I don’t exactly know what he is doing, but it is working. I feel the brand new air going into my lungs, its relaxing and calming. I ignore the pain of my ribs; it only tells me that Archie must be very strong. I open my eyes and Archie lets go of me. He is lightly panting, too worried about me to be smiling. I want to stand up, but I don’t want to move my ribs, or back which is still in pain.
“I’ll call for an ambulance, can you talk to me?” He tells me, grabbing his phone out of his pocket. I want to talk, but I can’t get anything out of my mouth. The day my mother was found, I couldn’t talk either. The policeman – Jerry his name was – sat us all down at our kitchen table and told us that she was found dead in a river. I froze in shock. I knew she was dead, but I didn’t know that she died in the river, the one I go to almost every day. I couldn’t speak for about three days. And I never went to the river until I ran form my mother’s funeral. Archie looks into my eyes while he is waiting for someone to pick up.
“It’s going to be okay.” I want to smile but I don’t have the energy. I slowly shut my eyes, but I am woken up by his voice. “Hello, I need an ambulance, a girl fell out of a tree, her heart wasn’t beating, and it looks like she has broken a rib or two.” There is a short silence while Archie listens to the reply. The main hospital is very nearby, about 1 mile away. Archie says where we are and then turns off his phone. I can tell he doesn’t know what to do now. I move my hand about one inch closer to him; he sees it and holds my hand.
“It’s going to be okay. I promise. Before you know it, you will be back in that tree, and dancing around playing in the river.” He forces a smile, and my eyes slowly close. I feel his grip on my hand getting tighter. And tighter. “Keep fighting.” He says. I wake up in the hospital. My father and brother next to me. Tim has some flowers in his hands – Roses, which is an unusual pick from him – and father is pacing up and down, left and right. But when he noticed that my eyes are open, he runs to my right side. I move my hand to my broken ribs, trying to tell them both that I need a doctor. Before I know it, a doctor is on my other side.
“Zella, how are you feeling? Do you think you can talk for us?” I think I can, but I can’t. Just like when I tried to talk to Archie or when I couldn’t talk to the policeman. The doctor writes something down, and then says that I am free to go in 24 hours. He talks to my father and brother in another room. I end up falling asleep.
Tim wakes me by putting the flowers in front of my face and smiles.
“That guy…He was called Archie. Right?” I smile a little telling him yes. He gets my signal. “Well he left you these flowers.”
