When I woke up the next morning, Sarah was gone. Sitting up, I wiped the sleep from my eyes and stretched my arms above my head, letting out a yawn. Looking around the room, I noticed a pair of shoes near the foot of the bed on the floor. Shoes that weren't mine. "Guess Sarah's still here," I said to myself, slipping out of bed.
After washing my face in the bathroom and brushing my hair, I headed downstairs. The closer I got, the more I could smell pancakes and bacon. Plates clattered together just around the corner as they were set on the table by Sarah. As soon as she seen me, she smiled and quickly walked over to me, giving me a kiss on the cheek. "Morning," she said happily.
Mom just smiled and went back to fixing breakfast, taking it as nothing more than Sarah being in a good mood. At least, I hope that's all she thought. Sarah wouldn't have.... No, she'd never do something like that without at least talking to me first. "Morning," I replied and sat down in the nearest chair.
Sarah sat down in the chair on the right side of the table from me, still smiling. I could tell she thought everything that had happened meant more than it had. At the pier was a complete screw up on my part, and last night was nothing more than my emotions going crazy, which rarely happened. Normally, I was good at keeping them in control, but I guess when you hurt the one person you truly love and know they'll never forgive you, it breaks your control.
"Eat up. I made plenty," said Mom, sitting the food in the middle of the table in front of us.
Both Sarah and I took two pancakes and a few pieces of bacon. It was just regular store bought bacon, but somehow Mom always made it taste so much better. Which meant that there was hardly ever any left. If I had to sacrifice half a pancake to finish eating the bacon that was left, I wouldn't hesitate to. "This is great, Mom. Like always," I said, stuffing my face with another piece of bacon.
Sarah laughed. "Slow down before you choke. That's the fifth piece you've eaten in the past minute."
I swallowed and stuck my tongue out at her. My mood had completely changed from last night, and even from what it was when I woke up. Mom's cooking tended to do that to people. After taking just one bite of any of the food she made, it was impossible to stay in a bad mood.
Finally, all the bacon was gone and two pancakes were left on the plate. Leaning back, I closed my eyes and let my head rest on the back of the chair. "I'm stuffed."
"So am I," agreed Sarah.
"I'm glad you two liked it. I'll make cookies here in a little while, so make sure to stop by before you go home, Sarah. And Casey, I want you to bed home by five today. Someone's coming over to visit," said Mom.
I gave her a curious look, but she wouldn't say anymore. Who could be coming to visit that she wouldn't tell me about? Instead of worrying about it, I stood up and grabbed a Coke from the fridge, then headed outside to the back yard, Sarah right behind me.
As I walked out, I glanced over at Lindsey's yard. She wasn't there. It wasn't really surprising, and while I was a little relieved, I was also a bit disappointed. Walking over to a tree, I placed my drink on the ground and climbed up.
Ever since I was just a kid I had always loved climbing trees, and this one was one of the easiest. It's limbs were spaced just right to allow climbing clear to the top, which is exactly where I was headed. Though, I should have been thinking more about where I was placing my feet instead of Lindsey because almost all the way up, I stepped on the wrong branch.
It was a smaller one, but still should have held my weight. Millions of times I had stood on it alone without a problem. But apparently, something had changed because when I stepped on it and put all my weight on it, it snapped.
I had only been holding on with my left hand, which was the weaker of the two. As a kid I had broken my wrist twice and sprained it countless times. So, it wasn't capable of holding my weight. Once I realized what had happened, it was too late. My hand gave out and let go, letting me fall towards the ground.
The path was filled with branches of all sizes.
Somehow, Sarah had managed to be at just the right place so as not to get hit. Unfortunately, I was right over some of the thickest branches. As I fell, I collided with countless limbs and felt the pain spread through every inch of my body.
The ground wasn't much softer than the branches. At least they gave a bit, but the ground didn't budge an inch. I landed on my back, which knocked the air out of me. For a few moments I couldn't even breath and it felt like I was suffocating. Finally, I managed to inhale, but it wasn't any better.
Collision with the branches on the way down had broken at least one rib, which made breathing even the slightest painful. Everything had stopped spinning, allowing me to be able to see clearly. But, it also allowed me to be able to focus on other things, like the pain. Not to mention I could only see out of my left eye. Apparently, a limb had caught my other eye and did something to it. What exactly, I had no idea.
My vision was then filled with Sarah, whose face was filled with worry. Not that I could blame her. After all, she had just seen the person she loves fall who-knows-how-many feet out of a tree, hitting every branch possible on their way down before landing on their back on the ground. Definitely couldn't blame her.
"Oh my god! Casey, are you ok?" shouted Sarah.
"I'm fine," I replied, wincing. "Ok, maybe not."
"Can you sit up or anything?"
"Let me try."
I didn't even make it an inch off the ground before I had to stop, or end up screaming in pain. Sarah was even more worried now, and after telling me not to move, not like I could, she ran in the house.
In no time both she and Mom were out beside me. Sarah seemed a lot more worried than Mom, probably because Mom was kind of used to things like this from when I was little. Back then, I was a daredevil, doing anything and everything just to see if I could, and what would happen. That's how I ended up breaking and spraining my wrist numerous times.
Mom helped calm Sarah down, while helping me focus on things other than the pain each time I took a breath. In no time, the ambulance arrived and the medics placed me on a stretcher, causing me to wince. As I was being placed inside, I looked around once more, just as Mom and Sarah were getting in.
Standing in the doorway to her house was Lindsey, a look of worry on her face. Right next to her was Amber, the same look on her face. I smiled a bit, but I could no longer see her, so she couldn't see it. I guess you're not mad at me. At least, I hope that's what it means.
