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❝ tell me he's not dead ❞
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𝘚𝘺𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘦'𝘴 𝘗𝘖𝘝

JJ slams his foot on the brakes as we reach his cousin Ricky's house and I immediately scramble out of the car while JJ beeps the horn.

"Ricky!" JJ hollers, sprinting towards the door "Ricky! Hey! Bro!"

"Are you good?" Kiara asks Pope as we help him out the truck but he doesn't answer, wheezing breathlessly.

"Ricky! Ricky! Hey, Ricky!" JJ shouts, banging on the door.

"Ricky, hey, I got a problem, bro! I know you're mad at me!" JJ explains to his cousin who appears at the door in his underwear.

"Remember that time you stole my ambulance?" Ricky retorts, very clearly still upset about what JJ did behind his back.

"Yeah. I know. I know. I know you're mad" JJ rambles out while his cousin flips him his middle finger and slams the door in his face "No! Don't do that!"

"No! Please! Please, we need help!" Sarah screams and I slip from her side, running to JJ "He got stung by a wasp! He's having a reaction! Please help!"

"Ricky, please help us!" I beg, slamming my fists against the door desperately "He needs your help!"

"Please help!" Sarah wails.

"He can't breathe, Ricky!" JJ stresses.

"Ricky!" John B shouts.

"He's right here, please!" Sarah pleads.

"Who can't breathe?" Ricky huffs out, swinging his door open.

"Look at him! Help my friend!" John B says, holding up Pope who is looking a lot worse now "Help!"

"All right, Jesus Christ" Ricky mutters, opening his door for us.

"Hey! Nice to meet you. Sorry" Sarah rushes out, running past him into the house.

"Yeah" John B agrees, helping Pope into the house with Kiara's help as Sarah clears the table.

"You know, I wouldn't come to you if it wasn't an emergency" JJ tells his cousin and I slip past them to help Pope onto the table "Hang in there, buddy"

"What's wrong with him?" Ricky asks, looking over him.

"Wasps!" Sarah answers immediately.

"Wasps?" Ricky questions.

"Yes!" Sarah confirms.

"Is he allergic to wasps?" Ricky asks.

"Clearly" Kiara retorts.

"Okay" Ricky nods.

"A beehive worth of wasps" John B informs the man.

"He got stung by a whole bunch of wasps and now he's having an allergic reaction" I explain to the man who seems confused at my friends short answers.

"Thank you" Ricky breathes out, patting my shoulder.

"Raise his legs!" JJ orders his best friend.

"What's his name?" Ricky asks me, appointing me as the only one who can tell him anything.

"Pope. His name is Pope" I answer.

"Hey, Pope?" Ricky speaks but Pope doesn't respond "Hang tight. I gotta get my kit"

"Hang tight? Ricky!" JJ screams in disbelief as his cousin runs off.

"He's looking for a kit. Go help" John B snaps, pushing JJ towards the direction Ricky went in.

"Kit?" JJ blurts out.

"Yeah. Go help" John B repeats.

"Breathe a little, okay? Like a little bit" Kiara pleads with Pope who is still unresponsive.

"Where's the kit, Ricky?" I hear JJ snap from the next room.

"If I knew, I wouldn't be looking!" Ricky snaps back.

"Goddamn it! Well, then find it, bro!" JJ stresses.

"I need you to focus. Focus on your breathing, okay?" Kiara whimpers, holding Pope's face in her hands.

"Oh my God" I breathe out shakily and my sister wraps her arms around me with a scared expression on her face.

"What does it look like?" JJ questions as they exit the room.

"Like a duffel bag!" Ricky answers.

"A duffel bag!" JJ repeats.

"Where's your kit?!" Kiara screeches.

"Out in the garage, maybe" John B suggests.

"You need to be quicker!" I shout at the cousins anxiously.

"Focus on your breathing" Kiara mumbles to Pope who is wheezing loudly.

"Okay, I got it!" Ricky hollers, running in with his kit "Got it! I got it"

"Dear God, give me strength" I mutter out, closing my eyes for a few seconds.

"Yeah, yeah. All right" John B mumbles.

"Okay" Kiara breathes out.

"What do we do now?" JJ questions.

"You don't do anything cause you're not a paramedic" Ricky counters "Okay. Hey, Pope. How you doing, man? You look like shit"

"Here's the thing. This is a pediatric dose of epinephrine" Ricky states.

"Is that gonna be enough?" Sarah snaps in worry.

"He's not a kid!" Kiara adds.

"It is ten times a normal dose. So if... if it doesn't stop his heart, it'll help him. But I gotta use the whole thing, or it won't work. And I'm not going down if he dies" Ricky explains, looking from JJ to me.

"It might kill him?" I retort in disbelief and Sarah's grip on me tightens.

"Okay! Fine! Do it! Hit it!" JJ rushes out "Come on, hurry up! Hit him with it!"

"Okay" Ricky agrees.

"Come on, hurry up!" JJ snaps in a stressed out fit.

"Pope, hang in there, buddy" Ricky says, injecting the epinephrine into Pope's arm.

"I hate needles, man" JJ groans out.

"Okay, um, that's it" Ricky breathes out.

"Now what?" Sarah questions.

"Now we wait" Ricky answers simply.

"The fuck do you mean wait? That's it?" I question in confusion and Ricky nods his head.

The room falls silent and Sarah lays her head on my shoulder, my head falling onto hers as I watch Pope's chest barely rise and fall.

"You killed him" Kiara spits out the accusation, breaking the silence and my heart drops, noticing the stillness of the Heyward boy.

"No" Ricky argues.

"Yes, you did!" Kiara snaps.

"Someone please tell me he's not dead" I plead desperately.

"I didn't do shit" Ricky retorts.

"What did you do?" Kiara demands frantically.

"I did exactly what you asked me to do" Ricky declares clearly.

"Please! Please! Pope, please, come on!" Kiara cries.

"Pope, come on, bro!" JJ pleads and suddenly a loud gasp comes from the Heyward boy.

"Holy fucking shit!" I gasp, breathing out with a happy smile.

"Wait, wait, wait, he-" JJ stutters out in disbelief.

"Pope? Pope, Pope, Pope?" Kiara repeats quickly as the boy coughs, Ricky laughing in relief "Pope!"

"There he is. That's my boy right there!" JJ hollers as Pope shoots up straight.

"It's hot! I'm real hot, guys" Pope stresses, pulling off his jacket.

"It's okay. Take it easy" JJ assures him with a big smile.

"I gotta get outside" Pope says, pushing past JJ and John B to get to the door.

"Simmer down" John B warns the boy, following him outside.

"I owe you" JJ tells Ricky before chasing after the others.

"Take a second!" I hear Kiara telling the Heyward boy.

"I need to get outside. It's hot!" Pope repeats.

"You're good!" John B says encouragingly.

"Thank you so much. Are there any side effects     we should be concerned about?" Sarah asks Ricky.

"He'll have a rocket up his ass for about half an hour, then he'll be fine" Ricky assures us and I smile watching Pope run around on the front lawn like a little kid.

"Let's go get that cross! Whoo!" Pope screams, jumping into the air for no apparent reason.

"Whoa!" John B laughs.

"Game six! I'm Michael Jordan!" Pope announces loudly.

"Yeah, game six!" John B agrees.

Sarah runs outside after the others and I turn to Ricky with a happy grin.

"Seriously, thank you for this" I tell the man gratefully.

"You're welcome..." He drawls off, waiting for my name.

"Sylvie" I grin, holding my hand out and he shakes it with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I thought so. JJ's told me a lot about you" My boyfriend's cousin tells me.

"He has?" I ask in surprise.

"He has" Rick nods, smiling in amusement "Try and keep him out of trouble for me, yeah?"

"I'll try my hardest" I promise the man.