第13章鲨口脱险(2)
Ifhepassedoutwithhishandnthewound,lifewouldbleedoutofhim。Eriihistheend?
Hehadbeenintightspotsmanytimes。Alulledthrough。Thekeywasemotionaleverthteheotthinkandact。Life'stoogood。l'mtooyouhisdeath。
&ogetaroundtheheadlandwhereheseeohisfeet,armstillched,hestaggeredupthebeach。"Suckitup,Eric,"hetoldhimselfaloud。"Hike!"
Eriderstoodeningtohisbody。Whileingraduatesontanahehadspenttatrolvolunteerandhadeareiaid。Theskillhadservedhimthroughnearlyadozenrescues。
After50yards,heslumpedonhisbackside。Hehislegsup,getmorebloodtohisvitalans,buttherewased30sedstumbledon。
Twicemorehedroppedtothesandinahalf-faihebloodpulsingunderhishaospout。"Gettough!"heaeninghisgrip。
Ahead,300feetaway,wasaclusteroffourbeachhouses。Hestumbledtowardthem。Thenheofurtherhehadtositdown。Bloodpooledinthesandaroundhim。"Helpme!"hecried。
Inasmallcottageattheedgeofthebeach,16-year-oldBeeheardsomeoeppingoutside,hesawamanlyingonthesand。"Help!"cameashout。"I'vebeenattackedbyashark。Call911。"
&heman'supraisedarmswereblonhisheeds,hesprihehouse。
Inside,Ben'smother,Michele,heardhersonatthepho;。。。oenbyashark,looksprettybad。。。"
&hebeach。Thefiguresprawledtherewasstillgout。Shegaspedatthegoreofhislegsandarms。Khisside,shesawhislipsweregray。"I'mloosingit,"hesaid。"Youhavetostopthebleedihere'sapressurepoih,up。Holdontight。"
Mikherfihemainbrachialarteryofthearm。
&er,Benwasoowels。FollowingEric'sinstru,heusedthemtoelevatethewoundedman'sfeet。Theoflagdows。MichelcavoidedlookingatEric'staskiokeephima>
&esorso,theywerejoinedbyaregisterednurse,taieerrescuesquadinnearbyDavenport,arescueteamfromtheiaDepartmeryandNi。Hehadbeenleaningagairuck,justafewhundredyardsaeothing。
"It'sgoodtohaveyouhere。"saidEriickgrippedhishand。
Therescuers,soonreinforambulancecrew,laboredoverEriearlyanhavehimpureoxygenandbeganrunningfluidiingawayhiswetsuit,theybandagedhisulledrubberized,irousersooforcebloodtohisupperbody。
Rescuerswereastoilllucidaftersuchmassivebloodloss。Thefirstreadingofhissystolicbloodpressureerilouslylow50。Butbythetimeaioergottothebeachforthesix-mioDominitaCruzHospital,Erlc'sbloodpressurewasal。
Itplummetedagainwiththeremovalofthepressurepantsintheemergenioriseafterinfusionsofredbloodandmorefluids。Dedthathehadlostnearlyhalfthebloodinhisbody。
Iingroom,eonworkedonEric'sleg,anotheronhisarms。Thequadricepslegmusclewassevered,apiemusoutaltogether。Botharmseheboselfwasscratchedbythesharksserratedteeth。"It'sliketheboneithabreadk;eor。
&er,hewashomewithsplintonhislegandbotharms。Threeweeksafterthatheingalongthebeadrelivinghisadve;Ithinkthesharkwastastingme,hopingIwasaseal。"hesaid。"Maybehedidn'tlikethetasteoftherubberywetsuitandthat'swhyheletmego。"
此刻,除了海豹的黑脑袋在绿色的太平洋上跃动,整个海域似乎就剩下埃瑞克·拉森和尼克·拉森两兄弟了。
1991年7月1日,一个星期一的早晨,他们穿着潜水紧身衣,戴着手套,在湛蓝的天空下踏着冲浪板冲浪。有一股来自南方的洋流来到此地,4英尺高的海浪冲击着加利福尼亚蒙特雷海湾众多海湾中一个狭窄、荒凉的小海滩。
早晨8点后,50岁的尼克将冲浪板指向150码以外的海滩,说道:“我要到卡车里暖和暖和。”