Destiny- Byron Miller

~14~

It is now Saturday which means it is our "get out of the house" day. We decided it would be fun to go ice skating since it's winter.

But it was Maisie's idea to invite Daniel and the rest of the kids to join us on the ice skating trip.

The nearest ice skating rink is in the next town over so it didn't take long to get there.

When we arrived we had to wait a couple minutes because Daniel was running a few minutes behind us. But I guess it makes since because he has the twins, Henry, and Lana to get ready.

When they arrived we payed and got one of those crappy paper wrist bands and then headed to get our ice skates.

I have Bailey strapped onto me because she is too little to ice skate. She can't even walk yet, never mind ice skate.

Daniel was conflicted on letting Lana ice skate or not. She is a couple months short of being 2 but because of her Down Syndrome shes only been walking for very few months. He just doesn't want her to fall down due to her little coordination skills.

I said "To hell with that. Just let the girl ice skate."

I got Maisie's skates tied and my own before going to help Sienna and Elowen get their skates on. Daniel got Henry's and Lana's skates tied just as I finished up Elowen's skate.

We all headed onto the ice together. I held onto Maisie and Elowen's hand while Daniel took both hands to hold up Lana. Luckily Henry and Sienna already knew how to skate.

After a while Maisie and Elowen got the hang of it and went off on their own. I was so proud of Maisie for trying something new. She seems to be really reserved lately. There's just something about being around the Clark family that brings out her true personality.

"Hey Byron, we're having a race, do you want to join?" Daniel asks me from across the rink.

"No I'll watch. I have Bailey on me anyways. But do you want me to hold Lana while you go race the kids?" I said as he started slowly making his way across the rink, Lana in his arms.

"That would be fantastic," he said with a sigh of relief following him putting her down. "You're just getting so big, please stop growing"

She looked up at him with one of her notorious big smiles and giggled softly.

He gave her a kiss on the forehead and then went to line up with the kids to start the race.

"The first person to touch the other side of the rink first wins. If there ends up being a tie then those two people will race again. Got it?" Daniel said with authority.

The rest of them nodded.

"3. 2. 1. GO!" I shouted signalling the start of the race.

The rink was pretty large for just being local. This rink also happens to be made specifically for ice skating and not hockey so it is a bit of a weirder shape.

So far in the lead is Henry with Daniel not far behind and Sienna not far behind him. Maisie was quite a bit behind them but not nearly as far back as Elowen is.

Henry ended up coming in first place, Daniel in second, Sienna in third, and Maisie in forth.

By the time Maisie reached the other side of the rink, Elowen was only at the halfway mark.

But it just so happened that at that same time, a group of 10-15 guys came speeding through the rink.

They didn't see Elowen. Elowen couldn't move out of the way fast enough.

The next thing you could hear was SMACK!

Loud. Hard.

There were two people on the ground. One was Elowen, the other was a guy from the flock that came swarming in.

Following the crash came a blood-curdling scream from Elowen.

The guy that crashed into her began apologizing immediately.

But Daniel was quicker than him. Daniel knew before anyone else knew.

Elowen was on the ground grabbing her head and crying.

Even though she was wearing a helmet, it was a crappy helmet and probably did nothing for her.

I picked up Lana into my arms and started heading towards them in the middle of the rink.

By the time I got there Elowen had passed out. Daniel took her helmet off and I could see the blood. It was then where i took out my phone and began dialing 9-1-1.

The operator said that an ambulance was on the way and that for now get her off the ice and somewhere warmer and to find something to temporarily stop the bleeding.

When the ambulance got here they loaded her in and Daniel got in with her.

"Take my keys. Get Bailey's and Maisie's car seats. Move them into my car and meet us at the hospital." Daniel said before they closed the doors to the ambulance and took off in a hurry. Flashing lights and sirens were seen and heard as they traveled quickly towards the hospital.

At this point my mind wasn't even really thinking. My body was just carrying me to where it thought I needed to go.

I picked up Lana and told Maisie, Sienna, and Henry to follow me. I unlocked Daniel's car and told Henry and Sienna to get in. I buckled Lana into her seat and then went to unlock my car. I grabbed the car seats and then installed them into Daniel's car.

It was then that I realized why he wanted me to take his car. I makes since. His car could fit all of us, mine couldn't. I have no clue how he could have been thinking about the little things like that while in this situation.

I buckled my girls in and then called Amanda.

Luckily she is home and able to watch some of them. I know how the hospital is, I was there for a while with Maisie not that long ago, and I'm almost certain that they will be happier here than there. Also, it's a lot safer. They're not at risk of catching anything from the many illnesses swimming through the hospital.

"What's going on?" Amanda asked I started getting out of the car.

"There was an accident at the ice skating rink. But I promise I'll tell you more later, right now i need to get to the hospital. I only need you to watch Maisie, Bailey, and Lana. Sienna and Henry want to be with Elowen," I responded to Amanda's question in a rush.

"Okay, but call and let me know when you are on your way back to pick up the girls."

And with that I unbuckled the girls from their car seats and handed them over to Amanda.

Bailey started crying as soon as she was out of my arms. I felt so bad leaving her. But I know that she's too little to be at the hospital. It's too dangerous for her.

After Amanda took them inside I got back in the car.

"Thank you for letting us go," Henry said quietly from the back seat.

"Hey, I know how it feels to have someone you love in the hospital. There was no way I could have made you stay here when I know how bad you wanted to go see her," I responded to him as I started the car.

And then we were on our way to the hospital to go see the small girl that means so much to everyone in this car.