Eva, thanks for the encouragement and gentle nudging.
~~~~~
Oh my, I just reread the last chapter. I have to admit that i do NOT proof read, but that was rediculous. I was trying out my new Dragon Speach. Maybe it didn't understand my southern slang. Anyway, sorry about that.
~~~~~
Russ sent me up stairs to see if my mother would be able to go to the hospital. I ran, but she was still in the bed and I was unable to wake her. I went back down stairs to Russ. He was hanging up the phone as I walked in the door.
“She isn’t able to go, Russ.”
“That’s OK City. I’ll go, you can come with. I tried to call your dad at his office number, but they said he left hours ago.”
We all three hurried out to Georgia’s car and headed for the hospital. Russ reached his hand over and patted my leg.
“It’s ok, I’m sure she will be fine.” Russ raised his hand and wiped his fingers across my face. I didn’t realize that I had been crying, but my face was wet and my shirt was damp from tears.
I shook my head at him and he returned his hand to my leg. I reached into the glove box and got a napkin to wipe my face.
I silently prayed that God not leave me alone during this. I pleaded with God not to take my sister yet. I promised Him that I wouldn’t lie, eat too much, cuss under my breath if he’d just let my sister live. I tried to get my tears under control before I spoke again.
“Did they say what happened or how Georgia and Cami are?” I was hopeful that he would say that everything was fine, but he just shook his head.
“It’s ok, guys. If she had died they would have said someone needed to identify the body,” Michael leaned up from the back seat trying to be comforting. I just began to cry harder thinking about having to identify my sweet sister.
“Shut up, Michael, you’re not helping at all,” Russ stated trying to hold back his emotion.
Michael sighed and leaned back. I turned to see Russ wipe a tear from his face and dry his hand on his jeans.
I began to pray again. This time, I had a little more resolve that Georgia would make it through this and be ok.
It didn’t take us long to reach the local hospital. Russ pulled around to the emergency entrance and parked Georgia’s car carelessly. We all got out and headed to the door. Russ grabbed my hand and stopped me as we walked to the door.
“Savannah, no matter what goes on here, it’s ok. I won’t leave you. Are you gonna be ok?” He had leaned down so that he was on my level and was looking into my eyes. Isn’t this what I had prayed for? For me not to be left alone. Somehow, at this moment, it didn’t make me feel any better about the scenarios running through my head.
“I just want my sister. Let’s go.” I was glad that I had put extra napkins from the car in my pocket because the water works started. I walked further into the door and Russ followed with a now silent Michael behind.
Once inside, Russ took the lead and walked us all to the information desk and asked about Georgia. We were told that only one of us could go back to her room and the other two would have to sit in the waiting area.
Russ and I looked at each other and without a word he grabbed Michael and my shoulders and sat us in chairs next to the desk and turned to go see Georgia. I guess we decided.
The wait was agonizing. Michael tried carrying a few conversations, but I ignored his attempts. I kept my eyes on the door Russ had gone through. It led to the rooms where the emergency patients were treated.
I waited.
I tapped my toes on the floor.
I rubbed my hands on my jeans.
I crossed my legs in the chair.
I uncrossed my legs.
I stood up to walk to the door, but Michael grabbed my arm and sat me back down.
I waited.
I squirmed in my seat.
All the time never taking my eyes off the door. I prayed that Russ would come out and say that it was OK. Maybe the hospital had gotten someone’s name wrong and Georgia was at home ticked off because her car was gone. At this thought I settled back into my seat and allowed my eyes to wonder from the door.
I looked around the waiting room to see all the people who were waiting to be seen. It was noting exciting. No gun shot wounds or knives sticking out of anyone’s chest. It was pretty much run of the mill stuff. One guy was holding a pack of frozen peas on his face. His lip and eye were swollen and the leg of his jeans looked as if had been burned up to the knee. I knew there had to be a story to go along with him.
Before my thoughts could go into what had happened to him the door opened to reveal Georgia being helped out by a smiling Russ. She didn’t look too bad. Her face was bruised over one cheek and she was wearing scrubs instead of her outfit. I saw that Russ was being careful where he held her and that she was walking slowly.
I shot up from my seat and ran to her. I stopped right before I reached her when Russ held up his hand. Georgia put her free hand around my shoulder and gently hugged me to her side. I began to cry as we all four walked out to her car.
Russ helped Georgia into the front passenger seat while Michael and I got into the back. I sat quietly while Russ fussed over Georgia’s seat belt and made sure that she was comfortable before starting the car.
“Well, what happened?” The question came from Michael, surprising us all.
Georgia kept her head facing straight ahead. I could hear the emotion in her voice when she finally spoke.
“Cami was driving. The light was green so she drove through. The bus ran the red light from the other direction and hit us in the driver’s side.” She paused for a few moments, sniffling a few times before continuing. “Cami broke some bones and will have to be in the hospital for a while. She looks so bad…” He voice broke and she left the story there.
Russ continued to drive carefully towards our home. We all sat in silence. After a few minutes I noticed that we had driven past our road and were still going. I leaned up to ask where we were going and Russ answered that he had called his sister from the hospital and that she was ready for him to come home.
We dropped Michael off at his house and went to ours. I became really nervous about what my dad would say about Georgia’s accident. I could feel the anticipation rising as we pulled into the driveway and parked Georgia’s car. I wiped my hands on my jeans as I got out of the car. I looked up to see Russ had already ran around the car to help Georgia out. He gently lifted her body until she was standing on her own. I dropped my eyes from her because I could never remember Georgia looking so fragile.
“Dad’s home. What do you think he’s gonna say?” So, it had to be asked.
“Dad will be fine, Savannah. I promise, it’ll be ok. Go wait at the door. I want to talk to Russ for a minute.” I did what I was told and walked up the walk way to the front door.
I sat on the front step and waited for her to be done talking to Russ. But, I got impatient and snuck back down the walkway so that I could hear what they were saying.
When I peeked around the corner I saw that Georgia was leaned against the side of the car and Russ was standing very close. He whispered something to Georgia and quickly pecked her lips. He backed away, but she caught his shoulder before he went too far. She slid her hands around his neck and he kissed her again. This time it lasted longer before he pulled away.
“I don’t know, Russ. What would Savannah have done if I had died or had to have been in the hospital for a while. I tried to teach her to fight, but she’s just not big enough yet. I don’t know what to do,” Georgia was crying.
Russ leaned in and kissed her forehead before putting his hands on her shoulders and leaning her head up so that they were looking into each other’s eyes. “I promise I will be there for you and Savannah. I couldn’t stand it if he hurt either one of you.” Georgia began to sob as Russ gently pulled her into his chest.
He held her, neither of them moving for several minutes. I felt as if I shouldn’t be watching, but I couldn’t look away. Just as Georgia began to pull away from Russ, headlights announced a car pulling into the driveway. I ducked so that no one would see me and ran back to the front door. I waited for a few minutes, then walked back to the driveway.
I saw that the car was Chris’ date dropping him off. He was talking with Georgia and Russ. As I walked down the driveway to the group they began to wave at the girl in the car as she backed out and drove away.
“Hey, Chris,” I said in a small voice. I bet they had forgotten about me.
“Hey Little City. I bet you’re glad you didn’t tag along with your sister tonight,’ he grinned as he tasseled my hair.
“Yeah, I,” My sentence was cut short by my dad yelling out the back door.
“Ya’ll need to get in the house, right now. There’s no reason for you to be out this late.” He yelled and then was gone.
“Hey, Russ, are you staying the night? We can do something in the morning if you want,” Chris asked and Russ nodded his head.
Russ helped Georgia into the house and to her room before leaving her for the night.
“Dad’s downstairs. I heard the television when we came in. Everything’s alright, for tonight,” Georgia gritted out between her clinched teeth.
“So, what all is wrong with you?”
“My face is just bruised up, but I have two cracked ribs. I’m pretty lucky. It could have been a lot worse.” She attempted a smile. "Cami got the worst of it, but she'll be ok. We will need to go see her in the morning."
A small silence swirled as I got my courage to speak the next words.
“Georgia?”
“Yes.”
“I saw you kiss Russ. I didn’t mean to see, I just got tired of waiting,” I stammered out my confession.
“Oh, Savannah, that’s ok. I hope you may even see me kiss him again. He’s been so sweet to me. I could see myself falling for him. What do you think?”
“Well, he had told Michael that you were hot,” I smiled with my relay of information.
“Really?” Her smile spread across her face and she positioned her body closer to me.
“Tell me what he said, savannah. Don’t leave out anything,” she pleaded with a grin.
“Well,” I paused for dramatic effect, “when you walked out the front door with Cami, Michael turned to Russ and agreed that you were hot. So, he must have been talking about you before he got here.” Georgia’s face got a dreamy expression and she flopped back on the bed.
“AWW!”
“Georgia, are you ok?” She was holding her side and I could see tears threatening to spill over. I gently got beside her and put my hand on hers as if I could feel her pain radiating.
The bedroom door flung open and we both looked around to see Russ come in with Chris right behind him. Concern filled both the boy’s eyes. Russ moved me to the side and began to smooth Georgia’s hair back. This seemed to ease her pain a little because the tears were gone.
After a while Georgia seemed to recover well. The boys left to Chris’ room and I went to sleep beside Georgia in her bed. I couldn’t help but to think about how close Georgia had come to being killed that night. Maybe the dream was about this accident. Maybe Georgia was safe now and this would be all she suffered. I didn’t really believe it, but it helped me sleep that night.
~~~~~
The next day, Georgia and I were awakened by smells of breakfast cooking and my dad singing. Georgia sent me into the kitchen to eat and told me she’d be there in a few minutes. I happily bounced into the kitchen. Dad was singing. That meant he was in a good mood. That meant no fighting today, hopefully.
I was right. He had cooked one of his famous breakfasts. I looked at the counter to see biscuits, bacon, pancakes, and eggs. I looked at the cooktop and saw that he was just finishing the potatoes and a pan of gravy. Let’s not forget I was a plump kid, so this really excited me.
Dad looked up at me with a genuine smile. “Are you hungry pumpkin?”
“Yeah, it looks great. I’ll have some of everything,” my eyes twinkled.
“Sit down and I’ll bring it to you. Is your sister up yet?”
“Uh, she’ll be in soon.”
He brought me my plate and got his too. He came around to sit next to me and we talked about me watching movies with Russ. I related all my favorite scenes, and we laughed together.
After a while Chris and Russ came in and gawked at the food displayed. Dad told them to help themselves and they took him up on his offer. Bother of them piled their plates high. They came and sat beside us, leaving a space beside me for Georgia.
Georgia walked in gingerly a few seconds later. She smiled with teeth together as if that controlled the pain caused by her bruises. She got a little food on her plate and eased herself onto the chair beside me. She began eating as we all stared at her.
“Honey, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
We all looked at my dad as if he had two heads and one was on fire. Did he seriously just become concerned about his own daughter?
“Yeah, dad, I’m fine. I just fell down the steps last night. I fine though,” she lied with great ease.
“Are you sure that’s all it is?”
“Yeah, I’ll be better in no time,” she beamed.
“I hope so because we are going to the lake house next weekend. I wanted to tell you both. I know you get excited for the first visit every year.”
“It’s time for the lake again, really!” I was so excited.
“That’s great, Dad. I’m sure I’ll feel better by then. I can’t wait.” There was a smile on Georgia’s face but I could tell she was grimacing inside.
Dad turned to Chris who had been sitting quietly throughout the exchange, “You can come too. I’ll take you out on the boat. Sound good?” Dad actually looked hopeful. Opening the lake house marked his favorite time of year. We would start going to the lake every weekend and he went by himself sometimes when Mom got too much for him.
“Sounds good, Will. I’ll have to see,” Chris shot his answer.
“Russ, you’re welcome to come too…as long as you keep your hands off my daughter. I don’t want a repeat of the scene in the driveway last night. Understand?” Dad’s glare was stern, but his offer stood.
Russ choked on his bite of pancake, “…yeah, sounds good…and…no…no repeats…sir.” Russ’ face turned red and he began to examine the food in his plate closely.
I laughed and shoved my last bite into my mouth getting up to leave. I placed my dishes in the sink, gave the group at the table one last glance, and walked away still laughing. I loved going to the lake. My parents didn’t fight there and I was given ultimate freedom. Nothing could bring me down today. Just a few more days and I’d be funnin’ and sunnin’ at the lake.