fAt girl

Swallowing the Truth

Ava’s principal had offered her a ride to the hospital. He had kept asking her questions about her father and such, it had only made her feel worse. Eventually she just tuned him out, forgetting that he was even in the car beside her. Ava simply stared out the passenger window instead. She watched as the world flew by, she watched the trees, the grass, the few stray animals, the houses. She tried to focus on everything but her father.

When they arrived at the hospital Ava thanked Mr. Higs and went inside. Her heart was hammering against her ribs it was beating so loud she could barely hear anything else. She was beginning to feel overwhelmed, the room started to spin, all the nurses and doctors that walked by were starting to become a blur. Her knees began to wobble and before she knew it she was on the ground staring at the ceiling. Someone’s hands were carefully poking and prodding, sometimes they pulled at her limbs. When the face in front of her came into focus she realized it was a nurse dressed in green scrubs. The woman’s cool hands brushed over Ava’s face and pushed her hair back.

“Hello there, you gave us quite a scare,” The nurse smiled pressing her soothingly cold fingers to Ava’s forehead. “How do you feel?”

Ava eyed the group of concerned people standing around her; none of the faces were any that she knew. She glanced around a bit more. The beige colored walls were now staying in one spot; the dizzy spell she had earlier was starting to fade. “Good, can I sit up now?”

The nurse nodded, the over-friendly smile returned to her caramel colored face. She gripped Ava’s hand and placed her other hand on Ava’s shoulder. “Easy now, we don’t want you to fall again. That’s it, take it slow,” She directed as she slowly pulled Ava off the ground. When Ava successfully got to her feet the nurse took her by the arm and directed her to the chair in the waiting room. “So… why are you here?”

Ava looked her straight in the face, the realization of why flooded back into her memory. A sudden impact of guilt slammed into Ava’s gut, she hadn’t shed a tear yet. Not for her father, on the way to the hospital she had stared obliviously out the window, remembering all the good times she had with her father. But she hadn’t cried. She couldn’t and she didn’t understand why. Any other girl would have been sobbing into this strangers arms right now, but Ava wasn’t. “My father,” She cleared her throat and started again. “My father was in a car accident. A drunk driver hit him. I-I was told he was at this hospital,” Ava said taking a deep breath as the panicky feelings started to come back.

The nurse nodded and put a gentle arm around Ava’s shoulders. “It’ll be alright, now let’s go track down your father. What’s his name?” She asked as she led Ava to the nursing station.

“Martin Roberts.” Ava caught a glimpse of the nurses name tag and read that her name was Kelly.

Kelly sat down at a computer and began typing; she scanned the screen a few times and stroked her chin with a perfectly manicured nail. She scrolled down with the mouse and ran her fingers through her black hair. “Ah, here we go. Martin Roberts arrived about two hours ago; he was in a car accident. Hmm, that’s all I know. Well I’m officially on my break,” She said glancing down at her watch. When her eyes returned to Ava’s face she saw that the young girl looked hopeless. “Oh sweetie, I’m going to take you to your father first! Don’t you worry,” Kelly exclaimed running around the desk and giving Ava a giant hug.

Ava was on the third level at the hospital, sitting in the waiting room. After doing a little digging Kelly had informed her that her father would be brought to this floor after his surgery. Ava glanced at the clock on the wall, taking a deep breath she slouched lower in the uncomfortable chair. School was over now, and she had only gotten out of two classes. The disappointing part was that she would have to make them up when she went to school tomorrow. Instead of eating her lunch by herself, which was shameful enough, she would have to go and see the teachers for notes on the classes she was absent. It was just plain humiliating. Suddenly Ava’s jean pocket buzzed and made her jump out of her skin. She retrieved her phone from her pocket; she must have forgotten to turn it off.