Diary of a Daughter (Based off of "Moments")

Nineteen: The accident

About a week later during recess, as me, Ava and Kelly were playing, we noticed an area of the playground with caution tape on it. As we looked ahead of it, we noticed a piece of the playground almost completely taken off.

"What happened?" Ava asked.
"Apparently they're taking part of the playground off and adding something else." Kelly explained. "I know because my Daddy's working on it."
"Aww, they took off the fun slide..." I said. "And the pole!"
"Don't worry... We can still have lots of fun on it!" Kelly assured.
"How?" I asked.

Kelly then grew a devious look on her face and went under the caution tape.

"Are you crazy? We're gonna get in trouble!" Ava said. "Or even hurt!"
"I've jumped off places higher than this! I think I can handle it!" Kelly said.

Kelly then ran and jumped off the edge, landing on her feet in a squatting position to keep her from falling back.

"That was fun!" Kelly said, looking back up at us. "And I didn't get caught! We're okay!"
"I dunno about this..." Ava said.
"Just try it! It's fun!" Kelly said. "It's really not that bad!"

Ava was hesitant but then walked under the caution tape and to the edge of the platform. She then jumped, also landing safely.

"That was awesome!" Ava said, smiling afterwards.
"C'mon Emily!" Kelly called up to me.
"I don't want to!" I said.
"You'll be fine! Trust me!" Kelly said.
"I landed safely!" Ava said.

I hesitated, took a deep breath and then exhaled. I then walked under the caution tape and slowly went to the edge of the platform. As I looked down through the small holes in the platform, my heart raced. As my toes hung from the edge, I began to feel nauseous.

"What's wrong?" Kelly asked.
"I-I don't like heights!" I said.
"You don't?" Kelly asked. "But you were fine when the slide and the pole was here!"
"That's because I had something to grab onto when going down, this time I don't!" I said.

Just then, I could feel myself losing balance as I looked down again. I tried to regain my balance but I could feel myself falling forward towards the ground.

I was screaming as I fell about ten, maybe a dozen feet.

Just then, as I hit the ground, I completely blacked out.
---
I opened my eyes. The first thing I could see were bright lights, as I was in some strange room. I could hear monitors beeping around me. As my vision became clearer, I could tell I was in the hospital.

I looked over to my left, my Dads noticing I was awake.

"Hey, sweetie!" Daddy S smiled, sitting next to me and holding my hand. "How do you feel?"
"My head hurts..." I said. "What happened?"
"Well, we got a call saying that you fell off the playground playing with your friends." Daddy M explained. "As soon as we got the call we headed over to the school and paramedics were there already taking you into the ambulance."

As I began recalling everything, I began to tear up, knowing that what I did would eventually get me into trouble.

"I shouldn't have passed that caution line..." I said.
"Sweetie, it's not your fault." Daddy S said.
"It's not?" I asked.
"Your friends were pressuring you to try and jump and you didn't want to." Daddy S said.
"Plus there was nobody on the side of the playground you were on making sure nobody was doing what your friends were doing." Daddy M explained.
"Are my friends in trouble?" I asked.
"They were taken home afterwards, so I'm not sure." Daddy M said.

Just then, I noticed the doctor coming in.

"Hello Ms. Emily, glad to see you're awake!" The doctor smiled. "How do you feel?"
"My head hurts." I claimed.
"Yeah, it might hurt for a few days, but it should go away in a few days." The doctor explained.

I then noticed the doctor taking out a flashlight and flashing the light into my eyes. He then took his finger and had me follow it with my eyes. He then asked me a bunch of random questions such as what two plus two was and what sound a cat and a dog make, simple kid questions.

"Well it looks like she's responding to everything correctly and quickly, so it looks like this concussion that she has is slight, so it should only take a few days to recover." The doctor explained to my Dads. He then took out a note and gave it to Daddy S. "In the meantime, I would advise you keep her home for at least the rest of the week, but she should be released from the hospital by tonight."
"Thank you doctor." Daddy S nodded.

The doctor nodded and left the room.

"What's a concussion?" I asked.
"It's what happens to your head sometimes when you hit it, like when you fell." Daddy M said. "But it'll go away soon."
"That means you get to stay home with us!" Daddy S joked.
"Yay!" I jokingly cheered.
"At least we know her sarcasm is still in there!" Daddy M joked.
---

4/15/20

Dear Diary,

I have a concussion, and that means I have to stay home the rest of the week. What I will do between now and then, I don't know. Especially since I'm apparently not allowed to watch TV or play on my Dads' iPad until tomorrow. I also can't do that much homework, which I don't really mind. I don't know if I should be writing in here so I should probably stop writing now just in case.

Em