"Hey, I'm just going to inform you that your daughter was in an accident. You should get here as soon as you can." I was sure my mom was about to freak out at that moment.
"She hung up on me!" Said the kind stranger. I was pretty sure she was just on her way there.
It felt like hours before my mom got there. I was lying in the roadway with a scratch on my face. The blood on my camouflage pants was dried. My socks had a bunch of holes from the gravel that had ripped through them. My neck hurt, my elbow, and my ankle. It was nearly noon, and I was still lying on the road. Thank god it wasn't a busy road there. The scooter wasn't totaled, but it was pretty banged up. Then the ambulance arrived. I was in shock, and my hands would not stop trembling. I had gravel burrowed in my right-hand elbow and bruises on my thighs, and my ankle hurt. When I was in shock, it felt like forever before medical personnel was there. Time just went by so slowly. Two days before my birthday, I was lying, blood dripping off my elbow on the not-yet-paved road.
"Hey, Kylie, it's me, Lee. It's almost 12:10, and you're not here. You're on time normally. Did something happen?" That was the first text message, and that was the beginning.
"Hey, Kylie, it's me, Lee, again, and it's almost 12:20...sorry about bugging you but are you okay?" He persistently texted me, and I didn't answer. I could tell that Lee was starting to worry because he loved me, and I didn't take forever to respond. It was almost always immediate responses from me. The only time it wasn't was when I was studying and interested in what I was reading.
"Kylie, I drove past your house; nobody was home. Where are you" Lee went into detail, telling me they had finally finished the road. They had cleared it up, so they wouldn't get in trouble. I couldn't stop Lee from worrying, but I wasn't even focused on him. I was more focused on the elderly doctor. The doctor was standing there, taking a syringe and filling it. His hands had micro-tremors as he grabbed the Ambulance crew's bandage to rip it off.
"Ow, that hurt," I said in pain as the doctor quickly ripped off the wrapping.
"We gotta try that again; I didn't get all the wrappings off." Stupid doctor, I thought to myself. He should not be a doctor if he cannot correctly remove a bandage. Then as the doctor put down the syringe to get the dressing off, Lee tried to contact me again.
"Okay, now that we got that off, we can try to get the area clear of gravel," concluded the doctor. I was writhing in pain from the scabs the doctor had just ripped off.
He called me, "Hey, Kylie. Where are you?" He had hoped I would answer. I couldn't, though; I was quivering and cringing from the pain. The burning sensation that was so painful yet didn't make my elbow go numb. The skin was hanging on by a couple of pieces of connective tissue, and the doctor was waiting for the bowl to sanitize the wound.
"Hey, Lee. This is Mrs.Smith. Kylie and I are in the emergency room." My mom answered the phone and told him in a panicked tone.
I heard a screech over the phone. Lee whipped his car around and sped off towards the hospital, going sixty miles per hour in a thirty-five miles per hour speed zone. I was surprised that the cops did not pull him over.
His friend Alexander took the phone and continued talking, "I'm sorry, but we will talk to you later," my mom concluded, frustrated because of her stress. She did not want to be rude to the doctor and wanted me to focus on the moment and not get too much adrenaline pumping.
"Okay, so what happened?" The doctor questioned as another nurse walked in. The nurse set down a bowl of saline and cleaned up the wound by taking the gravel out of my elbow.
"My daughter Kylie has crashed her scooter, and it looks like she managed to roll in the gravel. I just want her checked out and bandaged up." My mom concluded with anxiety.
"Okay, so it looks like she has quite a few lacerations, with gravel embedded in her arm. We'll have to use saline and water to soak it so we can give you stitches." concluded the doctor, after
"Water?" I questioned, worried about the response
"Yes!" the doctor claimed.
"Okay, is there any way you don't have to do water?"
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but with your daughter's arm, we need to use the water to make it easier and less painful."
"Okay, my daughter does not want to be seen!" My mother was upset at the Emergency Room doctor because they couldn't do anything else. She was so frustrated. They could see I had an allergy to water, yet they wanted to use it?
"Just letting you know, if your daughter does end up in more pain and she has something broken, we can't be held responsible and that this is against medical advice. Your daughter might lose tendon usage in that arm, and she could bleed out since her skin is so damaged in the olecranal area."
"My daughter has Aquagenic Urticaria." My mom screamed at the doctor in the room. Frustrated by medical personnel.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, can you explain what that is!?" The doctor was not educated on the subject and was confused by what my mother had said.
"Allergy to water," she said, waiting for them to make fun of me or call her a liar.
"Oh, okay," the doctor rolled her eyes in disbelief at my mother. I still can not believe that the doctors wouldn't believe it.
"What we can do is stitch her up using alcohol and saline; I mean, it will be painful, but what other choice does she have? I can add more Lidocaine, so it doesn't hurt so much as it numbs that area."
"Ok, I understand." My mom stated.
They gave me four stitches in that area and x-rayed my neck, elbow, and ankle. I had sprained all of the areas in which I felt pain.
It was hard to walk out of the hospital because of my ankle and elbow. I was limping my way outside. I was also wearing a neck brace because of the pain. I wanted to go to the Bunga water park on the outskirts of Vegas for my birthday, but I couldn't go in. Not only because of Aquagenic Urticaria but because of my injuries.
I had Saran wrap attached to my arm in order to take my one-minute specialized shower. It also prevented the brace from falling off. All I felt was pain. My bare skin was exposed to the chemical shower, and so was my bloodstream. It burned. The red itchy bumps came back.
I met Lee at the WackDonalds where he worked. We made it to the door when I limped towards the building and up the sidewalk. My mom held the door open for me. I walked over by Lee to see him crying and under stress because of my accident. Lee was so happy to see me and hugged me as if I'd never been hugged. I was finally so excited to be embraced in his warm arms. He always had a great big bear hug for me.
"Mom, I know I said I wanted to go to the Bunga bay, but what I want to do is go fishing in Wisconsin, where I used to go on summer break for my birthday." For as long as I could remember, every year, I would go to Wisconsin and go fishing when I was younger until my disease got in the way.
"Ok, Kylie, but what about Lee?" my mom questioned
"Lee can go with us, can't he?" I answered.
"Sure, I guess." My mom rolled her eyes. She was upset because he was like the suitcase that needed to go everywhere with me.
"Can I bring my buddy Evan?" asked Lee.
"Why?" I questioned, upset. This day was about me.
"You know, at least I got one of my boys with me." He claimed.
"Yes, you can, but no being stupid boys, no stupid boy stuff," I replied.
"No promises," he said while smirking at me mischievously.
"ROAD TRIP" shouted Evan from a distance.
My birthday was memorable not only because of my accident but because of the people who helped me through it. Lee had his other friend Evan come along to help me walk my way around. They went fishing off the rocks for the next few days, and I watched them. My mom wanted me to take a picture next to them, and they gladly did. I felt that Lee's arm was firm against my shoulder and Evan stood awkwardly holding a fishing pole in his hands. Evan was wading through the waves.
Lee wanted me to go into the water with him, but I refused. I had an excuse because I was injured, so Evan understood. I hoped that Lee would keep my secret. I didn't want to be called "Fraidy Waidy" again. After they were done being boys, they dried off, and we went to the nearest favorite store, Walmart.
"Lee, Lee. They have boyfriend and girlfriend shirts!"
"Oh, no no, no no no!!" he said repeatedly.
"Please, Lee, it's my birthday!?" I smiled and pleaded with him.
"Ok, I guess." Afterward, I had to convince him like a little child.
That was one of the symbols of love most kept together throughout the years. "I love my boyfriend and girlfriend shirts." As the sun set, we returned to the hotel we were staying at.
"Happy Birthday, buttercup. I love you! You know that, right?"
I thought, "How could I get so lucky, be loved by such arms, and be cared for by such a wonderful man."
"Me too, Lee, me too," I said admirably.
I saw the way my mom looked at me at that moment. The look gave me a sense that she was scared to lose me. Like she had the most perfect life, I thought maybe me loving somebody else would be a good thing...maybe not. My mom tended to be jealous if I spent time with somebody other than her. She didn't seem to understand that her life revolved around me, but why do I have to constantly jump through hoops for her? I tried to learn who I was without her and do things without her, but sometimes people are leeches, even if they don't mean to be. I understand I was a minor, but I had a life outside her house and her boundaries. To do something, it had to be on her terms.
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