A Numbers Game

Chapter 4

By the time we pull up in front of the hospital I've begun to feel worse. My body is now taking on soreness and I'm contracting a killer headache with dizzy spells as an addition to my list of complaints. I stay a safe distance away from Carter just for my own piece of mind, but if he notices ,or cares, he fails to show it. He grabs me a wheel chair. I'm too tired to refuse so I plop myself in there and close my eyes in order to keep from seeing the numbers above everyones heads. Any more reminders of their existence is sure to drive me mad. I don't open them until I hear a door close and wonder if I'm alone. I think so. Relief floods me. I take a sigh at the same time Carter's voice comes in loud next to my ear.

"Are you asleep?" He asks surprisingly. I try to turn my head to look at him but instantly regret it. My head throbs and my neck burns with pain. I suppress a groan. He must be sitting on the patients bed.

"If I was, I sure wouldn't be now with your voice blaring into my ear canal like that." I say with a thin smile. I see Carter roll his eyes, it's the first reaction I get from him.

"Do you ever get tired of being so sour?" I narrow my eyes at him. I run out of time to respond with a witty remark when the doctor comes in. She has short golden hair and pristine clothes. She smiles at me warmly and the first thing I notice about her is her resemblance to her son. Both have stark grey eyes and a slender build. Unlike Carter, she sports a pleasant number 2.

"Carter here tells me you were in a pretty bad car accident. He wasn't lying when he said you looked beat up." Lovely. "Follow the light." She instructs, shining a flashlight into my eyes. "Great Job." Clicking it off and sitting in a chair clearly made just for the doctor, she looks me full in the face.

"Mind telling me what happened, dear?" I relay the story the best I can, trying to recall details about what exactly happened to my body while I was spinning.

"My, does that sound terrible. I'm sorry you had to go through such a thing. Thank God, he was there to help you out. Can I get you to lay up here?" She pats the patient bed next to me, pushing her son gently to get him off. I bite my lip and get onto the bed, trying my hardest not to make a sound, after a while of hearing myself make pitiful noises in response to pain that may not even be that bad, I've managed to annoy myself.

She rolls over to me in her exclusive chair. "Carter, love, I think they added more Funyons to the vending machine. Why don't you go buy you and your friend one?" Taking the hint, he crosses the room and is out the door.

"Now, I know I'm not your regular doctor but I'd like to check the extent of your injuries if that is okay with you." She looks to me for approval and I stare at her blankly, not really processing what she needs from me.

"Oh!, oh yeah thats cool." I burst out. A large smile appears on her face.

"Alrighty lets get started then shall we?" I sit still as she pokes, prods, and inspects me throughly. 


I sit through it with gritted teeth while she informs me that she was expecting worse.

"A few scrapes and bruises but nothing too bad. The biggest concerns is that minor case of whiplash you have and that gash you have on your shoulder. We'll dress it shortly. But just pick up some Neosporin or some bacteria fighting ointment to keep off an infection.Apply it 2-3 times a day for about a week or two. For your neck, anti-inflammatories will help with the pain and headache, icing it will be beneficial over all. Most importantly get a lot of rest. Doctor's orders." She winks at me and I grin. Thats not too bad. Nothing I haven't done before.

"Thank you. I really appreciate this." I tell her. And I did. She didn't have to help me, I'm sure she has no shortage of patients.

"Your very welcome sweetie.A friend of my son's is a friend of mine. I'm so glad he's getting along with people; the moves been hard on him. He needs someone to talk to." I feel slightly guilty. She thinks I'm a friend? I've only been trying to get away from your son ever since I met him. Mrs. Linaldo hands me her recommendation on a scrap of paper. "Just in case you forget, I know how forgetful you teens can be. And I do hope to see you again..." I sense the awkward pause coming up and rush to fill it before it arrives.