fragile [PREVIEW ONLY]

Chapter 4

I spent the next hour in the nurse's office arguing against calling my mother. Yes, she's my mom, and sure, she used to be a nurse, but I really didn't see the point in calling her up about something as silly as a bump on the head. The nurse kept saying something about a concussion, and she even found one of the ladies from the front office to 'translate' things to me. And by that I mean finger spell. The only ASL she actually knew was how to sign the lyrics to Michael W. Smith's "Our God Is An Awesome God."

I lost my tiny notebook when I fell, which sucks, because it would've made this situation a lot easier to handle. Plus, that notebook - while primarily used to communicate with my teachers - did contain a fair amount of private information. Here's hoping the janitors found it, because I really don't want to worry about someone discovering that I drew a cartoon depicting my calculus teacher as a zombie who sucked out all of our brains.

Needless to say, I really don't like math.

After about ten minutes, the nurse finally realized that I was asking for pen and paper and brought me a notebook. I scribbled down some made up explanation about why we couldn't call my mom - that she was at work and not allowed to answer calls or something - which she seemed to accept.

"What about your dad?" She asked me.

Nope. No dad. Absolutely not. I wrote a simple 'NO' in capital letters on the paper, and the nurse sighed before sending the lady from the front office back to her desk.

"Honey," the nurse frowned. "You need to go to the emergency room. You could have a concussion, and the doctor will just want to make sure everything is okay. More often than not, it's just a precaution, but we don't want to risk it. I can't let you go home with someone who isn't a family member, so you're gonna have to work with me here."

Nodding, I held up the paper and pointed to the word 'mom'. The nurse, catching my drift, walked over to her computer to pull up my mom's contact information from my file and lifted her phone. I didn't want to bother my mother. Not that she's a bad mom or anything, but she's been...overwhelmed lately. This probably won't help.

Twenty minutes later, my mom burst into the nurse's office blubbering about her poor baby girl. She came straight to my side, talking so fast that I could only catch a word or two here and there, so I quickly signed that I was okay and that it was just a bump on the head. Ignoring me, she pressed a kiss on my forehead before turning to face the nurse so she could receive a full report on my health.

The second we got into the car, my mom launched into a full tirade about being terrified for my health, furious with the school board for not preventing bullying in the school, and telling me that we were going to press charges against Zach.

No, I signed to her. He's in detention already, I don't want to make it worse.

"He needs to be in jail, Ava," my mom replied. "You could have brain damage. We could sue."

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head, and turned away from her. It's one of my favorite parts about being deaf. I can end any conversation simply by looking away, and my parents knew it. They couldn't keep talking at me if I refused to look at their faces, and - without seeing them - they couldn't sign either. I love my mom, but I wasn't about to let her blow this thing out of proportion. That won't make Zach and his friends leave me alone, it'll just piss them off more.

After a few seconds, she started the car and we rumbled out of the parking lot to the hospital. I was glad to be getting out of school two hours early, but all of my joy was erased after we were stuck at the hospital for three and a half hours waiting to be seen and waiting for my test results. Everything came back normal, the doctor said, but I did have a mild concussion.

Upside? I got to skip the next day at school. Downside? My mom wouldn't leave me alone.

She used to be a nurse, but she quit after I was born. The doctor said I'd have no trouble living a normal life, even with my deafness, but she didn't want her baby to be 'unsupported' in the real world. My dad tried to convince her to go back to work, but then my little brother Evan was born. Evan is hearing, and - now 12 years old - he definitely didn't need my mom to stay home anymore than I did, but she was struggling with the transition. Seventeen years as a stay-at-home mom makes it hard to break back into the working world, I guess.

Unfortunately, she really doesn't have a choice. My dad is a Systems Engineer for the San Francisco Department of Public Health, and he's not in the picture anymore. It wasn't a huge deal - he was gone a lot when we were growing up, since his job required him to regularly work nights and weekends - but it was a tough adjustment for my mom when he announced that he was moving out this summer. Somehow, he was letting us keep the house - and it was already paid off - otherwise we'd be on the streets by now. I think it was his way of assuaging his guilt for abandoning his wife and two kids. He didn't put up a fuss about child support either, but even with his money, we were struggling to make ends meet.

It doesn't help that we live in one of the richest neighborhoods in San Francisco. Well, by 'in' the neighborhood, I mean a few blocks away, but still. We've lived here my entire life, but thanks to the tech boom, we're gradually being edged out of our own neighborhood. If my mom doesn't get a job soon, we'll probably have to leave the city.

I really hope that doesn't happen. It's tough being the only deaf kid in your school, but this city makes it worth it. There are so many things to see and do, and I can pretty much go anywhere without limitations. I couldn't imagine living in some small town without public transportation where, instead of being just another person in the crowd, I end up being some kind of freak.

Thankfully, I'm graduating this year. As long as my mom could hold it together until then, I'd be fine. My school has some of the best academic programs in the city, and my grades are good enough that I should be able to get into the college of my choice. Luckily, money wasn't an option when it comes to college. I've been researching scholarship options for deaf students for the past two years, and I'm fairly confident that I can pull it off.

Like I said, all we need to do is make it through this year.