I lay on the floor staring at the ceiling. It was night and the sky was black.

I felt broken inside.

It's okay. You're fine. Just sit up and grab your phone and try to find some jokes. I told myself.

I did but right as I picked it up it buzzed telling me I had a message.

"I don't feel okay," it said.

"Me neither," I admitted texting back.

"I think I'm going to die."

I blinked in surprise. And checked who was texting. It was a number I didn't recognize.

"Who is this?" I texted.

"Alex. I'm really scared, Lucy. Please come and help me."

Lucy? My name isn't Lucy it's Katy.

"I think you have the wrong number. My name is-" I stopped. This person needed my help. What was I going to do?

"Where r u?" I finally texted.

"In my car in the river. Help. I can't get out. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be alive or able to think. It's cold."

"What river?"

I bolted out of my apartment and down a few flights of stairs and into my car. I looked at my phone. The person hadn't replied.

I called the number and waited.

Please, be conscious. Please be alive. I begged, waiting for the person to pick up the phone.

"H-hello." Finally came across the phone.

"What river are you in?" I asked, turning on my car.

There was a long pause. Then: "I don't know."

"Where were you when you drove into the river?"

"I... What?"

"Where is this river by? Was it by a store? A park?"

"It was next to..."

"Next to where Alex? I can't help you if you don't tell me."

"Help me, Lucy, I'm cold and this car is filling with water."

"Where is the lake?"

"Next to the park where we used to play."

"Where is that, Alex? What city are you in?"

"I'm in Ismene."

Ismene. That's the city I was in right now. There were several parks in Ismene and only two of them had a river. They were on the outside of town but in two different directions, Hege Cross and Agema Views. I didn't have time to check both. He was drowning.

"Where is the park?"

"We used to play here. You know where it is."

I have to try a different tactic.

"Do you remember our favorite thing to play on, Alex?"

"It was the rope JungleJim," his voice had become slurred. "We used to take turns being flys that would get stuck in the "web" and then get eaten by the "spider"."

Bingo. The rope Junglejim was at Agema Views.

I shifted into drive and began to speed towards the park.

I knew I had to keep him talking.

"What else did we play on, Alex?"

"On the... I'm sleepy, Lucy. I want to go to sleep."

"No, Alex. Not yet. What was our favorite game to play?"

"It was hide-and-go-seek. When are you going to get here? I want to go to sleep."

"I'm almost there," I reassured. "Where is the water level now in the vehicle?"

"I'm... cold. Lucy, I want to sleep."

"No, Alex! Keep talking!"

"The blackness is up to my chin. The blackness is so cold. Lucy, help me out get out of here."

The blackness? The water. He was talking about the water.

"I'm coming, Alex."

"But... you're already here."

'What? No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

I realized he was probably starting to imagine things.

"Just stay on the phone and keep talking, Alex."

"I'm... tired."

"Alex, keep talking!"

"The darkness is touching my chin. Don't give me that look, Lucy."

"Alex!"

I heard a plopping noise and then the phone beeped. He had dropped his phone in the water!

The park was up ahead. I skidded to a stop near the river and jumped out of my car after grabbing a waterproof headlight and attaching it to my head. I searched the water's surface for any sign of the car. Then I saw it! A bit of the hood of a car was above the water near the bridge.

Without thinking I ran into the water and began to swim into the cold inky blackness. I swam along the side of the car until I came to the driver's side window. There I saw a teenage boy with his nose just above the water and in the very small air pocket left in the car. He looked unconscious.

As hard as I could I slammed my elbow against the window. I was propelled backward and the window didn't break. I grabbed a rock and smacked it against the window. The window broke, filling the car the rest of the way with water. I reached in and tried to pull the kid out. His seatbelt held him in. I reached over and unbuckled him than putting my arms around him I pulled him out and swam to the surface. He was completely limp in my arms. I pulled him over to the shore. He was still breathing put he was really cold and his skin had turned blue. I dragged over to my car and put him in the backseat. As fast as I could I pulled myself into the front seat and as I turned the car on and turned the heat in the car on. I called the ambulance and briefed them on the situation. They agreed to come as fast as they could. As I waited for them I got a blanket out of the trunk of my car and put on Alex and tried to rub the circulation into his limbs.

Alex had black hair, he was tall and slim and wore a blue t-shirt and jeans.

A few minutes later his eyes fluttered open and he looked at me.

"Lucy?" He asked.

"No, my name is Katy. I got your text and I'm here to help you."

He studied me. "You weren't okay either." He recalled.

"I-I'm fine now. All that matters is-."

"No," he interrupted. "You're not. You're sad. But... you're here when you could have completely ignored my call for help."

"I-I could have. I could have completely ignored all texts and just gone about my business." I 

realized.

"But... you didn't."

I was about to answer but then I began to hear sirens.

"I'll be back. Stay here and don't move."

I leaped out of the car and waited for the ambulance to pull up.

In a few hours, Alex was safely in the hospital and I was waiting in the waiting room. We had been able to learn from Alex that as he was going over a bridge near the park he got sidetracked and accidentally drove into the lake. It was lucky he had typed in my number and had been able 

to get help.

"Katy?" someone asked.

I looked up to see a lady with tears in her eyes.

"Yes," I said standing.

"I'm Alex's mother," she said as she hugged me. "Thank you. Thank you for saving my Alex." She blubbered into my shoulder.

I awkwardly hugged her back, not sure what to do.

Finally, we pulled apart and she dried her eyes with a tissue.

"Is Lucy coming?" I asked.

She looked at me and with an expression, I couldn't read she asked: "How do you know Lucy?"

"Alex called me thinking I was Lucy. He also said Lucy was in the car with him at one point."

She dissolved into sobs again and she sat down. For fifteen minutes she remained like this then she finally said "Lucy is Alex's sister. She tried to stop a gunman at a school shooting and didn't... didn't make it. Katy, Lucy has been dead for two years."