”“Does it still hurt?” she asked.“Hurts like, when your arm goes to sleep. Blood starts flowing back into it. Like needles, but everywhere at ...nce,” Ed struggled to explain.“Are there any other sensations?” JJ asked calmly, while reducing the rate of IV drip to slow the upgrade as much as she dared. She didn’t know what would happen if she stopped the upgrade in mid-process. She didn’t want to find out either.Ed was silent for a moment, before panting, “It feels like ... my head is full. Like. This was my first New Year’s Eve away from my family. I fought long and hard for this night. I’m 18 years old and I don’t need to spend New Year’s Eve with my parents at the Anderson’s place where all people do is talk about the “good old days”. Instead, tonight at midnight, I’ll be in the arms of my 40 year old boyfriend, Liu, celebrating the start of the New Year. The party started at 8pm in the Grand Ballroom. We took our seats at a table with about five other couples as a live band played. Water was washing over her nose and she coughed and spat as she struggled to breathe."Do you think she got that?", Scott asked and looked at Barry."Who cares? I don't think it would have made it easier for her, anyway", he said and walked to the edge of the pool, looking down at Lauren."No. I Guess not" Her face was under water! Scott! What are you doing?, she thought as she desperately tried not to breath. She knew that drowning was a terrible way to die. When she had watched Titanic, she had. It was about half way through my freshman year that I met Karen and her friends. I'd known who they were of course, because they were very out going and everyone saw them around school. It was in Freshman English that I found myself teamed up on a project with Karen. For some reason we hit it off right away and before I knew what I'd agreed to, I was going to the beach with "the gang" that weekend.I live in San Diego and the beach is only a few miles away from my house, but you could count on.