Is this the final stop? (Toni Shalifoe)

Chapter 53

Dot tries to shine a light in Toni's eyes, and she knows instantly from her pupils, they should be constricting and getting smaller in reaction to the bright light. But instead, Toni's pupils don't change at all. It's like she's not looking directly into a flashlight.

She's already exhibiting symptoms of a concussion.

Shelby is standing and waving at the ambulance careening into the parking lot. She runs back to Toni and holds her hand, "It's okay now, you gotta just hold on a little longer, yeah? Can you do that for me?"

Toni winces in response. Or in pain. Shelby's eyes shoot over to Dot, "What's happenin', Dottie?" Her voice is small and sounds so young, like she's putting all her trust in Dot's response. To tell her everything is going to be okay. That whatever she says will be the truth.

The medics rush in. Dot doesn't answer Shelby. She lists off what she's observed from Toni, "Possible concussion. She got hit in the stomach a lot, probably a broken rib. The veins in her neck look weird. Her breathing sounds underwater—" her eyes flick to Shelby, almost like she doesn't want the girl to hear it. She leans in closer to the man and lowers her voice, "Could it have punctured her lung?"

The man with blue gloves is nodding, hands moving fast, "Thanks, we can handle it from here." His partner comes to his side and they are carefully lifting Toni into the gurney.

Shelby has no idea where it came from. One moment it was just the three of them, but now there's medics circling them, yelling out terms with too many syllables. She feels someone grab her arm.

Another first responder, a woman with kind eyes, says to her, "John Sealy Hospital." Shelby's eyes widen. She shakes her head, "No, I have to go with her—"

"You can meet us there, all friends—"

"I'm family!" Shelby screams. Because maybe, one day, she will be. "Family. She's my foster sister. Her old foster dad. He came back. He did this." Shelby finally finds her voice.

"You were here? When it happened?"

Shelby nods, swallowing hard, "Not for all of it." She says, like she's blaming herself.

"C-spine has been immobilized. Let's treat all external injuries in the unit," the man says, raising the gurney and moving it.

The woman nods and leads her into the ambulance, "You can tell us what you saw on the way. And keep her company. A familiar face will help her."

She looks back at Dot, already getting whisked away, and Dot says to her, "Go. I'll tell everybody, but..." her voice trails off, "But I can't break this to Martha. You gotta—"

And the doors slam shut, ending her conversation with Dot. She watches as Dot gets smaller in the little window she's seeing through. Her hand is clutched onto Toni's. She's not sure how long she's been holding it.

The lights in the ambulance are cold and bright. Everything's been a blur for Shelby. There are strange sounds. The medic belts her in, she feels the tightening strap on her waist.

"I'm finding vascular trauma," the male medic says, he's hunched over Toni's body. Her shirt has been cut just below her chest, still giving her privacy, but also giving the medic access to her ribs.

"What's your name?" The female medic asks softly.

"That's Toni. Toni's the one who's hurt." Shelby watches as the male medic puts a supplemental oxygen mask over Toni's mouth. Toni is all that matters.

"We know. We received the call, but what's your name?"

Shelby cocks her head at the woman, she didn't call. How did they come so fast? She answers the woman, "Shelby?" Her voice even betrays her, like she's unsure of her own name.