Silence

Chapter 9 - Old Bridge

I can't see anything but I feel myself being pulled back into reality. I suddenly hear voices around me, but it still feels like I'm in the grass.

"Is she okay? Has this happened before? Maybe we should call an ambulance." I hear the rushed voice of Carter, and I slowly open my eyes.

"No, I don't think so. And no, we can't do that. Emma just stares at the doctors until they let her leave. She doesn't talk to them," Lauren answers. They are crouching over me and when they see my eyes flutter open Lauren pulls me into a hug and I can see Carter relax a little. He is the one who was running on the track. Lauren must have called him over here.

I don't move, or say anything. I look at the bottom of the seats that are on top of us. What was that? That little girl had my eyes. That couldn't be me, could it?

"Are you alright?" Lauren asks. I don't answer her, I just continue looking up.

"Emma?" Carter tenses up again.

I'm terrified to do anything but I manage to move my eyes to look at them. I want to close my eyes and hide but I can't move.

"I think I should bring her home," Lauren tells Carter.

He nods his head and they both try to help me stand. They don't have much luck so Carter slides one arm under my legs.

"I'll carry her," he says and with that he carefully lifts me up.

They walk me over to the front of school and into Lauren's car. I don't even have any embarrassed feelings because I'm to frightened. I don't even know why I'm scared. It was just a dream, right? He puts me in the back seat and then reaches over and straps me in because I'm useless at the moment.

He closes my door and walks around. He stops to talk to Lauren and then she nods. He climbs in the back seat with me, and Lauren sits in the front. She starts driving.

"Emma, we are taking you home, okay?" Lauren tells me. When she says this it breaks my panic enough to let me shake my head no to her. I don't want to go home.

She sees me in the mirror and asks, "Okay, what about my house?" That sounds better, but I don't want to go there either.

I shake my head no again.

"Would you like it farther away? Maybe the old bridge?" she asks carefully.

I manage to make a tight smile and nod my head. I can hear both of them exhale in relief. I feel so bad for making them worry.

Carter reaches over and takes hold of my hand his fingers lace with mine. "Are you alright?" he asks, absently rubbing his thumb across the back of my hand. It is just a form of reassurance I tell myself, he is just holding my hand to make sure I'm okay.

Even though I nod my head, he continues to hold my hand. I try looking out the window, but all I can focus on is the fingers that are between mine.

We drive to our street, turn down a small path in the woods, and then Lauren stops the car. Carter hops out first. I reach over to open my door, but Carter is already there. I catch a smile escape Lauren when she sees him open my door. He takes hold of my hand.

"Do you want to walk?" he asks.

I nod, feeling more aware and knowing my cheeks would blush if he carried me, and he helps me out of the seat. I notice that his hand gently presses against the small of my back but once I stand it's gone. He keeps his other hand laced with mine.

The old bridge has been abandoned for years. It is made of stone and tiny vines that wrap around it. Small purple flowers are blooming from the vines. The bridge itself is the about the length of a small car. It crosses over a small creek.

When I moved to this neighborhood, Lauren and I would bring a blanket and snacks, and we would picnic out here until sunset.

We walk over to the middle of the bridge. Carter pulls me down with him and we all sit against the back stone railing.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lauren whispers after a while.

I do want to talk about it but not yet. I'm not ready to figure out what that was. It could have been a memory or a dream, or maybe I was hallucinating.

I write "Not yet" in the dirt that accumulated on the bridge with my finger.

"Will you be alright?" Lauren asks, and I can see the concern in her eyes.

I let go of Carter's hand and reach over to hug her. "I'm fine." I breathe in her ear so quietly that she might not even hear me.

This must reassure her because she jumps up. "I have to run home, I'm going tell my mom and your mom that we left school before they get a call that we're missing," she calls as she runs off. I try to protest by holding my hand out but I can't stop her. She already left and I'm not going to yell after her.

I already know that our school won't call home until the end of class. Lauren has done it again. I'm a little upset that she left me, but I still silently thank her. She has left me in the woods with Carter at my side.