Justin checked her pulse again. “It’s still erratic.” He glanced at me and covered the phone. “They’re on their way. But I have to stay on the phone until they get here.”
A commotion erupted behind me. Someone yelled, and feet thudded against the floor. Roger and Scott wrestled each other near the window.
Justin tossed the phone at me and ran toward them. He pulled Scott off Roger and tried to force him to the ground. Scott was like a rabid animal, punching and shouting.
Everything in my stomach crept into my throat. I put the phone to my ear, trying to not throw up. “Hello?”
“Who is this?” the female voice asked.
“Drea.”
“Okay, Drea. Can you tell me what’s going on right now?”
“They’re fighting. My friend needs help. We can’t get her to wake up.”
“I know. We have an ambulance on the way. I need you to stay calm for me, okay? It’s the best way we can help your friend right now.”
The guys moved toward us, shuffling feet and swinging arms.
“What the hell is going on?” Scott hollered.
The voice on the phone kept saying my name. “Drea, I need you to tell me what you see. Who is fighting?”
I rocked back and forth, still clutching Naomi’s hand. “They won’t stop. Please make them stop.”
“Do they have weapons?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know.”
Kari grabbed the phone from me and started talking about Scott. The guys moved closer. Scott was fighting them to get to Naomi. I braced myself over her, preparing for impact. There was a loud thud. The floor shook beneath my knees. I glanced over to see Scott’s face a couple feet from mine. Justin and Roger pinned him to the ground, both struggling to keep him still.
“The cops are coming too,” Kari said, covering the phone.
“What did she take?” Justin asked Scott.
His face contorted, and his lips trembled. “She did a line before I left, and I took the rest with me. That’s it. She was fine.”
Justin leaned toward Scott’s ear, shoving his face harder into the floor. “What else did she have access to?”
“Nothing!” Scott’s eyes watered. He’d stopped fighting them. “I took everything with me because she doesn’t know when to stop sometimes. She was fine, man. She was fucking fine.”
Kari grabbed the flashlight, illuminating the ground near Naomi’s left hand. “Then what’s on the floor next to her?” she asked. A baggy filled with white powder was spilled a foot away—as if Naomi had dropped it when she fell.
Scott squeezed his eyes shut. “She must’ve found my stash. It was under the floorboards.”
Kari listened to Naomi’s chest. “I don’t hear anything,” she said into the phone. Mascara streamed down her cheeks. “What are we supposed to do?”
I kept Naomi’s limp hand in mine, telling her to get up. Telling her to fight.
More voices filled the room, and several people rushed at us. They were dressed in dark uniforms and carrying equipment. They yelled at me to move. I didn’t want to. I couldn’t let her go.
The room began to spin. Someone grabbed me from behind, prying my hand from Naomi’s.
“No pulse,” one of the paramedics said.
My head was against Justin’s chest. Police officers stood in front of us. Two of them talked to Scott. He sat on the floor, bawling like a baby. His words were distorted. Nothing made sense.
I tried to pull away, reaching for Naomi. I could see her pale hands between the boots of the paramedics. “She needs me!”
Justin’s breath hit my ear. He kept telling me to calm down—Naomi would fight this.
The paramedics scrambled, shouting things and passing equipment back and forth. One of them pushed on her chest. Justin tightened his grip on me.
Kari’s cries came from somewhere behind us. Roger sat with his face against his knees, his back shaking. Every second crawled by.
They carried Naomi off in a stretcher and loaded her into an ambulance. We followed them outside, but the police wouldn’t let us go. Sirens echoed down the street, taking her away.
The police asked for IDs and kept asking questions. Questions I couldn’t answer. Justin told them we’d found her like this. Over and over. They acted like they didn’t believe him.
Justin was led to a squad car and cuffed. All I could think about was Naomi. How lifeless her face looked.
A female police officer patted me down and shined a light in my eyes. She asked me if I’d smoked or ingested any illegal substances. I told her about my meds.
“What is your diagnosis?” she asked.
