A Cinderella Story

Chapter Ten: Coming from the Cinders

Chapter Ten: Coming from the Cinders

Even though Derrick drove fast enough to make Mrs. Rice afraid to look at the speedometer they both still felt like it was taking to long to reach the city hospital's ER.

The rushed into the room to find Anna sitting in the waiting room bouncing her knee nervously.

"How is she?" Mrs. Rice asked as she sat next to her. Anna bit her bottom lip before answering.

"I don't know, they rushed her in the back and I haven't heard anything yet. There was a lot of talk of things shutting down  but I don't know what." She explained, her head turning slightly to look at the double doors that led back towards the examining rooms.  

For a long time the group just waited quietly, Derrick couldn't sit still and was often pacing the room. There were only a few other people in the waiting room, and none of them seemed serious, so they gathered it was a slow night.

Finally a man in a doctors coat came striding out from the double doors and looked over the few people waiting. His eyes landed on Anna and seemed to recognize her.

"Are you the party that is associated with Ms. Terrence?" He asked, walking over to where they were grouped.

"Yes." Anna replied, speaking for all of them. The doctor nodded and seemed to take the information in.

"How is she?" Mrs. Rice asked, unable to wait for him to get around to explaining.

"Well I will say she was very banged up. Her right hand had some serious burns on it, possibly from grabbing onto a hot doorknob. That same upper arm was also fractured, we think she must had either run into something, or fell on it. For the rest of it she has dozens of burns all over her body. Most are superficial, but those on her arms and legs are the worst.

Then there is the internal problems, her body took in a look of smoke, not to mention her body overheating. She'll have to be on oxygen for awhile, and it's going to take some time for her blood count and everything to return to normal." He explained in a calm tone.

"Where is she now?" Anna asked, seeming to file all this information away.

"We've put her in a room up on the second floor. At the moment she is the only patient in the room but that may change in the next few days. We would recommend somene she's familar with being there when he wakes up." The doctor explained, flipping qickly through a chart.

"You should stay with her mother. She knows you best." Anna said after the doctor had said some final words and walked away. The other two nodded their heads in agreement.

With that the other two got up to leave, Derrick finally looking his watch and mentioning the late hour.

"Call us when she wakes up!" Anna called back as they walked back out the doors towards the parking lot...

It didn't take Mrs. Rice long to find the room, she hesitated just inside the doorway, not sure what type of sight she would see. Making up her mind that this was still the girl that she had known before she stepped quietly into the room.

Jessica was still asleep, her face cleaned from the dirt and soot that had covered her face before, a peaceful expression on her face. Her wounded arm was done up in bandages and a sling to keep her from moving it. There were thick gauze patched over areas where the burns were the worst. Her right hand had an I.V. needle taped to it. An oxygen mask covered her nose and mouth, the soft whirring of the machine mixed with the slow beeps coming from the various monitors.

Mrs. Rice's expression softened as she looked down at the girl, she pulled a chair over, nearer to the bed. Once she was seated she took one of Jessica's hands in her own. The older woman leaned back in her chair, thinking about all that had happened in the last few hours, all in all she was praying this strong girl would come out just as well as she went in.

By the time the sun finally decided to peek it's rays through the window the older woman had already fallen partially asleep. The light did however find it's way to Jessica's face, and like all the times before this she stirred.

Mrs. Rice felt the slight tugging movement of her hand, and saw Jessica's hand slowly moving back and forth, as though questioning the fabric beneath her fingertips.

Slowly her eyes opened just looking up at the ceiling, an almost questioning look on her tired face. She tried to use her good arm to move the oxygen mask from her face, but Mrs. Rice interviened gently, but firmly, taking her hand away.

Jessica's eyes traveled towards Mrs. Rice, and a faint, but relieved smile came across her face.

"I'm glad to see you decided to join the day." Mrs. Rice said, a smile on her face. Jessica seemed to almost nod, berfore moving her gaze away and she seemed to be taking in her memories again.

"How... How much damage did I do?" Jessica managed to say, her throat obviously dry.

"You managed to bang yourself up very well in the process, you're definatly going to need some help before you will get out of here." Mrs. Rice told her truthfully, but her voice was kind. Her hand gently stroked the girls arm as she talked. Jessica seemed to expect this, well she knew it was bad, her body felt like she had been drug through red hot nails and then thrown in the street.

"But for now you're not to fret about that, you just rest and heal... At the moment I'm going to tell some anxious friends of yours that your awake." She said with a smile, getting up and pulling her cell phone out of her pocket.

Over the next few days Jessica was kept in her room, but by the end of the week the doctor pronounced she was fit enough to begin therapy.  Both her lungs, and her legs would need to gain strength before she could be released.

Through those days she was never left alone, there was always someone around, if it wasn't Derrick or Mrs. Rice, then Anna, or more surprisingly, people who had seen the first performance, and had come to meet her.

While on the outside Jessica put up a somewhat cheerful appearance, inside she felt rather empty. It would be some time before she could go back to dancing. Anna had promised that she would still  get paid for every performance even though she wasn't there. But it still wasn't the same...

She didn't regret what she did, but at the same time she wished it hadn't ended like this.  For the most part she was confined in a wheelchair, every other hour she was required to take a breathig treatment, without it she was still kept on oxygen to keep stress from her still weak lungs.

This was going to take some time, just when everything else had seemed almost perfect, no her only home was gone, and she was here. What about her a happy ending?