forever yours • adam banks

chapter nineteen

ella

It doesn't take long for my family to come running down from the stands onto the field once they see the severity of the situation I'm in. Before I know it, I'm at the hospital, getting x-ray after x-ray. After what feels like forever, the doctor comes in with the results.

"Yep, it's broken alright."

I stare at the doctor in disbelief. "No way, it can't be."

He gives me a sympathetic look as my mom rubs my back to keep me calm. "I'm sorry sweetheart, but it is. And it's bad."

Once again, tears start to stream down my face. "No... how bad?"

The doctor takes a deep breath. This can't be good.

"We're looking about six weeks at the earliest, eight to ten at the latest. Look here, you have a trimalleolar ankle fracture. This involves breaks in three sides of the ankle. The medial malleolus, the lateral malleolus and distal, or lower portion of the posterior malleolus of the tibia. In simpler terms, you broke three parts of your ankle."

As he speaks he points to the x-rays, showing my parents the breaks.

"Will she need surgery?" my dad asks hesitantly.

Please say no, please say no.

"No, she won't need surgery. But she will need a boot, and she will definitely need crutches for at least four to five weeks."

He then turns to me, the sympathetic look still on his face. "I'm so sorry sweetheart. I know this isn't ideal, but we are going to take good care of you. I'll be back in a few minutes, and we'll get you booted up. I promise I'll try to make this a somewhat fun experience."

I want to answer but I can't, so I just nod instead. My chest hurts. I can't breathe. I can't feel anything.

My mom quickly notices my sudden change in demeanor. "El, are you okay?"

Before I can stop it, my breathing starts picking up. My breaths become shorter and shorter, soon causing me to gasp for air. "Mom, I can't breathe! Help!"

The doctor, who was leaving, turns around and runs over to me. "Alright sweetheart, you're having a panic attack. I'm going to need you to take a deep breath for me, okay?"

"I CAN'T!" I sob.

"Come on El, breathe!" Tyler yells. "You got this!"

I can't let my family see me like this. They don't deserve it. I do my best to take a deep breath in. It's a shaky breath, but it's a breath nonetheless.

Okay El, one down. Just keep going. One breath at a time.

I'm glad I listen to my consciousness, because I'm able to calm myself down. Once the doctor leaves, my mom walks over to me and wraps me in a hug. "Honey, what's wrong? Since I picked you up on Friday night, you haven't been yourself."

I can't take it anymore and I break down. I tell her everything, starting from the end of seventh grade when Adam and I first stopped talking. As I speak, I see Tyler getting more and more angry. After I finish, he's practically fuming. "I'm going to kill him, and her too."

"Tyler." my dad says sharply, causing him to shut up. "They don't matter right now. What matters right now is your sister."

Before Tyler can answer, the doctor walks back in with a splint to keep my ankle straight and my crutches. I definitely did not miss those. Not even a little bit.

When we get home, Tyler carries me upstairs and into my room. He places me down right next to my bed, and my dad hands me my crutches. Out of habit, the first thing I do is look through my window into Adam's room. I see him sitting on his bed with his head in his hands.