just like that, the lights go out.

Yaya saw the neighbor woman behave frantic, almost screaming into the phone. We went to see what was going on. She tells us the dresser fell from the second floor balcony along with the neighbor helping them, she's calling an ambulance. We walk out to the back to see her husband holding up (to prevent aspiration of all the blood) on his side the neighbor. There was so much blood. They were moving the dresser through the second story balcony when the railing gave way. The dresser took a dive as did the younger man, head first onto the concrete walkway (narrow; there was more grass on either side than the entire length of the walkway. But his head hit the walkway edge). The dresser teetered, then took down the railing of the back stairs and landed on the guy. He was breathing when I got there. I was alarmed that he had been moved, but it was to prevent aspiration. He was twitching a bit and we called his name. I tried to check for a pulse. He had one, but it was faint. EMS came, worked on him for at least 15 long long minutes. I did compression CPR as the EMS worked around him, with the fibrillator and the pump and the air and putting him on the plank - but ... but I think he died while I was holding him. We kept his heart pumping, but he flatlined in the ambulance. He was 46, strong and just newly closer to his girlfriend. I helped the neighbors clean up the back (so much blood, so thick and red, with small specks of white). There was a hole/dent in his head. There was so much blood. My heart is broken. Just like that, with no further adieu. The lights went out for him. No warning.