LIB

Chapter 27

            “Hailey, what the hell just happened?” Blake asked in a panicked voice.

            I couldn’t get enough breath to answer, and Sophie obviously realized that because she answered for me. “She slipped and landed on her back.” She dropped to her knees beside me. “Are you okay?”

            I shook my head and a moment later Blake was kneeling beside me as well. He found my face with his hands and stroked my cheeks gently. “Can you move?” I shook my head and he cursed quietly. “Is it your back?”

            I nodded and tears started trickling down my cheeks. I finally got enough breath back so that I could talk. “I can’t move my legs,” I whispered.

            Blake wiped my tears away with his thumb. “It’ll be okay Hales. Sophie, call an ambulance and then call Jared.”

            By this time, a small crowd of people had gathered around us. I closed my eyes and concentrated on just breathing properly while Blake continued to stroke my face lightly. I heard Sophie talking on the phone, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying.

            A few minutes later, I could hear sirens approaching. I opened my eyes again and saw that Sophie was kneeling beside me once more. I gave her a weak smile, which she returned before her eyes flickered around the crowd that was surrounding us.

            I followed her gaze and realized that there were a lot more people around me now. I watched as Mr. Avery literally pushed his way to the front and then crouched down beside me. “What happened?” he asked.

            “I slipped and fell on the ice,” I replied. “I landed on my back and now I can’t move my legs.”

            The sirens grew louder and everyone turned to watch as the ambulance came to a stop a few yards away. Two paramedics climbed out immediately and one came straight to me while the other one went into the back to get some stuff.

            What happened next was a bit of a blur. I was aware of being asked questions and I know that Blake answered most of them for me. I heard him explaining to them about my history of back problems and that they had already called my physical therapist.

            As if on cue, I heard Jared’s voice above everyone else’s. “Move the hell out of my way,” he bellowed, shoving his way through the large crowd. He reached me and knelt down beside Blake. “What happened?”

            Blake then explained everything to him and I just tuned out. I was vaguely aware of being moved onto a backboard and then being placed into the back of the ambulance. Blake came with me, saying that Jared and Sophie would meet us at the hospital.

            At that point, I could feel the edges of my vision start to darken again, and this time I willingly allowed myself to fall into unconsciousness.

           

            The sound of machines beeping roused me from my unconscious state. I opened my eyes and looked around the hospital room. Blake was seated beside me and he was holding one of my hands. Jake was on my other side and he was holding my other hand. Jared and Liam were standing near the end of the bed and they were talking quietly, although I don’t know what about. I had an IV in one arm and I assumed there were pretty good drugs going into my system because my back didn’t hurt that much.

            “Hey, look who decided to wake up,” Jake said.

            Everyone’s attention was immediately on me. I looked at Blake and saw that his whole body was tense, so I squeezed his hand gently before turning my attention to Jared. “What did the doctor say?” I asked.