Ember

“ Thank you.” I said through gritted teeth. Dr. ‘Daniels’ turned around, giving me one last glare and disappeared back through the doors. I looked up at my Mom with a disgusted face. Usually when I gave her that face, she would say, “ What?” and then we would go into the conversation. This time she said nothing. Her lips were frowning, and I could tell she was chewing on the inside of her cheek. Her hazel eyes didn’t look at me. The red flecks that usually made her eyes seem brighter, made them look more serious and full of worry.

Before I could ask what was wrong, I heard someone call my name.
“ EM! Are you okay?” Jamie appeared, followed by the rest of the guys.
“ Of course I’m okay! What, you think you guys can get rid of me that easily? A motor bike accident? Pah.” I laughed, and they relaxed a little, but they still seemed worried.
“ How’d you fall off anyways?” Chris asked, moving his way to the front.
“ I… don’t know. I heard a weird sound, and then the bike jerked and I flew off.”

“ God, Ember I’m so sorry.” Ben’s face was full of guilt.
“ What are you talking about?”
“ The circuits on the bike. They were totally fried. I- I must have messed up the wiring somehow.” He sputtered, her eyes getting sadder with each word he spoke. I shook my head.
“ Ben, you’re the best mechanic I know. So maybe you messed up on one tiny detail? Or maybe you didn’t. Maybe it was just a freak thing. Don’t worry about it.” I gave him a smile, but he just dropped his guilty gaze.

“ Does it hurt?” Chris reached his hand up to my head. Jamie snapped his hand away angrily.
“ She just got like twelve stitches. Of course it hurts, you dumbass.”

Everyone laughed and Chris looked at everyone angrily.
“ Only ten. And you know what the weirdest part was? My doctor was that insane driver from earlier today.”

“ Man, that’s creepy. I bet he’s a stalker.” Luke looked wearily at the doors the doctor had left out of.

“ I know! And he’s just as-” I began , but my Mom cut me off.

“ Ember come on. We’re leaving.” It was if she just broke out of a trance.
“ But Mom-”
“ Now.”

All the guys went silent, and I gave them a little wave and followed my mom out slowly. The car ride home was quiet and each passing moment made me more queasy. I didn’t know what had my usually easy-going mom, so… upset. But I didn’t like it.

I felt bad for making Ben feel so guilty, and making Jamie so worried. they probably regret teaching me to motorbike in the first place. But I don’t get it. I was going fine. Then I fell off. Why?

“ Mom, are you okay?” I asked as we got out of the car in the drive way.
“ Me? I’m fine. It’s you I’m worried about.”
“ It’s just a scratch.” I mumbled.
“ It’ll leave a scar.”
“ Scars are cool.”
“ I’ll get you some medicine to put on it, so it doesn’t look so bad.” She answered. Her voice sounded strangely empty, as if she was in the middle of day dreaming, or maybe she was sleep talking when she said that last line.
“ Mom?”
“ Yeah?”
“…never mind.”

We walked into the house, and she automatically walked into the kitchen. I was guessing I would spend the rest of the day inside. I walked up to my room, kicking off my shoes and placing my hat on the banister on my way up. I sat on my bed, gingerly touching the stitches on the right side of my forehead. I realized I had a bunch of cuts and scrapes on my arms and legs too. I leaned back on my bed, trying to make sense of everything that happened today. Did Jamie really wink at me? What’s that mean? Why did I fall off that bike? Why the hell does that doctor hate me? And what’s up with that dog that’s always around? Why is Chris so annoying? Did Jamie really wink at me? Does that mean he …Why do they even allow a dog to be in the Emergency room anyways? Why the hell does that grumpy doctor get special privileges. He didn’t look blind to me. When’s the next time I would be able to hang out with Jamie?