chapter 18
"Your dad is here," Nurse Callie said, appearing behind me from the door to the Nurse's station. "You were supposed to be lying down."
"I thought that I was going to throw up," I lied. "Walking around helped."
I followed her to the front office. Hugh was standing in his tweed coat, looking uncomfortable and worried. There were circles under his eyes. When he saw me, both relief and unanswered questions flickered on his face.
"What happened?" he asked, hugging me and avoiding my nose. He was talking to Callie. She opened her mouth to speak, but McPherson breezed in from the hallway.
"Just a little accident during gym class," he said, ugly smile appearing beneath his bushy moustache.
"What kind of accident, Edgar?" Hugh said coldly. I had no idea that was McPherson's first name, and it took me a second to connect the two.
"Another student hit her with a tennis ball," Callie supplied.
McPherson gave her a look that said shut up.
"The situation has been dealt with. I assure you that everyone here feels terrible about it."
"The situation has not been dealt with," Hugh said, getting angry. His arm was still around my shoulder. "My child was just injured on your property. I want answers. Who is responsible?"
"The identity of the student isn't important..." McPherson started.
"Lainey Ford," I mumbled. McPherson turned, looking at me like I was a bug to squish.
"And why not?" Hugh said, laughing angrily. "How much money have the Fords dumped into this pet project of the Thornhill Society? Of course they would have you comfortably stashed in their back pocket."
"Thornhill has nothing to do with this!" McPherson said, raising his voice in anger. I just wanted to lie down. This was too much. The walls started to undulate, the counter swooping up and down. Nurse Callie and I made eye contact.
"Gentlemen, I think that's enough. Ariel needs to see a doctor," Callie advised, stepping in between them. That brought Hugh back down to earth. She handed him my backpack, which had appeared in one of the office chairs.
"Right now, I need to drive my daughter to the emergency room," Hugh said through gritted teeth. "But this discussion isn't over."
McPherson nodded his head and retreated, swinging his arms like a soldier. Hugh, grim faced, signed me out of the office and led me out.
"Good luck," Callie said, and winked at me.
It was raining heavily when we got out to the parking lot. Hugh opened the umbrella he'd bought over our heads. We didn't speak until we were safely buckled inside his car.
"Accident?" Hugh echoed, turning to me. His eyebrows were raised nearly up to his sandy hair. He waited for my reply.
I bit my bottom lip. How could I put it so Hugh wouldn't get all up in arms? I didn't want my family to go up against Lainey's; she was right, they would bankrupt us for looking at them funny.
"That's what she says," I said carefully. "We were playing tennis in gym, and she hit the ball, which struck my nose. It could have been an accident, yes."
He studied my face, gently grabbing my chin and rotating my head side to side.
"I think you made enemies with the wrong person," was all he said, and started the car.
We spent the afternoon at the hospital. The emergency waiting room was packed when we arrived, full of coughing kids and broken limbs. It took nearly forty-five minutes for the triage nurse to get to me. I felt goofy as I explained what had happened.
After more waiting in the exam room, a technician performed a CT scan on my head to check for problems. But when the doctor breezed in, he told me there was no internal bleeding or real cause for concern.
"And there's just a small fracture at the top of the bridge," he said cheerfully, as if it were good news. Did he not see that I was a fifteen year old girl, not a football player?
"My nose is broken?" I asked, horrified.
"Yes. But once it heals you shouldn't notice any difference in the way you look," he said dismissively, before hurrying back out into the hall. Easy for him to say.
"You'll be okay," Hugh said, more to himself than me, his voice cracking.
Hugh stopped at the drugstore on the way home, and stocked up on ice packs and tabloids, the best reading material when one is incapacitated.
"Does this mean I get to stay home tomorrow?" I asked.
"I suppose it does," he said, a tired smile forced on his lips.
I leaned my head against the window. It bumped against the glass as the tires navigated potholes. My eyes kept sliding shut, lids heavy from a combination of swelling, tiredness, and medicine. I was suddenly very hungry but food sounded gross.
By the time we got home it was dark. We went inside and Claire squeezed me in a tight hug. It was a rare show of affection, for her. I patted her back through her jacket for comfort.
Pulling back, she inspected my face like Hugh had; only her hands were on my cheeks. Exchanging one of her glances with Hugh, sharing their worries silently.
"I wanted to come to the hospital," Claire said, apologetic. "I couldn't get off of work, and your father said it was alright. She looks awful, Hugh."
"Thanks so much," I said.
"She's fine, Claire. The doctor checked her out, he ran a head scan, and he didn't find anything to concern him. Her nose will heal. She's going to be okay."
He preached all of this as if trying to convince himself. He couldn't stand still in the kitchen, tossing his keys on the counter and drumming his knuckles, then pacing over to the fridge and back. Unspent anger colored his cheeks.
"Honey, why don't you go take a shower?" Claire said to me. That meant they wanted me out of the way so that they could argue. "The steam will probably make you feel better," she finished.
The suggestion did sound heavenly. My back was sore from both falling on the floor and lying in the hospital bed. Falling through the floor my thoughts whispered. You fell through the floor and you saw...
"Yeah, I think I'll do that," I said, willing my thoughts away. It was just a dream, no different than when I had dreamed she was at the orphanage. So what if I had seen the ghost of a little girl merely a few days ago. That was a totally different experience. A person had to be dead to be a ghost. Jenna had run off, like everyone said, and was now living it up, and had totally forgotten the small town she came from. But her eyes were black...the same little voice of my thoughts whispered. I shook my head.
I went into the downstairs shower. Hugh and Claire talked in hushed voices, but I could still make out a few words."
"Is it dangerous for her to be at that school?" Claire asked.
"I don't know," Hugh said after a moment.
I paused, shivering in the bathroom even though it was warm. I hadn't thought about it like that. I turned the shower on hot, letting the steam fill the bathroom and fog up the mirror.
"There's definitely favoritism," Hugh said. "The Thornhill reach extends all the way into the classrooms."
"You really think it has to do with that silly committee?" Claired wondered aloud.
Hugh didn't respond.
I undressed and stepped into the shower. The sharpness was beginning to return to the pain in my face, meaning the painkillers were wearing off on schedule. I shampooed quickly, then just stood in the hot water. It felt good on my aching face.
I got out eventually, fully expecting Claire and Hugh to be yelling. But there was silence. The kitchen was empty by the time I had gotten dressed. It must have meant they had retreated to their individual corners.
A few pieces of baked chicken sat on a cookie sheet on the stovetop. I made myself a small plate, and while I didn't usually take food to my room, I figured this time would be alright. I trudged down the stairs with my tabloids and my food.
It didn't take long after eating and taking my pills to fall asleep.
The next morning I woke up to find Hugh had already called in, for both of us.
"What if Gwen needs you there?" I protested.
"Gwen runs the place better than I do. Have a seat," was his reply.
He slid two pieces of French toast from a skillet onto my plate. My favorite breakfast food since I was a little girl. I couldn't taste anything very well because of my nose, but it was still a nice change from plain cereal.
I spent the day lazing about the house, watching daytime TV and putting together an old puzzle I found underneath the couch. I wondered what Theo was doing, hoping she was keeping her anger to herself. And I wondered if Henry had heard about me getting hurt.
Around 3:30, I heard a knock on the front door. I got off the couch were I had been watching courtroom shows and answered it.
Theo stood on the porch. She smiled sympathetically when she saw me. The world behind her looked inviting after being cooped up all day. I didn't know how I'd lasted so long over the summer inside.
"How are you?" she asked.
"Bored," I said. "Come in. Did I miss anything at school?" I shut the door behind her.
"No, nothing as exciting as yesterday," Theo said, taking off her sneakers. "You are the gossip around school, though." She ran a hand through her hair. "Henry asked me how you were; I thought you would want to know that."
A little thrill went through me. "Oh." I wondered why he hadn't gotten a hold of me himself.
We sat down on the couch. It took a moment before either of us spoke. Theo picked up the cushion behind her and hugged it to her chest. Her admission yesterday about Jenna hung heavy in the air.
"I wanted to check on you," she started. "But I also wanted to tell you more about what I said yesterday."
I sat up straighter, bracing myself for whatever bad news she would share.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about seeing Jenna before," Theo said.
"Are you sure it was her that you saw?" That was the biggest question that had been nagging at me to ask her.
"Positive."
Hope inside me deflated, right when I realized I was holding onto it. Theo ran her finger along the hollow of her pale throat.
"She was wearing a necklace with her name on it."
"I gave her that necklace," I said. I ripped a tissue to pieces with my fingers and didn't realize it until I looked down at the mess on my lap. I scooped up the pile and put it on a leftover plate on the table. "For her tenth birthday. She gave me a turtle piggy bank."
We were silent.
"She didn't do anything to me," Theo said finally. "It was sort of how it was when you saw Henry stand by and watch that kid get beaten up. She didn't do anything wrong, really, but she didn't stop it, either."
I nodded. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I was starting to think there things about Jenna that I didn't know.