"Madeline Lansky"

Chapter One

(picture is Madeline)

I shuffle from the master bedroom downstairs with a basket full of dirty clothes in my arms. Loading the washer, drizzling detergent, and shuffling back upstairs; this has become my weekly morning routine. Ken is asleep, his best friend is coming over in a few hours, and this house needs tidied up before Ken wakes up. I make my way into the hall closet, gathering up the bucket, cleaning products, and scrubbing brush. In the bucket I mix the cleaners with water, and take on scrubbing the hallway. How is there so much dirt down here when I just scrubbed it two days ago? Elbow grease, elbow grease, elbow grease. I scrub and scrub and scrub, finally the dirt ceases to exist...in the hallway anyway.

I crawl my way into the kitchen just as I'm on my hands and knees again I hear the faint low scuff of Ken's socks against the tile floor. "Daniel will be here in an hour, when you're done with the floors the toilet needs cleaned." Just as he finishes the washer beeps, I leap to my feet and go to head down the stairs when I trip over Ken's extended sock. His foot lifts and so do I before rolling down the staircase; front over back, front over back. When I suddenly slam to a halt with my left foot slamming against the brick wall of the basement. All of these feelings flood me at once, but most of all if burning searing pain along with the massive overwhelming feeling of nausea. I scream in pain as tears burn my flooding eyes.

Ken slowly comes down the steps, "Why'd you fall down the stairs you dumb bitch? Now because I have to fucking take you to the fucking hospital, Daniel and I will miss the championship game. Actually, ya know what?" He throws his cell at me, "You call an ambulance and then bring the phone back upstairs when you're done fooling around." With that he jogs back up the steps, turning towards the living room.

I take a few deep breaths as I dial. A woman answers, "Hello, this is 9-1-1. What's your emergency?"

"I just fell down the stairs," I choke back tears. "All I can feel is searing pain, please help me." I give her my address and she says paramedics will be here as quickly as possible.

"Ken," I yell. "Ken!" He appears at the top of the stairs, annoyance clear on his face. I wiggle the phone, he opens his hands, and I toss it right up into his cupped hands. With that he leaves without a word. I sigh, my lungs burning as I inch my hand towards my purse that sits beside the dryer. Grabbing the straps, I hear the front door burst open; EMTs spreading among the stair door. They look down at me, passing along the gurney, and two EMTs greet me downstairs. Two more follow, two by my bottom - two at my top. With one swift movement I'm on the gurney and strapped. I nestle my purse in my lap as I get rushed up the steps, into the ambulance, and towards the hospital. Not once do I see Ken, not once - not at all.

My left leg and foot are broken, and the back of my head is bandaged over bleeding cuts in two pleases. Other than that, I'm fine. At the moment I have the decision of a wheelchair or crutches to get around with for the next month or two.  If I was in a wheelchair I wouldn't be able to do laundry... If I choose crutches it'd be harder to scrub the toilets and floors... Wheelchair over all would be the better option.

Doctor Marbley comes back in, standing at the foot of my bed. "Madeline, how did you say you got hurt?" I know what he's doing. He's making sure I keep my story straight so he doesn't think something else happened.

"I was scrubbing the kitchen floor, the washer beeped, I jumped up to go downstairs, and I slipped on the wet floor and fell down the stairs."

"Okay then miss Rose, I'll go gather up paperwork while," he gestures toward the door where a nurse stands. "While nurse Janet will take you to get your cast on." With that he's gone and nurse Janet rolls over a wheelchair. 

She pushes me down a long hallway and within ten minutes (give or take); I have a turquoise colored cast over my left leg and a clamp type thing attached to my foot along with the cast.