Finally Home

5. Tyler

I went in the ambulance with Sam. She was crying and I wasn't sure if it was from the pain or disappointment. I held her hand as she wept. The paramedics also checked her blood sugar which was a bit high, owing to the stress her body was being put through. But she was still in range, so we all just kept an eye on it.

At the hospital, they wheeled her into a curtained area and we waited for a doctor to come see her. Since she wasn't life threatening, we knew we could be waiting a while.

Jenna came rushing in about ten minutes after we got settled and a nurse had gotten Sam registered and got a bracelet on her.

Sam still had her arm covering her eyes and was still weeping.

"Sam? Honey?" Jenna said as she came up to Sam's bedside.  Samantha sniffed.

"SaSa?" Rosie said, reaching for her sister. "SaSa boo-boo?"

"Yeah," I said, taking Rosie from Jenna. "Samantha has a boo-boo." 

Rosie made a sad face and reached over and patted Samantha's arm. Samantha looked over at Rosie. Her eyes were so red from crying. She put her arms out and I put Rosie on her lap.

Rosie sat on Sam and hugged her.

"I be SaSa nurse," she smiled up at Sam. Sam smiled back at her.

"Okay," Samantha said in a quiet voice.

A doctor came in and looked at Samantha.

"Ah," he said. "Miss Joseph. We meet again."

"Hi?" Samantha said, questioning.

"I'm Dr. Smith. I've taken care of you a couple of times here, but this is the first time I've seen you conscious," he smiled. "What brings you in today?"

He looked at Sam's leg and the chart he'd been given.

"Sports injury. Basketball is my guess from your outfit."

Samantha nodded. We explained how she'd landed funny the night before and then landed hard on the same ankle after being slammed into by a rival team member, but that this time it was much harder and she had screamed in pain and couldn't put any weight on it at all.

The doctor listened and nodded and said he'd have to examine it, which meant undoing the splint and taking off her sock.

Samantha started crying again as he tried to gently manipulate the splint and her foot. It was obvious she was in great pain. 

"Okay, Sam. I'm sorry. I know that hurt. I'll get you something for that. We're going to get an X-ray and see what's happening, okay?"

Samantha nodded.

The doctor left and a few minutes later a nurse came in with a needle.

"Someone needs some pain killer?" She asked.

"Yeah," I said.

She gave Samantha the shot in the IV that they had started when she got here.

I squeezed her hand again. She looked over at me.

"I'm sorry, Dad," she said, starting to cry again.

I stood up and went to her side, smoothing down her hair.

"Oh, sweetheart, don't be sorry. It's okay."

"I should have listened to you and Mom. My ankle was still sore this morning but I really wanted to play Hillhurst.  Now I'll probably be out the whole season!" She broke down into tears. Rosie hugged her more.  I leaned down and kissed her head.

"My sweet girl," I said. "Basketball isn't everything. We'll find out what's what and see what the word is, okay?"

"But I love basketball. And you love basketball. It's our thing!" She said. "And if I can't play anymore, then what would we have in common?"

"Samantha Joseph," I said. "I love that we have basketball as a common interest. And even if you can't play, we can still watch it together. But that's not all our relationship is based on. We have that band you like, and video games and your mom and your sister. You're an amazing sweet and compassionate person. You are more than basketball."

Jenna stood up and went to Samantha's other side.

"Sam, we both love you for being you. You're smart and funny. You make us laugh and smile all the time. You amaze us with your brilliance. Every day. You don't have to prove anything to us."

"But," Sam sputtered through her tears. "But I have to prove it to me.  I have to remind myself who I really am."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "You're Samantha Joseph. You're my daughter. You're Rosie's sister. You're one of the most amazing people in the world because you've been through so much. You've survived so much. You have strength and compassion way beyond your peers. You're a friend to so many people. You're a valuable member of the community. What you are not is everything your - You Know Who - said you were."

"Voldemort?" Samantha asked, a hint of a twinkle in her eye.

"Funny. No," I smiled. She smirked.

"Thanks, Dad. Thanks, Mom," she said. We both have her a hug.

"SaSa why cry?" Rosie asked.

"Because I got a boo-boo and I might not be able to play basketball," Samantha explained.

"Your leg has boo-boo?" Rosie asked.

"Yeah," Sam said.

Rosie very, very gently kissed Sam's ankle. Sam winced from the pain but didn't make a sound to scare Rosie.

"Thanks, RoRo," she said. "Maybe you fixed it."

"I help," Rosie said, hugging Sam.

A little while later, the porters came to take Sam for her X-ray. One of us could go and she asked for me to come.

They got her up on the X-ray table and very gently positioned her ankle, taking several films of as many angles as they could before helping her back into a wheelchair to go back to the emergency room.