Once a ranger always a ranger

Chapter 63 Tommy & Jason help Ariel remember who she is

I just can't believe that what he's saying is true. "Then why do I think that I'm not strong enough?" I asked. "You're just going through a lot right now. I told you that I would always be there in your heart. Do you remember me telling you that?" Tommy asked. "Actually, now that you brought that up, I don't." I said. "Well, do you remember saying best friends forever to me?" Tommy asked. Those words echoed in my head, best friends forever. I was silent for a minute while the words best friends forever echoed in my head over and over again until I swore I could barely hear them anymore. "That was a long time ago." I said. "No Ariel, that is forever, even if one of us is dead." Tommy said. Something was telling me that he was now fading away. "Tommy, don't leave me again." I said. "I never left you, and I never will. Remember who you are, my best friend that was like a sister to me. I'll always be there in your heart. Remember that." Tommy said before he faded away. Jason came up beside me. "Man, it feels like the winds are changing." I said. "Change is good." Jason said. "Yeah, but it's not easy. I know what I have to do but going back means I'll have to face my past. I've been running from it for so long." I said. That's when Jason hits me on the head with a stick he found, a sturdy one at best. "OW! Geez, what was that for?" I asked. "It doesn't matter, it's in the past." Jason said. "Yeah, but it still hurts." I said as I rubbed the top of my head where Jason hit me. "The past can hurt. But the way I see it is you can either run from it or learn from it." Jason said before trying to hit me on the side of my head but I ducked fast enough to avoid it. "You see? So, what are you going to do?" Jason asked. "First, I'm going to take your stick. Second, head back to the college and get some sleep." I said. Then I took the stick out of his hand and threw it into the bushes. Jason followed me back to the college. The next day I was practicing some gymnastics in the gymnasium. I had mats set out for different things. I even had some set under the high balance beam. I was actually really good at this kind of thing when I was young and lived in the city. I was working on a new routine that I've seen Kimberly do perfectly 100 times before. It had a full spin, a hop, two pivots, a back handspring, and a roundoff. I did the spin but I went a little too far. I backed up and tried again. I did the spin again but lost my footing. Luckily, I landed on my feet. "Okay, one more time. I can do it." I said to myself. I got back onto the balance beam and did the spin after walking to the middle. I did that and the hop perfectly. Then I did a pivot, went to end of the balance beam, and did another pivot. I went to the middle of the balance beam and got ready to do the back handspring. However, after I did that I lost my balance and fell off the balance beam. I hit the ground hard. I must have hit my head and Jason must have seen that. I open my eyes just enough to see Jason run towards me. He knelt down beside me. "Ariel, you're gonna be okay, just stay with me, please. Stay with me Ariel." Jason said. I lost consciousness after he said that. As soon as I lost consciousness Jason called 911. The paramedics came and took me to the hospital. Jason came with me. "What have we got?" Doctor Walsh said. "Her name is Ariel Cornell. This is her friend, he saw it happen." Nurse Susan said. "She was practicing on the balance beam and she fell and hit her head really hard." Jason said. "Alright, call up to radiology, I want a full series of pictures. Cat scan, eeg, MRI, the works. Let's hurry people. She's a very lucky girl. It's a good thing you were able to call for help right away." Doctor Walsh said. "Is she going to be alright?" Jason asked. "We won't know anything for a while. I'm gonna have to ask you to leave." Doctor Walsh said. Jason walked out. "Ariel, can you hear me? I'm doctor Walsh and I'm gonna take good care of you." Doctor Walsh said. One of the nurses told Jason that once they hear anything, they'll let him know. John met with Jason at the hospital and he was talking to my dad on the phone. "Yes Mike, as soon as we hear anything we'll let you know. You too. Bye." John said before hanging up. "Is Ariel's dad upset or what?" Jason asked. "He's a little upset but he's really busy with work and whatnot." John said. "How are you holding up?" Jason asked. "Hanging in there. Just worried. I'm just glad you were there." John said. "Yeah, except that when I got over to her she was almost unconscious. The minute she lost consciousness I called for help." Jason said. "I know how you feel. I mean she is one of your friends." John said. "But she's also your girlfriend. I just feel like I broke the promise I made to Tommy." Jason said. "And what would that be?" John asked. "That I would try to keep her out of trouble, you know, prevent stuff like this from happening." Jason said. "You know, that was her choice to work on some gymnastics." John said. "I know. But I just feel like it was somehow my fault." Jason said. "Jason, it was an accident. Things like this happen." John said. Just then doctor Walsh walked up to them. "Doctor Walsh, how is she?" John asked. "She in a comatose state.

Somehow that hit to her head was a little stronger than we thought." Doctor Walsh said. "Can anyone stay with her?" Jason asked. "If they want to." Doctor Walsh said before walking away. "I'll stay with her." John said. "Alright, I'll try to visit whenever possible." Jason said. Later that night Kaitlyn came to visit. "Hey John." Kaitlyn said. "Hey Kaitlyn, what are you doing here?" John asked. "I just thought that I should let you know that her family is going to be here at 8:00. I just don't know what we can do." Kaitlyn said. "There's nothing we can do." John said. "We can do something. We have to keep her in the land of the living. We're gonna have to remind her of all the things she's missing." Kira said as she walked up to them. The next day Jason, John, and Kaitlyn came to visit me. I was still unconscious. "Ariel, we're calling a veteran ranger meeting right here. We have a very important agenda for this meeting. It's about how much you mean to us. We had a lot of adventures together." John said. "We had some good laughs, and a few tough times." Kaitlyn said. "But not ever, not once have you ever let us down." Jason said. "So we're going to talk about all the fun we had as rangers. And we want you to jump right in and put a straight on things if we get them wrong. It wasn't enough when you were the new kid. It was when we first met. Kaitlyn and I were talking about something that happened earlier that week. We were also looking for Tommy. He was sitting right next to you on the swings when we walked up to you. (Flashback: John and Kaitlyn walked up to Tommy and Ariel.
John: Hey Tommy.
Tommy: Hey John, hey Kaitlyn.
Kaitlyn: Who is the girl you're with?
Tommy: this is my new friend Ariel.
Ariel: Hi.
They talk some more.
End of flashback) You looked like a nice girl. So we started talking and we got to know you better. We became really good friends that day." John said.