Chapter 17

And there we sat all night, in a dinky hospital waiting room. All I could think of were all the things I wanted to tell Suzannah that I might never have a chance to. The worst part about the whole thing was not knowing. All the doctors said the same thing. They didn't know if she'd be okay. One said she had a fifty-fifty chance. Another thought her odds were higher than that.

Saturday wore into Sunday, when early Sunday morning the first shred of news came.

"I've got good news!" Dr. Shurber announced around 7:30. "Suzannah will be all right, she's in a room, and wants to see all of you!"

We all hugged and let out whoops of joy.

"But," Dr. Shurber continued, "only one at a time."

Mrs. Rawlings went first, then Mr. Rawlings, then Diana, my parents and finally, Arnold and me. (The doctor let us go together.)

Mom had warned me that Suzannah was not a very pretty sight, but I was not prepared for what I saw. Her face was bruised, swollen, and stitched, and she had a cast on her right arm.

"Hi!" she said when we walked in. Then, seeing the look on our faces, she frowned. "I look that bad, huh?"

"oh, not that bad," I lied.

She shrugged. "I was run over by a car. What did you expect, a beauty queen?"

As usual, she made us laugh. I wanted to know what happened, but didn't want to ask. Well, Suzannah's pretty good about knowing what people want, so she brought the subject up herself.

"I assume you want to know what happened."

I didn't say anything and neither did Arnold, but I could tell her wanted to know, too.

Suzannah sighed. "That damn asshole Scott! I go to Woolworth to buy one stupid protractor and on the way back, he just happens to be walking down the street. Any way, the little ass* goes to me, 'You're going to regret that little award incident,' then he shoves me. So I start screaming my head off about what a dork he is and bam! Next thing I know I'm hitting the pavement. I hear a sickening screech of brakes and that's the last I remember."

For the first time, Arnold speaks up. Softly he says, "I'll kill him!"

Then Dr. Shurbert walks in the room and says that Suzannah should rest and we'll see her soon. More relatives are arriving. Suzannah opens her mouth to protest, but shuts it when the doc gives her a look. We say bye and leave.

My parents drive Arnold home and tell him he should get some sleep. I'm exhausted and plan to do the same. I know Monday will be a busy day and figure good ole Scott probably won't be there.

*Author/transcriber note: before the word ass, there was a word that started with an f that is obscured by heavy scribbling with a ballpoint pen...