Chapter One:

Cleaning up Broken Glass

Heart pounding, body shaking, I sat shocked in a cluster of broken glass. The sound of high pitched ringing popped my ear drums with a raging pain. Cold blood trickled from where the shard of possible windshield was imbedded in my calf. The smell of smoke lingered in the air and stung my nose. I could taste salty blood settling in a pool around my dry tongue. On the left of me lay my stone cold sister where she had been ejected too. Medical assistants were gathered around her, trying to determine her medical state. She wasn’t conscious, but she wasn’t dead. Two red-blaring ambulances were parked yards away like identical flames. To my right crouched a young lady with dark brown hair and kind blue eyes. Her pained smile twinkled in the headlights of the medical truck. Her dark green scrubs revealed a rectangular white patch that was stitched in the top left corner of her shirt. In light blue letters the tag read “ Angie.” That was a “PTA mom” kind-of-name. I liked it though.

I could see Angie’s  lips moving, but no words came out. She reached her hand out as a gesture to join her, but I didn’t budge. I turned my head to look at my sister. She was lifted onto a stretcher and was taken into an ambulance. The truck pulled out of the trashed forest and  disappeared into the cold, murderous night. Branches were flung everywhere; tire marks inscribed the grass.  This accident had been atrocious.

The air started to release a calming January snow that cooled my gashes and wounds. By morning I’m sure we would have a white dusting on all the pine trees and bushes. The moonlight was bright and the damp street was foggy. The red sirens flashed onto the dark wooded trees.  I started to regain the sounds of the world. The first sound was Angie.

“Honey... Honey, can you hear me?”  I looked at her in acknowledgement, and she continued to talk. “ You can?! Oh good! Can you tell me what your name is?”  My name. I hesitated at the question, still trying to regroup from the crash.

“M...My name is Heather... Brooks. I’m Heather Brooks.”

“Hey Heather,” she said in a sweet, mother-like voice. “Can I ask you a few questions?” I nodded slowly. “ Great! First, let’s go to the ambulance over there, okay?” It definitely was of no interest of mine to go inside that medical trap, but I needed to be with my sister at the hospital, so I agreed. Knees trembling, I stood up, and pain struck my entire body. I let out a yelp. Angie scooped me up and brought me to the truck. My sister had already been taken back to the hospital. Inside the truck was bright, and it gave me a headache. As I was placed on an uncomfortable cot, Angie continued to talk.

“Can you feel any pain?” she asked.

“Yeah a lot, especially in my leg. Also my shoulder feels a bit … disconnected.” 

By now we were flying down the streets as the vehicle's sirens blared through the reticent night. Snow was starting to fall harder now. Outside was a big blur.   The woman nodded and motioned her hand over to two other men in the truck. She first pointed to a pale beanstalk with a solemn look on his face. “That’s Caleb,” she said. Then she pointed to a muscular, bronze man with a black stubble beard on his face. He seemed like he would be considered an “America’s Next Dream Husband” kind-of-guy, you know? To top off his wonderful looks, our buddy here had a perfect white smile and was sweet like candy. The woman must have noticed my wide eyes looking at him because she let out a chuckle. “ That’s Mason,” she smiled. She leaned down and whispered in my ear, “ I had the same reaction.” We both chuckled at that.

Next to me I peered at the red digital clock that was mounted on a small table nearby; 2:08 am. Yikes, that’s early. “Okay, Heather, now I need you to take a deep breathe in and hold it. 1.. 2...3…” Pop! I screamed bloody murder. Arm raging in pain,  my now not-so-tired body shot up from its laying down position. I clawed at my shoulder, which now felt put together again. I felt like Humpty Dumpty. I concluded my arm was originally dislocated and was now back in its proper position.  That’s great! But boy, it hurt like a bitch. The next part was painless compared to my previous operation. Mason flashed me a pearly smile and yanked out the large glass shard in my leg like Hulk. Doctor Dream Husband looked very interested and handed me the bloody glass wrapped in rough cloth.

“You can examine that for a few minutes if you’d like.” I took the glass piece in extreme confusion.

“Uh.. thanks?” He winked at me and flashed those blinding teeth again. Paige would be in love right now. I had to admit, this was no ordinary piece of glass. It looked to be approximately seven inches long and four inches thick. I’m guessing it was from the windshield. In the corner was Caleb working on some medical things. He hadn’t said a single word this entire ride. I mean, we had been crammed in that tiny space for almost twenty minutes. It’s just a bit odd that he hadn’t talked. I was starting to think he was mute.

“Alright, Heather, we’re done here. I’m just gonna ask some more questions,” said Angie. There was no harm in that, so I was fine with it.

“How old are you?”

“Fourteen.”

“Where are you from?”

“The City.”

“Ahhh. New York City. You know, you’re pretty far from there now. At least an hour or so.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Okay then. What are your parents’ names?”

“Shawn and Meredith.”

“Just a couple  more. Who was that girl back at the accident?”

“My sister, Paige Brooks.”

“Last question,” she said. My aching body was tired and ready to sleep. I could feel my eyelids fighting to stay open like they had weights attached. I looked outside and the hospital became clear in sight. Ambulances were pulling in the back and people rushed in and out like firefighters.  “Oh, I better hurry this up. Okay, Sweetie, can you tell me what happened tonight?”

Then my heart sank deeper than the ocean.

-Hannah Kovelman