Through the Tunnel

Chapter 20: Don't Let Them Fall

With an ice pack over my left eye I waited with Steven in the hospital waiting room for my parents to come and pick us up.

"You know, you didn't have to bite her" he suggested.

I lowered the ice pack to reveal the purple outline to my swollen eye.

"Yes I did" I said and he left it as that.

Moments later she came walking out of the right wing of the hospital with a cast over her arm.

"You didn't have to do that either" Steven tried again.

"No" I said, "but it was fun."

He tried to hold back a laugh and failed, and I was too high on pain meds to even try.

"She deserved it" I said, containing myself as she walked straight past us out the door, with her mum at her side.

He signed "I know".

My parents arrived and I waited for the full mental breakdown that I know my mum must have been saving since she woman in the ambulance phoned her and told her what happened.

"Are you okay?" she said as she came towards me in a slight panic.

"Yeah, just a black eye and a couple of stitches to my head here," I said pointing to my face and lowering the ice pack, "nothing serious".

"Good, now I can ground you without feeling bad about it" she said and we headed back to the car.

After dropping Steven home he kissed me cheek at the door and I went home to sleep of the medication.

***

If I didn't feel it last night, I sure felt it now. It was like my entire head was swollen but my skull hadn't quite gotten the memo, trapping my brain in a cage about five sizes too small.

I'd had my fair share of hang overs but this was something else.

With every step I took down the stairs I felt my head pulse and when I finally got to the bottom I didn't exactly get the nicest greeting.

"Wow, you look horrible" my dad said, taking his mug to the sink.

"Cheers" I said sarcastically, holding my face hoping it wouldn't fall off.

"Oh, mum" I said, remembering something "I told Ashley I would do it".

"Oh, that's great" she said enthusiastically.

"What's she doing?" my dad asked.

"Going to work at that camp she used to go to, remember that?" she said, sitting at the table with her morning tea.

"Oh yeah, what a waste of money that was!" he said, grabbing a biscuit from the tin.

My mum slapped his hand but he still managed to get away with it and I laughed as he made his way back to the lounge.

"Yeah," I continued, "I'm going up there on Friday to complete the application" I explained.

"That's wonderful, I think this is going to be good for you" she said.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" I asked, grabbing a biscuit myself.

"Because, honey, you've been lacking something your whole life and you and Ashley were such good friends" she explained.

"Yeah because we were both just as clever and mischievous that we made the best team in all the activities" I confessed. "Now I get to catch the ones who aren't quite as good as we were, I know all the tricks" I laughed.