Chapter 7. Who are You?

She heard Adam expressed his suspicions about the elevator being troubled. Then the woman inched to the corner of the room. With a fearful tone of voice and gaze she asked, "Jammed?"

Before Adam could answer, the elevator lamp flickered and died at the same time as the tremor happened again. That time the human box was going out of control. For a moment they felt as if without gravity.

"Aarrgghh!" The woman screamed.

And then the elevator stopped with a sound like a big bump. Adam was holding back his emotions in order to stay calm in that crucial situation. Numbers still show the fourth floor but no visible dart. Adam pushed a button to open the door many times, but nothing changed.

Adam immediately pressed the emergency button to communicate with the officer out there. "Hello, hello, is anyone there? Anybody hear my voice?" Adam repeated many times. Still, no answer.

As Adam tried to contact the officer, he saw the eyes of the woman in the elevator with him gaze blankly with dull eyes, her face looked pale, and cold sweats streaming down, as her body froze motionless. The sight of the woman's condition made Adam focus on that woman.

"Miss, Miss, hey Miss, are you okay?" Adam asked worriedly.

The woman was unmoved and her gaze was vacant.

"Miss, What's happened to you? Don't worry, someone's gonna come to help us shortly," Adam intended to reassure the woman.But, that did not help. 

She began acting like she was out of breath. The slender body slumped to the floor and her hands clasped her neck as if she were suffocating to breathe.

Adam stepped back a step in surprise. He thought hard about what was really going on with her. Adam hesitantly approached and tried to calm her down. "What happened? Are you can't breathe?" Adam affirmed. There was no answer, she kept struggling and her eyes closed as if to screech.

A sound just got off the intercom. Someone asked about the condition of those trapped inside.

[Hello, anyone in there?]

Adam rushed to get closer to the sound. "We're stuck in here. Please, help us!" Adam said.

[Please calm down, do not panic, the technician is on his way there. The elevator was interrupted] the officer said. [How many were there?] he asked again.

"Just two," Adam explained. "Please, hurry up! Here is a woman who seems … to be running out of oxygen!" Adam explained to describe the woman's situation. A condition that honestly Adam could not understand.

[Yes, Sir. Please stay calm. Technician is on the move as quickly as possible] the officer said.

"Please also call a doctor or an ambulance! This woman needs immediate help!" Adam demanded.

[Okay, Sir] the officer answered.

Though help was imminent, Adam was still overwhelmed with confusion. She showed no sign of improvement. The woman's face expressed unbearable pain. Adam wanted to help, but wondered what to do. He hesitated to approach and touch the woman's hands to let go of her neck.

"Hey, try to breathe! Breathe through your nose! Inhale exhale. Look, as I exemplified!" Adam breathed in and breathed out hope that the woman followed his suggestion.

There was a loud bang outside the elevator. Then someone called out to them. "Sir, we're going to open the door. Please stay away from the door. Stay back, please!" the voice commanded

Hearing the instructions given, Adam unhesitatingly embraced and shoved the woman's body away from the door of the elevator. "Hey, help is here. The door will be open in a minute. Please, hold on," Adam whispered, still embracing the body.

Her eyes captured Adam's image. Irregular breathing gradually weakens. Her body began to melt. She was losing her mind and started to faint.

"Hey! Hey!" Adam called out as he shook the body in his arms. Adam examined the pulse in the woman's neck, "still there," Adam said.

Adam, who was focused on her, did not realize that the door had been opened by force. A few people were already crowded outside the elevator.

"Sir!" someone called.

Adam turned and wasted no time in carrying her and walked out the lift.

"Is the ambulance ready?" Adam asked the one in the officer uniform.

"It's almost here, Sir," he replied. "Use the elevator right there, Sir," the man said to Adam. He walked ahead to show Adam the location of the elevator that they were going to use to get to the ground floor. The officer ran ahead to clear the road and made sure the elevator doors would be open before Adam arrived to use it.

Adam felt the woman's weight got lighter. He worries that he took too long to let her out of her consciousness. Upon reaching the ambulance, the medical personnel moved quickly to give first aid.

"Sir, how's you feel? Any injuries?" a man asked Adam. "Sir?" he called. Adam looked intently at her in the ambulance and lost his consciousness.

"No. I'm fine," Adam replied.

"Thank God. By the way, we'll take care of her, Sir. Don't worry" the man said.

Upon hearing the man's decision Adam turned and said, "No, I'll do it." Adam quickly got into the ambulance and took a seat on the passenger seat.

The man looked at Adam as he walked away, "did he know her?" he wondered.

"Who are you, Sir?" the nurse asked.

"I was the one who was stuck with her in the elevator," Adam replied.

"Oh. Do you have any injuries?" the nurse then asked.

"No, I'm fine. What is the condition of this woman?" Adam asked.

"Her condition is unstable. Heart rate is still weak. But we've given emergency treatment to maintain current conditions so as not to worsen and would follow up afterward when we get to the hospital, Sir," the nurse explained.

Arriving at the hospital, the woman's bed was stretched out to the emergency unit for more intensive care. Adam stood outside the door feeling unconcerned about going in there. A nurse came in and handed me a patient's handbag.

"Here, Sir. The patient's bag. And please rush to the administration to fill out the patient's information," the nurse said by stretching out her left hand pointing to the administrative section's location. Without waiting for an answer from Adam, the nurse walked away.

Adam needed a few seconds to clear his head. He thought the first thing to do was check her identity in her bag. He opened the black bag and looked at it. Adam focused on looking for her purse or something in there that could explain who she was. However, nothing was found. "What?" Adam felt strange.

Then, he looked around and found a seat. After that he blew out the whole content of the bag. There were some candy bars, coins, and paper money in a small fraction, a mobile phone, a motorcycle key, a pack of tissues, a nail cutter, and two keys in a ring. Since no wallet was found, Adam checked the woman's phone, but to open it was necessary for a password.

Adam sniffed. "Then, what shall I write your name?" Adam mumbled.