Bates

17

   Mr. Decody was nearly to the Bates' house when he started noticing the cars.

   There were a number of police cars at one end of the street, which were surrounding a fire truck and and two ambulances. Emma peered over the passenger seat in an attempt to see who they were loading into the first ambulance, with no such luck.

   Will turned around and made his way to the other end of the street. Upon closer inspection, Sheriff Romero was directing traffic and giving orders to the people on the scene, where a driver was standing near his schoolbus, waving his hands in the air as he spoke. There was already police tape surrounding the area. Dylan and Norma could barely be seen in the second ambulance. Norma was crying.

~                                                                                                                                                                                                 ~

    It all started when Norma promised to meet her son at the bus stop.

   It was Norman's eighth birthday. His mother was so busy preparing for his party that she couldn't pick him up from school, yet she promised to meet him at the bus stop to make up for it.

   The bus stopped just short of the bench Norma was sitting on. The red STOP sign flipped out. Norma watched the doors open and waited for her sons to appear. She could hear an engine revving in the distance and wondered what all the commotion was about. Her gaze drifted back to the bus windows, where she could see a few kids moving to let her sons through.

   The engine grew louder as it approached. The hair on Norma's neck began to raise as she realized it wasn't slowing down. The gray car sped on then swerved, barely missing the edge of the bus, passing into the lane where kids were getting off. 

   Norman was out in front of Dylan. His eyes grew wide as the car sped towards them both, zig-zagging as it went.

   Norma's breath hitched in her throat. Dylan saw what was coming and threw himself against the side of the bus, his expression wild as he called out to his brother.

   Norman froze.

   "NORMAN, LOOKOUT!"

   Norma was hardly aware of what happened as she launched herself from the bench, tackling her son to the side. Her ears barely registered the sound of his head hitting the pavement before her ankle gave a sickening snap.

   A loud crash signified the end of the car's deathly drive. Norma cradled her son, only lifting her head when the ringing in her ears stopped. "Ma'am, are you alright?" she glanced up, her blurry vision giving hardly any clue to the features of the man who spoke. The bus driver, her mind told her.

   She sighed, hardly knowing what to say. Norman clung like a bat to his mother. The spot where his head hit the pavement was bleeding a little. "Norman, honey, speak to me."

   "Mom?" he looked up at her, his blue eyes startled.

   She started to cry. "It's okay, baby, I'm here. Are you alright, do you feel okay?"

   "My head hurts a little," he said, reaching for the back of his head. When he look his hand away, his fingers were spotted with blood. "I'm bleeding."

   Norma glanced up at the bus driver again. "He's bleeding-- and there's something wrong with my ankle," she reached down as if to touch it, then decided against it.

   The bus driver picked up Norma and laid her on one of the seats. Dylan helped Norman sit next to her as they pulled off the road. The driver called 911. Norma reached into her blouse, pulling out her crushed phone. "Hello, Alex...there's been an accident."

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   "Somebody came through and crashed into the bus stop. It-- it was really close, but everyone's alive. Norma's got a broken ankle."

   "Was the guy drunk?"

   "He...he seemed to be having an accident of his own."

   Will shook his head. "I'll follow Norma to the hospital, if you'd like."

   "That would be great, Will. Thanks."

   Will turned around again. Emma was as silent as ever.

   They arrived right behind the ambulance, and followed Norma through the emergency entrance. Her eyes were as round as saucers. "Mr. Decody? What are you doing here? Is everything okay with Emma?" she asked, eyeing the little girl.

   Will fought down a chuckle. "She's fine, Mrs. Romero. I was on the way to Norman's party and saw the accident..." he paused. "Well...what's left of it, anyway. I asked Alex if he wanted me to follow you in, and he thought you'd like the company."

   Her cheeks were rosy red, and he was afraid that she might cry again. "Thank you, Will," her gaze drifted to Emma. "Hello, honey, are you doing okay?"

   Emma smiled. "I'm still here, aren't I?"

   Norma chuckled in response.

~                                                                                                                                                                                                 ~

   The gash on Norman's head was bandaged promptly. The doctor's told Norma that a concussion was not out of the realm of possibility, and to keep a close eye on him during the next day or two.

   Norma's examination took about an hour. It was determined that one of her fibula had busted into multiple fragments, which most certainly required surgery. They scheduled the surgery for later that day, with the young woman's consent. Norma agreed with the knowledge that Will would take care of everything, and promised to pay him for his troubles.

   Two hours later, and Norma was preparing to go into surgery. Alex followed her back until he couldn't anymore. "Don't worry about me," she told him. "I'll be fine. Take care of Will and the boys while I'm out, okay?"

   He nodded. "Okay."

   "I love you. I'll see you in a few hours."

   He kissed her hand. "To a few hours," then let her go.

   Being put to sleep startled Norma, yet she tried not to think about it. She remembered reading somewhere that lions tended to nap up to twenty hours a day, so she tried imagining that the procedure was just one long nap. Her arms burned as the anesthesia kicked in, and with that last fleeting thought, her vision went black.