3 Mango Bay by Bill Myers Read Free Book Online

road was clear, I turned right, pulled to the side, and as soon as the waiting car passed, did a U turn. This put us in the lane opposite and to the left of the downed cyclist. He was still laying in the center of the road, exposed to oncoming traffic.
    Turning to Lucy, I said, “Hold on”.
    I accelerated into the intersection, jerked the steering wheel hard to the left, slid the Jeep sideways, then stomped on the brakes as we closed in on the fallen rider.
    Lucy looked at me wide eyed. “What the hell are you doing?”
    I pointed to the oncoming traffic. “He was going to get run over. So I created a road block.”
    After asking Lucy to call 911, I released my seat belt and jumped out to see how bad the cyclist had been hurt.
    He was lying on his back in the middle of the road, his eyes closed. Not moving. It looked bad.
    Preparing for the worst, I ran toward him, hoping he was still breathing. As I got closer, I was surprised to see that he wasn't a kid. He was a middle aged man, probably late forties, maybe early fifties.
    It looked like he had led a hard life. Deep creases on his unshaven face, tattered shirt and pants. Scars on his hands and legs.
    Still not moving.
    I'd gotten close enough to see that there was no blood. No seeping wounds. And that was good.
    But he wasn't breathing and that was bad.
    Looking around, I could see that people had stopped and were getting out of their cars. But they were staying back, not wanting to get too close. Not wanting to get involved.
    I couldn't blame them. Accidents like this are messy. You never know who you are dealing with, or what diseases the victims might be carrying.
    But if it were you on the ground, you'd want somebody to get involved. To take a risk to save your life.
    In the military we had been trained how to react in situations like this. Check the airway for obstructions, check for open wounds, stop the bleeding and when necessary, perform CPR to get the heart restarted.
    I checked the man's pulse. There was nothing there. He wasn't breathing and his heart had stopped. If he were to be saved, it had to happen now. Someone needed to start CPR.
    But no one else was coming to his aid. So it was left to me. Either I stood by and watched him die, or I could try to save his life.
    It was an easy decision.
    I knelt down beside him and put both hands near the center of his chest. Pushing hard, I began the compressions. Fast and to the beat of the Bee Gee's Staying Alive . One compression for each word in the chorus.
    “ Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive. ”
    Twelve compressions in a row. I hoped it would be enough. Else I'd have to do it over and over until help arrived.
    He hadn't revived, so I started again. Humming the Bee Gee's song.
    “ Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive .”
    On the final 'stayin alive', the man surprised me. His eyes popped open and he took a deep noisy breath.
    Then with a toothy grin he said, “Wow, that could'a been bad!”
    The paramedics arrived moments later. I stood and got out of their way.
    Looking around, I saw that Lucy was standing with the woman who had been driving the car that had hit the cyclist. They were talking with a sheriff's deputy who was taking notes.
    Lucy motioned me to come over.
    “How is he?” she asked.
    “ Don't know for sure, but I think he's going to be okay. Doesn't appear to have any broken bones. Just had the wind knocked out of him. He's sitting up and talking.”
    “ Good. We were worried.”
    She introduced me to the woman standing beside her. The driver of the car that had hit the man.
    “I never saw him. The light turned green and he was just there.”
    Lucy touched the woman's shoulder. “It's all right. It wasn't your fault.”
    Lucy had already told the deputy what had happened. How the cyclist had come off the curb against the light, right in front of the woman's car.
    The deputy took me aside and asked me to