Something About Sarah

Chapter 13

Sarah

“Ben,” I shouted. “Ben!”

I knew he heard me. He started walking away, shaking his head and rubbing his hand over his face. I was not going to let him get away. 

I ran after him, but I was only halfway there when his car pulled out of the lot.

Not wanting to break down in the middle of a parking lot, I walked back to the beach. I was in no condition to drive home. 

I walked down to the water, going deeper to where the water hit mid-calf. Walking deeper, my eyes closed to keep the tears inside. “Crap,” I muttered. Stepping through the water, my feet sunk into the wet sand. 

I looked around at the happy couples lounging on the sand together. Girls were cuddling next to guys, while others stared adoringly at each other. It was making me sick. 

A sudden, sharp pain shot from the bottom of my right foot to my ankle and it surged it’s way up to my knee. My body crashed to the earth, the shallow water flowing over my body. I let out a piercing scream, the pain making my mind go numb. Breathing became hard and my breath became ragged and slow. 

I tasted blood, and realized that one of my teeth had been sinking into my lip. Looking down at my foot, a swirling ribbon of blood swam around it. The salt entered my cut, making it sting further. I pulled the injured leg up to my chest, but the pain still controlled me. And then I plunged into darkness. 

***

My eyes blinked open. I put up a hand to shield myself from the harsh light shining around me. The room I was in smelt of strong chemicals. 

“Where am I?” I asked, my voice hoarse. 

“You’re in the hospital,” a tall brunette in a lab coat replied. 

I looked around. Sure enough, I was in the plain white room customary of hospitals. My mom sat next to me in a musty chair and she squeezed my hand. I looked down at my foot. It was wrapped in bandages that looked a little red around the bottom. 

“Speaking of that, it’s time to change your bandages.” 

After they replaced my bandages with clean, dry ones, the nurses fled. 

“How long have I been in here?” 

“Just overnight,” my mom said.

I looked down at my foot again.

“Oh,” my mom began, “You stepped on a glass shard. They think it was a broken beer bottle. It cut some important stuff in your foot. They gave you a tetanus shot while you were knocked out.” 

I let my head fall back onto the pillow. I was probably gonna be in here forever. And my foot hurt like the freakin’ dickens. And now there was a hole in it apparently. Sitting up,  I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to dislodge the remaining sand. 

“Oh goodness,” my mom sighed, looking at her phone, “There’s an emergency meeting at the company. I can’t miss it.” She looked at me sympathetically. 

“Go,” I said, and she looked grateful. “I love you,” she said, giving me a kiss on the forehead and scurrying out the door. I reached to grab my phone out of my pocket, but I realized I had been changed into a hospital gown. Searching the room for my clothes, I came up empty-handed. 

A short nurse walked in and started checking the IV that was sticking out of my wrist. There was a question that was burning at the back of my mind. 

“How did you know who to contact for me?” I asked. 

The nurse looked at me, looking surprised at first, as if she had thought I was asleep. 

“A young man brought you in and told us who you were,” she replied. 

Ben! Ben had saved me after all! He wasn’t still mad!

“He was really tall, and he had black hair,” she began.

“Derek?” I asked, shocked.

“That was his name,” she said, her memory being jogged. 

Crap. I hadn’t seen Derek at the beach. I wonder where he came from. 

I reached for the water at my bedside table and started to take some sips. 

“Is he your boyfriend?” the nurse asked absently. 

I choked on my water. Seemingly unable to speak, I just shook my head no, and she smiled like she understood. 

“Well, I should leave you to your rest,” she smiled. 

***

There was a knock on the door. Layla stepped in, moving to the chair next to me. 

“Sarah,” she cried, “Look at your foot. How are you supposed to wear those adorable wedges I got you? Or any shoes for that matter? I bet you aren’t even able to go the beach anymore.”

“Jeez,” I muttered, “Thanks for making me feel better.” 

“Aw, sorry.” She scrunched her face up like she did whenever she felt guilty.

“Did you know it was Derek who took me to the hospital?” I asked.

Layla looked surprised. “He didn’t tell me that,” she mused. 

“He just dropped me off, told them how to contact my mom, and left.” 

Layla continued to mull over this new information. 

“So, how are you feeling?” she asked. 

“Like a pile of crap,” I looked over at her. 

Layla seemed to remember something, and pulled a small rectangle out of her purse. “I snuck into your room and got your phone for you,” she winked. 

“And this is why you are my best friend.”

She smiled. “That nurse is glaring at me through the window, so I best be going. I love you,” she said, hugging me. 

“Love you too,” I mumbled as she walked out of the room. I was too distracted to barely say anything anymore. I was busy anticipating what I might find when my phone turned on. This phone was so slow! 

The dark red screen flashed on and I looked at new messages. 4 moms, 10 Laylas, and 1 Michael. And all of my missed calls were from my dad.

No Ben. Crap.