Life Lost and Found

34: Found

An Afternoon in May

"Just five pins? And here I thought you were good at this game," Madeline teased.

"Jealousy is what I detect from you." Gina plopped into the grey plastic chair beside her. "Of my fully functional right hand."

Madeline gave a mock sneer.

"Maddy! It's your tu-hurn!" Sofie sang.

"Jealousy is what I detect from you. Of my mad gutter-ball skills." Madeline heaved herself off the chair and hobbled over to the ball return. The size of the cast on her leg had shrunk, and with practice, she had learned to move short distances without a crutch or cane. Her hand was free too, though she wasn't supposed to overexert it—so no right-handed bowling. She picked up a yellow lightweight Emerald Lanes ball with her left hand, limped closer to the lane, and rolled it with as much accuracy as she could muster. Without even sticking around to watch the ball, she turned around and started back toward her friends, who were all pointing behind her.

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

"No, Maddy, look!"

Madeline turned and watched her slow-moving ball collide with the pins in just the right place. It took a second, but eventually the last two pins teetered, then fell.

She turned to Gina. "I'm sorry, something about able-bodiedness?"

Gina flashed one of her signature, sarcastic half-grins.

"Page's turn!" Sofie chirped again. She was enjoying being scorekeeper, despite the presence of the digital system. "Computers can be wrong," she had insisted. "And I am more cute!"

Page got another strike, ending the game as winner, much to Sofie's disappointment. Fives of dollars were exchanged between them.

"I'm going to get a drink. You want me to bring you anything?" Gina asked Madeline.

"I'll come with you. I don't get to move around enough."

Gina held her arm to keep her steady, and they walked/hobbled over to the concession stand behind the lanes. They each ordered a cola and sat down at a small table.

"I really like your shirt," Gina said. "It suits you."

Madeline looked at it. It was bright yellow, and on the front it said, "If I seem distracted, it's because I'm too busy being awesome."

"Thanks. I picked it out myself."

"Good choice." Gina sipped on her straw. "So, how are you doing?"

Madeline knew she wasn't just making small talk. Gina was asking a dozen questions all at once. "I slept okay last night. No nightmares. And my appointment this morning went well. It's nice to have a smaller cast. And I can bend my knee now. Hey, I'll give you a dollar if you go without bending your knee for two months."

Gina gave her an amused smirk. "A dollar, huh? I'll run a cost-benefit analysis and get back to you." She crunched a piece of ice in her teeth. "I saw that look on your face, earlier. The one you get when you've been thinking a lot. Are you staying above water?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. No spiraling," Madeline answered.

"You're getting better at that."

"I've had some help."

"So you're keeping the darkness at bay. What have you been thinking about instead?"

Madeline held her cup with both hands and watched the bubbles inside. "I shouldn't be alive. I really shouldn't. And I'm not saying this in the guilty way right now. It's just... my heart stopped for two minutes and twenty-four seconds. The only reason it didn't stay that way is because of a misspelled text message. Think about that. Those don't always go through even when things are perfect, much less from a shattered, broken phone. I'm alive because of a technological fluke."