What A Rush

Small Talk and Puppy Adoption

-Kelley-

She was sitting on the sand, her knees drawn to her chest. Her bad arm was falling towards the ground, her sling laying a few feet away from her. I bit my lip, brushing away my stray tears. I didn't know what happened to her, I didn't know what her cousin said to her. But it must have been something awful. I've never seen Emily cry so much since I've known her.

It ate at my heart to see her like this, and I knew it killed her as well. I didn't know what to say to her, I didn't know how to comfort her, because I didn't know what was bothering her. It was one of my worst nightmares coming true. My girlfriend, the most important person in my life, was in distress and I didn't know how to help her.

Walking down the deck steps, I slowly and carefully made my way towards Emily. I didn't want to make things worse. Once I was beside her, I slowly sat down beside her. Glancing over at her, I saw blood soaking through the back of her shirt. I also noticed the blood slipping out from underneath her metal brace.

"Emily." I said, seeing her shake.

"I'm not-suppose to str-straighten my arm. I did it to-to reach my b-back." She stuttered out between her cries.

"Hey, it'll be alright." I said, resting my hand on her leg.

"It should've been me." She mumbled. Emily collapsed against my chest, crying into my shirt.

I let her cry, I let her cry because I didn't know how else to help her. Her tears seemed to be making her forget about her arm and her back, but they made her think of her cousin. About what he said. Emily ended up crying herself to sleep, falling heavy against my chest. I slowly and gently picked her up in my arms, and carried her back to the house.

Her aunt looked at me, a worried look on her face. I carried her to her room, and laid her down in her bed. Putting her sling back arm, I gently rested her arm against her stomach. Once she was comfortable, I looked around her room. I saw a poster of the 99 World Cup team, and pictures of her playing soccer. One picture sat on her dresser, of two people I didn't recognize. I guessed they were her parents.

The women in the picture looked exactly like Emily. Dark brown hair, electrifying green eyes, tan skin, a white smile, and she even had small tattoos. Not nearly as many as Emily, but some. I looked for any more pictures, and saw one of Emily and the woman. They looked just like each other. Walking back over to Emily, I kissed her forehead. Turning around, I slowly made my way out of Emily's room. I made my way back out into the house, and found Gwen.

"We need to talk." I said, and she simple nodded. We walked outside, and sat down on the deck steps. "So I don't speak Spanish, but whatever Raphael said to Emily destroyed her. Mind explaining a few into to me?"

"Raphael kept yelling at Emily, saying she should have been her for Kat. That she never should have left. But if that girl would have stayed here and turned down Yale, I would have forced her to go." Gwen paused, looking out at the ocean. "He said he wished Emily would have died in the crash instead of her parents." She mumbled.

"That's awful." I whispered.

"Raphael has never been good at expressing his emotions, he always kept them to himself. I guess he finally just snapped." Gwen mumbled. "Those two always use to fight, but it was over stupid things. Nothing was ever taken seriously. They loved each other."

"What happened?" I asked.

"After Emily's parents died, they just grew apart. Emily was doing physical therapy, learning how to coup with the loss. She never had time for us, because she needed to take care of herself. She was sick. She had something much worse then any cold, she was emotionally sick." Gwen said, sighing out. "The doctors described it as a phantom ghost."