The Ray Family

19

When we arrived Jake was gone and she was admitted right away, she was brought to get a CT done and I had to wait in her room. I sat in the chair with Chucky in the other chair. I combed my fingers through my hair as I waited for any news. Glenda came in and came over, I looked up at her fear in my eyes, "Maya" Glenda warned.

"It's too late," I said, "I couldn't help it."

"It's going to be okay," Glenda said as she got me to stand up, and then she sat down and pulled me into her lap. She drew circles on my back to keep me calm, I had my face in the crook of her neck. I felt the tears fall down my face, "it's going to be okay, she's a tough kid. I mean she has to put up with all of us" Glenda said, trying to make me feel better.

Then they wheeled Carley in, she was awake now, I quickly wiped my eyes "is everything okay?" I asked.

"May I ask who you are?" One of the people asked.

"We are her parents," I said.

"She has a minor concussion, so it's best to have her in a dark room while she has headaches no electronics, if her head hurts put a cool cloth where it hurts, rest is the best course of treatment, but for the first 24 hours Tylenol for the pain and after 24 hours it's recommended to go to Advil. We would like to keep her here for an hour just to observe, but we can discharge her if you want," he said. I looked at Glenda to see what she wanted to do.

"We can be discharged, just tell us what you would observe and we can do it," Glenda said.

"Okay, don't let her sleep for five hours, just to make sure that she is okay but if she loses consciousness and you can't wake her up, call 911, make sure that she drinks water and has a good diet," he said. "Why don't one of you come to sign the paperwork," he said and Glenda followed him.

I went over to her bed "what happened Carley?" I asked.

"I was playing on the slide and wanted to run up the slide when my foot slipped, and I fell," Carley said.

"Carley you have to be careful, this could've been a lot worse," I said.

"I'm sorry," Carley said.

"As long as you don't do it again," I said.

"I won't," Carley said, then Glenda came back in.

"We're all good to go," Glenda said, Carley got up, I passed her Chucky and we left. We got in our car Glenda was driving while I was in the passenger seat and Carley and Chucky were in the back. It was quiet during the ride back as we tried to limit noise to try and help stop a headache from forming even though I knew the headache was inevitable.

We pulled into our house, Glenda parked the car and we got out and headed inside, when we were inside Carley put Chucky down "now why don't you go up to your room and relax, maybe play with your toys" I suggested.

"Okay," Carley said and headed upstairs.

We went to the living room and I noticed that our items had arrived, Chucky and Tiff were sitting on one couch while Charles and Tiffany were on the double chairs, Glenda and I sat down on the couch while Carley's Chucky was gone somewhere else entirely. "So what did you talk to Jake about?" Chucky asked.

"Not much, we mostly just talked about when we were teenagers, he wondered why he was picked out of everyone else," I said, keeping it as vague as possible while still answering the question. "I'll be back," I said as I stood up.

"Where are you going?" Glenda asked.

"Change my pants," I said and headed upstairs. I went to our room and opened the dresser and got a pair of pants and switched them. I ran my hand through my hair as I was getting nervous. What if we turn the cam on and it's Jake telling her about what we talked about then they'll know that I lied and the severity of the punishment will probably kill me, I'm really hoping that he doesn't and if he cares anything for Rachel then he won't. But if he mentions the little deal we have going on then they'll also know that I'm leaving out information. I head back downstairs and sit next to Glenda.