Wildest Dreams OCxAdam Banks

10. Night Walks

"You're sure you aren't too tired? Because we can go back if you want."

"Flora, I'm fine. I promise." Adam chuckled. After getting back from the North Stars game, Flora asked Adam if he wanted to go for a walk around the neighborhood. He happily said yes as Adam Banks would never turn down an opportunity to be around Flora Jackson. 

It was starting to get dark out but Flora wasn't ready to be in for the night just yet. The pair began their short walk to the pond even though they didn't have their skates, it was still their favorite place to be. There was a slight breeze in addition to the pre-winter air. Flora's baby hairs blew against her face as they walked.

"You wanna go on the ice?" Adam asked.

"We don't have our skates though," Flora informed Adam jokingly. "What if we fall?"

"We don't need our skates," Adam stepped onto the frozen pond and began to walk slowly, trying not to slip. "C'mon, we fall on the ice all the time."

"Yeah, but we have pads on from head to toe. And even then it still hurts sometimes."

"I won't let you fall, Flora. I promise." She still wasn't convinced it was a good idea, but Flora followed Adam onto the ice. He held his hand out for Flora to grab once she reached him. The two started to walk around the pond, realizing that it actually wasn't too difficult in their sneakers. 

"You think I can run as fast here as I can on my skates?" Adam asked Flora confidently.

"No way, you can't glide with your sneakers like you can with skates. And that's a terrible idea."

"Just let me try, please?" Adam begged like a child.

"Fine, but if you fall on your butt I'm not helping you up," Flora told him.

"Deal" Adam ran as fast as he could on the ice. It definitely wasn't as fast as he could on his skates but Flora was quite impressed that he didn't wipeout. "See, I'm fine!" Adam shouted from the other end of the pond. "Try it! See if you can go faster than me!"

Flora wasn't so sure. She and Adam had walked around the frozen pond just fine and Adam had successfully run across, but it still seemed a little risky. The Ducks had just made it to the playoffs and now was not the time to be messing around where someone could get hurt. 

On the other hand, Flora had realized she needed to stop being so anxious about everything. She needed to just let go and chill out for once. Besides, Adam promised when they got there that he wouldn't let anything happen to her.

"Fine, I'll do it!" Flora called back. Adam backed all the way up to the edge of the pond to give Flora space in case she slid a little after running. She got into a slight lunge with her right foot in front and let some air out of her mouth. Flora began running at full speed towards Adam. It was definitely more difficult to run on the ice, but Flora didn't feel as unstable as she thought she would. That was until things took a turn for the worse.

It was too dark for Flora to see anything besides Adam straight ahead of her and the street lights behind him. She couldn't see the ice in front of her but wasn't too concerned since Adam had just taken the same path. Well. she wasn't too concerned until there was a rock at her feet.

Flora didn't have time to stop before reaching the small rock in the center of the ice. She tried to brace herself by putting her arms out so if she did fall onto the ice, she wouldn't hit her head. As Flora went forward and down into the ice, her hands couldn't grip onto the ice. She continued to slide forward, her body hitting the ice, hard.

"Flora!" She heard Adam call. He sped halfway across the frozen pond to where Flora lay on the ice. Adam slid down onto his knees next to her. Her breathing was labored as she cried, holding her arm into her chest. Adam could see blood trickling onto her jacket. "It's gonna be ok Flora, I got you." Adam stayed calm and ripped his jacket off. He wrapped it around Flora's profusely bleeding arm and helped her sit up. She was crying so much she couldn't even speak.

Adam got Flora onto her feet while they both held his jacket, careful not to touch where the gash was. They walked slowly to the sidewalk and Adam watched the ground to make sure there was nothing else to trip over. 

Flora cried the entire walk home, not saying a word. Adam kept one hand on his jacket and the other around Flora. He was whispering the whole time. "We're almost there, Flora."  When the two arrived at Flora's house, they could hear the Jacksons setting up the dinner table. When they entered the dining room, Sean was sitting at the table while Bill and Mary set down a casserole dish and a salad bowl.

"Flora, we're just about ready for din-" Mary Jackson stopped speaking the second she saw her daughter sobbing with a bloodied jacket wrapped around her arm. She and Bill ran over to Flora and Adam, immediately taking Adam's place. "Oh my gosh, what happened?" Mary asked in a panicked voice.

"She tripped and fell on the ice. I tried to wrap my jacket around the cut but it wouldn't stop bleeding." Adam told them with a bit of panic creeping into his voice. "I'm so sorry."

"We need to get her to the hospital," Bill said. Mary nodded and grabbed her car keys. The two adults ushered Flora outside and into the back of their gray sedan. She still had tears rolling down her cheeks. Adam stood on the porch and watched them pull out of the driveway and drive out of sight. Once they were gone he ran over to his house and burst in the door. There were tears beginning to well in his eyes.

Inside the Banks house, Linda Banks was sitting on the couch knitting and watching the news. When she saw Adam, she immediately knew something was wrong.

"Adam, what happened?" She asked as he came and sat down next to her.

"It's all my fault." He whimpered.