Chapter 3 I saw him

~Gianna's POV~

"Mum"

I screamed as loudly as I could before rushing to where I left her only moments before. Her wheelchair was thrown to the side as she laid on the ground, unmoving. My feet carried me to where she was and I fell on my knees to the ground, uncaring about the glass and any other harmful objects that were on the ground. The sounds of tires being moved hurriedly made me raise my head up and I saw that the driver of the car that hit my mother was trying to move.

"Stop him, stop him. He's just hit my mother"

I screamed at the small crowd that was starting to form but no one moved a muscle as the guy moved the car suddenly in such a way that anyone who came close would get hit. I was trying to get him to stop but no one was paying any mind. As the guy reversed and moved the car at full speed to get out of the place, he moved his head in my direction and I caught a glance of his face. My attention was redirected back to my mother who was held onto my hand.

"Gianna"

"Yes mum"

I answered her, my voice raspy and my eyes already filling up with tears as i cradled her closer to my body. She was bleeding from numerous sites on her body and I was trying to stop the bleeding by applying as much pressure as I could on the injuries but it was like using a cloth to stop a stream from flowing past its route. They just kept bleeding through my hands and I could see my mother losing strength right before my eyes.

"Call 911! Someone, call 911!"

It was at my shout that people started bringing out their phones and trying to call the emergency services. Though the hospital wasn't far away from where we were, there was no way I was going to be able to carry her all by myself there. I also didn't think that anyone was going to be nice enough to volunteer their cars for me to ferry her over there for immediate medical attention that she was in dire need of.

"Gia"

My mother held on to my hands that were on her midsection as tightly as she could. Her eyes were slowly closing and she looked like she was fighting sleep.

"Stay awake, mum. Please, stay awake"

I rocked her back and forth on my body to keep her conscious. I didn't know what was going to happen if she closed her eyes but I didn't want her to end up like that.

"Gia"

My mother called again. I saw her lips moving but I couldn't hear what she was saying so I reached closer to her and bent down to hear her.

"I..."

Her voice was like she was choking on something. She started coughing and I wished there was something I could do to help her. When she was done coughing, she tried to speak again.

"I lo..."

She didn't get far in whatever it was that she wanted to say to me before another racking cough took over her body.

"Please, save your strength, mum. Stop trying to talk"

I looked down the road trying to see if there was an ambulance on its way to us but there was nothing but regular cars moving around with some stopping to look at the accident scene before continuing on to wherever it was that they were going. No one even stopped to help us or give us a ride to the hospital.

"I lo..."

She again didn't get far before she started coughing. This time around, the cough lasted for a longer time and before I knew it, she started coughing out a substance that was red in color.

"Mum, calm down"

I screamed at her as I tried to get her to stop coughing but to no avail. She coughed and coughed and coughed, bringing up more blood through her mouth. While she was in the process of that, I started hearing sirens coming towards us from down the road.

"Hold on a little longer, mummy. They're almost here"

I kept gazing up at them as they sped towards us like it was going to make them get to where we were any faster. They were so close to where we were when I felt my mother go limp in my arms. I moved my eyes down to her. She wasn't moving anymore.

"Mum?"

I shook her once, twice and thrice but there was no response from her.

"She's just in shock, she's just in shock"

I muttered over and over to myself. I refused to believe that my mother was dead because she was just speaking to me about 10 seconds prior. She couldn't be dead. The police were the first to park some meters away and run towards me like I was a criminal performing a crime on an innocent woman in broad daylight. In less than 2 seconds, the paramedics followed suit.

"Please ma'am, let go of the casualty"

I did as they asked and they hoisted my mother up onto a stretcher. They shouted some things among themselves that I didn't quite hear as they placed a mask over her nose and pumped some bag that was attached to it. As I watched them, the only thing I could hope for was that my mother stayed alive for me. I moved my head over to the police officer who was standing there and controlling the crowd that was now increased. I ran to where he was and stopped in front of him. I started speaking, my words coming out sporadically.

"Calm down ma'am, I do not understand what you're saying"

"I'm saying that I saw him. I saw the man who hit my mother"The police officer looked at me for a moment before clearing his throat and giving me his full attention.

"Are you sure of what you're saying?"I nodded.

"If we ask you to, can you identify him? Can you tell us how he looks?"

The image of the driver flashed in my head and I immediately started describing him to the police officer. I regurgitated all the information that I had about him in my brain, down to the model and color of his car. When I was done, I didn't miss the glance that the second officer who joined us while I was describing the driver gave to his comrade.

"Are you sure of what you're saying? Are you sure of who you're describing?"I nodded and started describing him all over again. The police officer put his hand on my shoulder.

"Miss, I'm sure you're in shock given what has happened to your mother. Why don't you take a moment to calm down and think things through first?"I didn't understand why they were acting the way they were towards me. They asked if I could describe the driver that crashed into my mothers car and I told them yes so why were they acting like they didn't ask for it? Weren't they supposed to be getting ready to go arrest him for hitting and running a citizen?

"No, I know what I'm saying and I'm not in shock. I know exactly what I'm saying"The police officer shook his head.

"You have to listen to me. I saw..."My argument was interrupted by another addition to our little circle of conversation.

"You're the one that was holding the accident victim, right?"The paramedic, judging from what he was wearing, looked up and down at me. My hands and clothes were bloodied.

"Yes, I am"

"If you want to go to the hospital with us, you should come along right now"I looked back at the police officers who were standing with frowns on their faces.

"Right now!"

The paramedic said urgently before he jogged back to the ambulance. I looked at the police officers for one last time before I followed after the paramedic to the hospital. As I glanced down at my mother who was fighting for her life, two questions remained at the back of my mind. Why did the police officers react the way they did when I described the driver of the car to them? Why did they assume that I was in a state of shock and so, didn't know what I was saying following the description I made to them?