strangely, but satisfyingly, it fueled something dark within him.
Trisha was the first to run over, screaming, “God, what happened to her?!”
They encircled Maria’s motionless body and the drops of blood that lay near her. He raised her head in his arms, wiping away the blood from the side of her head.
“ Don’t just watch damn it! Call the nurse!” he shouted.
* * * * *
CHAPTER THREE
Maria ...
Maria ...
Maria, wake up, sweetie .
Maria’s eyes jerked open.
“ That’s a good girl,” the nurse said softly as she stood over her. She closed the small bottle of smelling salts. “How do you feel, Ms. Jaghai?”
Maria’s eyes slowly shifted from side to side, examining the blurry nurse’s office that was gradually coming into focus. She felt god-awful. Her head was still floating up through a layer of hazy clouds and the entire left side of her body was throbbing.
“ Well, you look to be doing okay,” the wrinkle-faced woman said in assessment. “You better not try to move much.” She went over to a white counter where a Christmas mug of hot chocolate lay. “That was an unfortunate accident you had.”
Accident? Maria’s hand weakly went to the left side of her head and she winced from a sharp pain.
“ Now, now, don’t touch your head,” the nurse scolded and came back with the hot chocolate in hand. “Can you sit up?”
With the nurse’s hand flatly placed on Maria’s back, she was able to sit up, but not without a dizzy, disorienting feeling sweeping over her. Carefully swinging her feet around, she placed her bare soles lightly on the cold tiles.
“ You fell pretty badly, but luckily it wasn’t too serious. You’ll have to leave the bandage on for a little while though, and you’ll probably miss a few days of school. Do you feel any nausea?”
She fell? She could barely recollect that happening.
“ Here. Drink the chocolate,” she said with a smile that suggested the sugary goodness would cure every ache and pain, nausea included.
Maria simply accepted the offered drink and sipped it cautiously. The school nurse continued to speak to her slowly and gently.
“ We were going to call the hospital, but it turns out we didn’t need to. All you did was bleed a little.”
Maria stared at the lady. Save face, why don’t you. Stupid woman. If the faculty could avoid having to tell her father about her accident for now, then they certainly would, even with how illogical and unwise delaying the inevitable really was.
“ You hurt your left side pretty badly, and your head of course, but the rest of you is clean as a whistle. Do you remember what happened, any at all?”
Maria did in fact start to remember something as the nurse kept speaking. Or at least a blurred version. She remembered the fall happening so fast she couldn’t do anything to stop it. Her only visual was a spin of the room and then blam! That was all.
“ I can give you some painkillers since you’re not feeling nauseous. I don’t think it’s vital we call your parents now, do you? No, no, let’s not. You have a car, am I correct? I think we can let you off early. Let’s not worry your father while he’s hard at work. In fact, it wouldn’t do any harm to tell him you merely tripped or something and that the nurse said you can stay home for a day or two.” The woman let out a nervous chuckle. “This wasn’t really a concussion-concussion.”
For a long time, all Maria could do was stare incredulously at the woman, trying to imagine what the nurse would sound like if she were a trained doctor; maybe something along the lines of, “Well, you don’t really have cancer-cancer.” But more disturbing than the prospect of that imbecilic, irresponsible woman one day having the title of MD was the fact that the stout, graying nurse wanted her to downplay her accident to her parents.
“ I don’t know if I can drive,” Maria informed her. “Maybe we should call my mom and have her come. Of course
Trisha was the first to run over, screaming, “God, what happened to her?!”
They encircled Maria’s motionless body and the drops of blood that lay near her. He raised her head in his arms, wiping away the blood from the side of her head.
“ Don’t just watch damn it! Call the nurse!” he shouted.
* * * * *
CHAPTER THREE
Maria ...
Maria ...
Maria, wake up, sweetie .
Maria’s eyes jerked open.
“ That’s a good girl,” the nurse said softly as she stood over her. She closed the small bottle of smelling salts. “How do you feel, Ms. Jaghai?”
Maria’s eyes slowly shifted from side to side, examining the blurry nurse’s office that was gradually coming into focus. She felt god-awful. Her head was still floating up through a layer of hazy clouds and the entire left side of her body was throbbing.
“ Well, you look to be doing okay,” the wrinkle-faced woman said in assessment. “You better not try to move much.” She went over to a white counter where a Christmas mug of hot chocolate lay. “That was an unfortunate accident you had.”
Accident? Maria’s hand weakly went to the left side of her head and she winced from a sharp pain.
“ Now, now, don’t touch your head,” the nurse scolded and came back with the hot chocolate in hand. “Can you sit up?”
With the nurse’s hand flatly placed on Maria’s back, she was able to sit up, but not without a dizzy, disorienting feeling sweeping over her. Carefully swinging her feet around, she placed her bare soles lightly on the cold tiles.
“ You fell pretty badly, but luckily it wasn’t too serious. You’ll have to leave the bandage on for a little while though, and you’ll probably miss a few days of school. Do you feel any nausea?”
She fell? She could barely recollect that happening.
“ Here. Drink the chocolate,” she said with a smile that suggested the sugary goodness would cure every ache and pain, nausea included.
Maria simply accepted the offered drink and sipped it cautiously. The school nurse continued to speak to her slowly and gently.
“ We were going to call the hospital, but it turns out we didn’t need to. All you did was bleed a little.”
Maria stared at the lady. Save face, why don’t you. Stupid woman. If the faculty could avoid having to tell her father about her accident for now, then they certainly would, even with how illogical and unwise delaying the inevitable really was.
“ You hurt your left side pretty badly, and your head of course, but the rest of you is clean as a whistle. Do you remember what happened, any at all?”
Maria did in fact start to remember something as the nurse kept speaking. Or at least a blurred version. She remembered the fall happening so fast she couldn’t do anything to stop it. Her only visual was a spin of the room and then blam! That was all.
“ I can give you some painkillers since you’re not feeling nauseous. I don’t think it’s vital we call your parents now, do you? No, no, let’s not. You have a car, am I correct? I think we can let you off early. Let’s not worry your father while he’s hard at work. In fact, it wouldn’t do any harm to tell him you merely tripped or something and that the nurse said you can stay home for a day or two.” The woman let out a nervous chuckle. “This wasn’t really a concussion-concussion.”
For a long time, all Maria could do was stare incredulously at the woman, trying to imagine what the nurse would sound like if she were a trained doctor; maybe something along the lines of, “Well, you don’t really have cancer-cancer.” But more disturbing than the prospect of that imbecilic, irresponsible woman one day having the title of MD was the fact that the stout, graying nurse wanted her to downplay her accident to her parents.
“ I don’t know if I can drive,” Maria informed her. “Maybe we should call my mom and have her come. Of course
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