean. said...

YES!