It Started with Skinny Jeans

(Ch 13) It Started with Forgiveness

It Started with Forgiveness.

It was a little before eleven when we finally made our way back to Art Haven and I was exhausted. This day that seemed to go by so quickly, and yet it felt like the longest day of my life.

It had taken us a little over thirty minutes to get to the nearest town. The place was still buzzing with vacationers. It seemed there’d been a big event at the lake, a popular holiday attraction, and from what we could gather when we entered the emergency room was that something had gone wrong.

The place was packed with causalities. A nurse, who assisted us, informed Jackie of what happened. It seemed the big event was some kind of water competition, resulting in an accident seeing a few of the competitors in the ER. She went further to explain as the bleeding had stopped I no longer was an emergency case and would have to wait until a bed was available.

Jackie had been about to argue, but I stopped her, reassuring her I was fine to wait for a bit. We took a seat in the waiting room. It was packed with concerned relatives and friends. Whatever had happened today I’m certainly glad I wasn’t there. But then again my day hadn’t turned out all the great either considering I too am in the ER.

Our wait seemed longer than it was and I practically sighed in relief when a nurse told us we could be seen next. I think the relief was move from the fact that I hated being in hospitals and wanted nothing more than to get out of there as soon as possible.

I got onto the bed and the nurse removed the blood soaked shirt from my hand. I paled when I saw how deep the gash really was. I looked away, wrinkling my nose as the metallic smell filled my senses. She proceeded to clean the wound and I winced as the disinfectant touched my skin.

I was more than happy when it was over, but sighed when she told me I’d have to wait for a doctor to examine me further and that I’d most likely need stitches. Another period of waiting that seemed longer than it was.

When a doctor finally came, he assessed that there was no nerve damage and that my hand should heal just fine. All I needed was a few stitches and some pain pills. Some good news I was grateful for.

I’d thought the disinfectant was the worst part. It seems I was wrong. Though my hand was numb from the anaesthetic and I couldn’t feel anything, I still found myself wincing as I watched the doctor stitch me back together. I’m pretty sure I would have passed out if it hadn’t been for Raina’s supporting hand that squeezed my good one for comfort. She smiled at me, telling me I would get through this and distracted me by telling me about what happened between her and Blaine when we’d found them together at the party earlier.

Turns out he wanted her to spend a week with him and his family on a camping trip, one which they’d be taking after we wrapped up our time at Art Haven. He wanted her to spend more time with his family. I saw a lot of promise in that, not that I didn’t before. It’s so obvious to me that the two would marry someday.

Before I knew it the doc had me all stitched up and bandaged. I was looking forward to heading back and just crawling into bed, but there were some parental issues to deal with first.

Jackie had called my parents, which was the necessary thing to do. After all, their daughter had ended up in the ER. My dad had been the rational one, questioning me about the things Jackie had already relayed to them. I knew he was just worried so I explained it all again, telling him exactly what the doctor had said, while my mom wasn’t so rational at all. In fact she was hysterical.

She’d wanted me to come home on the first train out tomorrow morning. I’d panicked then. As much as all the drama of what happened today was still weighing on me, I knew running away from it all wasn’t the right thing to do. Plus, this was my last summer at Art Haven and I really wanted to see it through.