Dolls in the Midst of Slumber

Mika: Nest Steps in your life....

"Mika! Come on you'll be late!" Joe called from outside. I raced down the steps of the orphanage and over to the van. "What were you doing in there?"

"I was reading the last chapter in my book."

"Well you shouldn't be late for your first day of college!"

I rolled my eyes at him and looked out the window at the passing scenery.

"Are you nervous?" Joe asked

"A little bit. It's kind of like when I first came to the orphanage."

"Ah..."

We rode down the road a couple of miles before coming to a stop at a traffic light. "Joe you know you didn't' have to drive me today. Angie was going to go to town to do some shopping and she was going to drop me off."

"I know but this is big step in your life and I wanted to be the one to help you take it. You will have many others that you will have to take by yourself after this."

"Joe..."

Suddenly there was a jolt and a searing pain in my thigh and glass was everywhere. The pain was intense almost pulsating. Everything looked blurry and my head throbbed as well. What happened? Oh... my leg. I looked at my surroundings the windshield was shattered and the metallic smell of blood filled my nose. In the distance I could hear sirens and muffled voices.

I looked over at the driver's seat to see if Joe was alright. He had a deep gash along the side of his face. The dark crimson liquid ran down the side of his neck before soaking into his shirt. I could hear someone speaking to me from outside of the van.

"Ma'am are you alright? Do you remember anything that happened? Ma'am?" I ignored the man to focus on Joe. Why isn't he moving? Shouldn't they get him out? Why are they just leaving him there? Help him!

"Help Joe..." I said hoarsely.

"Who? Oh my gosh! Hey, we have another one in here! Send for another ambulance." He spoke into his radio that was on his belt. He turned towards me. "Okay we are going to get you out of here now. Ready? One... two... three..." He tried to pull me out but the searing pain in my thigh caused me to let out a loud shriek. He immediately stopped to see what the problem was. "You may have broken your femur. I know it hurts but we have to get you out of here."

"Help Joe first." I groaned.

"Ma'am there are others working on his side of the vehicle, but they will probably have to cut him out. We can get you out first so that we can attend to your injuries."

I nodded my consent, and then grit my teeth in preparation for the pain that was to come. He pulled me from the wreckage and they immediately loaded me onto a stretcher and gave me an oxygen mask. I watch them cut Joe's door off and pull him out of the car. He looked pale, broken and extremely fragile. They hurried him into the nearby ambulance. I watched the ambulance doors shut before the world faded to black