Something So Small

8

CHAPTER 8 –

*Friday 16th May*

A while back I remember thinking, ‘I am over the moon! Eliza is due to come out of hospital today!’

It had been three weeks and four days (twenty-five days in total) that Eliza had been in hospital and she was finally going to come out and go back home. I crossed the ‘FRI 16 MAY’ square off my calendar and started getting ready for the day. It was nearly the weekend – I just had to last one more day at school.

The whole time Eliza was in hospital, I only went to visit her twice. She was always quite talkative and excited to see me. She loved it when I was there because she liked to talk to me. Unfortunately, she said she did not remember the day of the accident. I suppose it might be really scary if she did remember it because she would not want to think about it. There were a few other little things she couldn’t quite recall but the doctors said, hopefully, it will be fine.

As Eliza broke her leg, she has to use crutches. Some of the time she is lucky enough to get to use a wheelchair or get carried, but she says she loves swinging on the crutches because they’re really fun apparently! (Apart from the fact she said she’s got blisters over her hands) Her leg should be healed within a few of months, anyway. That Friday when Eliza was due to come home, we (‘we’ being her friends and family) arranged a surprise party for her, at her house. When she and Catherine both walked through their front door, everyone yelled,

“SURPRISE!” Eliza was delighted to see everybody. It got her really happy and took her mind off things. She loved speaking with all her school friends as she wasn’t able to see them for a while. I think she was also pleased to be back at her own home with her mum. It must have been so overwhelming for her, but I bet having a small party just for her was just what she wanted, in order to make her feel slightly better.

After about 20 minutes, when she spotted me at the party, she didn’t hesitate to give me a big hug.  It was so lovely, to hold her in my arms again. The way she wrapped her arms around my waist was so soothing, though it was difficult for her to do so because she was using her crutches. She’s such a wonderful little girl and doesn’t deserve anything like what happened to her.

“Angel!” she cried. “I’ve missed you!”

“I’ve missed you too!” I told her. It’s so great to have her back again. Everything seems so different now. It’s quite hard at the moment to deal with it all but I believe it should get easier. Everything’s changed and it feels really weird. I mean, nearly four weeks ago we almost lost Eliza. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without her in it. She’s a part of it; a part I’ll never forget.

We are all having to work extremely hard to protect Eliza from the many dangers out in this big, big world. For example, when we cross the road with her, we grip onto each other so tight and make sure we double-check the left, then the right. We’re trying to be very careful with her broken leg and the cast should hopefully be off very shortly. Eliza has been left feeling traumatized but she is putting on a brave face. She was one of the very lucky ones and we are all in hope that everything will get sorted out in the end. As some say, ‘Everything is okay in the end; if it’s not okay, it’s not the end.”

Eliza means a great deal to me, and to think what else could have happened on the day of the accident is too much; I really cannot begin to explain what it were to be like if that car were to hit her a tiny bit harder, or if she were to have been bending down slightly further which would mean she didn’t make it alive. To say I’m left feeling confused, and distressed is an understatement. Little things like that could have changed everything. After all, it was that 50 pence coin which caused all this and if that coin wasn’t there, none of this would have ever taken place. Speaking of which, when I was talking to Eliza at the party, I told her,

“I’ve been meaning to give you something for quite a while now. I thought you might have wanted it.”

I then pulled out the exact 50 pence coin from the day of the accident out of my back pocket and handed it to her. I realised and told her that she was obviously so keen to have picked that coin up, that she decided to bend down in the middle of the road to get it. I instructed her to keep it safe and to be careful with it. It just goes to show the effect something so small could have on some people’s lives.