Chapter 1

The sky was clear after the heavy downpour. The streets were sleek with the little puddles reflecting the amber glow of street lights. The air was filled with the fresh earthly smell reminding the city of the previous dry spell.

Selena Miller walked ahead, her hands in her coat pocket, the cold breeze brushing past her. Her hair danced in the wind exposing her fair neck, she had forgotten to put on a scarf earlier. The night felt peaceful, it was like the rain had washed the city clean from the previous chaos.

As she walked close to the Volton hotel, she heard the faint sound of rich music, the kind that spoke elegance. One didn’t need to guess to know it was a scene for the high profiles. Her steps slowed as she stopped to observe, from where she stood, she could make out silhouettes dancing along to the tune, some clanking their glasses and smiling at each other. The world looked warm in there.

Selena admired the scene for a few more seconds and then, she continued walking.

She noticed a man slouched by the darkened corner of the Volton Hotel, it was a bit darker at the corner since it was close to the alley by the side of the hotel and no lights reached it. She told herself it wasn’t her problem. He was at most probably drunk. She put on her earphones and walked aheadhumming to the tune of the music she was listening to.

But something tugged inside her.

There was this heaviness in her heart, a strange feeling that wouldn’t subside. She slowed down her pace and then stopped. She thought about it again and continued walking. Then as if her body had a mind of its own, she stopped again after a few steps, removing the earphones from her ears.

“Damn it,” she whispered under her breath, already turning back. She rushed to the man’s side.

His body was flopped against the wall his face was pale while his hands gripped his chest in pain. Selena shunned her earlier thoughts of the man being drunk, he only had a faint smell of alcohol probably from just a glass of wine. He looked refined and probably in his sixties.

“Sir, can you hear me?” Selena knelt down beside him, worry written all over her face. Although the man was unfamiliar to her, she felt a pang in her chest when she saw the the look on his face.

“Sir, what’s wrong? Can you hear me?”

No response.

Her heart kicked up.

She pressed two fingers to the side of his neck but felt nothing. Or maybe something faint, fading.

The man was having a heart attack.

She laid him down flat on his back. Her fingers flew to the clasp of her bag to grab something. She always carried amedical pouch, not because she expected emergencies, but because she could never forgive herself for being empty-handed when someone needed saving.

She glanced around. A couple of people had started to gather, murmuring among themselves. One man reached for his phone.

“Someone please call the ambulance!” she shouted to the crowd before turning back to open the small pouch.

There wasn’t much inside, just bandages, alcohol swabs, and a few tablets for pain relief. The bottom of the pouch contained a small acupuncture needle kit and a small bottle.

Inside the bottle were small brown capsules, her mentor had given it to her. It was a formulation that acted as blood thinners and vasodilators just enough to give the man a little relief.

She placed the drug under the man’s tongue. “Please stay with me,” she whispered to him before positioning herself to administer CPR. She aligned her hands and began compressions.

“One, two, three…” she counted under her breath. Each compression had just the right pressure and was steady. “Please, don’t die on me.” Although she was freaking out, she couldn’t slip up for a second. This man depended on her at the moment. After every thirty chest compressions, she tilted the man’s head gently and lifted his chin up with two fingers to give him a rescue breath.

Due to the drug she administered earlier, in a few minutes, the man’s expression calmed. He seemed to be at peace. Selena felt his pulse once more and it was getting stronger, he was breathing steadily now but still unconscious. She breathed a sigh of relief, one she didn’t know she was holding in, beads of sweat had clung to her forehead and her initially wavy hair was now a bit messed up.

The onlookers also felt relieved, some looking at Selena with admiration. The wailing sounds of the ambulance were heardtires screeched softly in the distance, the ambulance was approaching.

Selena stood up sharply, running her fingers through her hair. She didn’t want questions nor explain what she had done knowing fully well that the drug wasn’t even approved yet. She had done her part and had no intention of sticking around, moreover she was late.

“Shit, I’m late!” She muttered under her breath looking at the time on her watch.

She stepped back, disappearing into the shadows just as the lights of the ambulance flickered into the street.

“Make way, please!” one of the paramedics shouted.

The EMTs hurried in with their equipment. They checked the man’s vitals and noticed his heart beat was a bit irregular but was normalizing. It would be normal before they even arrived at the hospital. They were surprised at the scene and asked some people a few questions on the occurrence.

Several onlookers attempted to point towards her as they answered, but Selena had already retreated into the alley beyond the hotel’s wall’s edge.      

She didn’t look back.

As the paramedics lifted the man onto a stretcher, a glint of silver was noticed in the man’s palm. The paramedic tried to retrieve it from the man for safe keeping but he held tightly onto it, not willing to let go even in his unconscious state.