After being rushed to the emergency room, the doctors examine my face and declared that, the bone of my nose bridge was broken and I would need immediate surgery to fix it. I spent aproximately two hours in the hospital from the time I was admitted onto the childrens ward .
On the childrens ward, I had to take many injections and medications to relief pain and the swelling. I had to do many vital checks on my blood pressure, my blood sugar levels and I did an X-Ray. After a while, the doctors determined that I will need a surgery to fix my narrow nose. My injury may have seemed little and not much to worry about but, it was best for me to get it treated and relief the pain before it worsens. The doctors had decided to make me stay on the ward for a day or two just to get the surgery done.
I wasnt really enjoying the time I was spending on the ward because, it was terrifying to witness so many other children being so sick, in so much pain and with some even losing their lives. However my parents decided to go home for some new clothes for me to wear and food for me to eat during my stay. I was anticipated for them to bring me food as I hated the disgusting taste of the hospital food.
Within the first few hours I was there, I was complaining so much about what happened to me but, when I saw a little girl being carried in two hours after I was admitted, I changed my thoughts. I was so eager to speak with her but, I was afraid she would not like to talk. I stared at her for as long as I could, hesitating on the decision to say hello. I trembled for a while when suddenly the word hello uttered out under my tongue, through my teeth and blew out my mouth. I was left in an sticky situation of embarassement as she did not respond to me but, I was glad that I got it off my mind. I felt over trying to communicate with her and decided to play a game on my tablet when suddenly, she said hi to me. After some time of talking to her, I learned many new things about her. Her name was Ellia and she was ten years old. She told me that she broke her legs while running down the stairs of Alcuin mall. Along with her lower broken limbs, Ellia was also a patient of diabetes. Diabetes is a health condition which affects how your body turns food consumed into energy. When your blood sugar level goes up, it is a sign to your pancreas to release insulin. I was even more amazed that she attended Alcuin Primary and was in the fourth grade.
Being an diabetes patient and having a few broken bones took a great toll on Ellia. She was always looking drowsy and lame. She looked life less without any vibes. She was chill in her condition and had made up her mind for the worst. I thought that my injury was bad but, Ellia's surprised me to the max. On the outside, she looks truly broken and wounded but on the inside theres was a bright light wish always keeps her pressing on which is now diming deep inside. With-in minutes of communicating with this ill girl, we created a connection together which made me feel like shes my long lost friend. Since then, I made it my point of duty to make her feel special.
It hadnt been long since my parents left and within a glimpse, they were back with a home-made vegetable-salad and a small box of cow's milk. I was disappointed in what they brought me. I refused to even taste it.
"I thought you guys were going to buy me fast food and an acidic beverage", I said.
" I know you dont want it, but you got to eat it. Its best for your broken bone"
Leaving me with no choice, I accepted the meal and slowly ate it pretending as if it were the best thing I ever ate in my life.
i turned my head only to see Ellia looking sad.
" Is everything okay Ellia?" I asked.
" Umm, yeah its just that I havent eaten since my injury and am i bit hungry thats all", said Ellia.
I could feel my heart drop and I felt bad for not wanting my food at first when Ellia doesnt even have any,
"Well dont just sit there lacey, here share your food with Ellia", said my mother.
If you asked me, that was exactly what I wanted to hear. I was more than happy to give her some, infact i could give her the entire bowl for that matter. When i gave her some of the food and some of my milk, she grabbed them instantly. I watched her divour and damage the salad. I was shocked and put to awe. I have never seen a kid eat vegetables like that before. Then I thought she must be vegetarian. It didnt take more than five minutes for Ellia to finish eating whilst, I was still chewing on a piece of carrot.
"Finished! " shouted Ellia.
"Ahhhh, I feel so full, thank you so much for sharing with me guys", said Ellia.
"Your welcome", I said.
"Well you girls have fun, we better get running. Lacey if you need us, just give us a ring on your tablet okay", said my Mother and Father."
"Okay, bye", I said.
I was so excited and was looking forward to having loads of fun with Ellia. We would take our shots together, we took medications together and we had lunch together. After some time, we became more than just two injured girls who are on a childrens ward but, we became best friends within only twelve hours. Somehow, I started to get the hint that Ellia was'nt well of. I recognized that it was'nt a parent or a family member who took her unto the ward but, it was the manager of the Alcuin mall. I found it strange then, I thought that maybe she is related to the man somehow. When the doctor asked for her parents contact, Ellia said that they dont own cell phones. They had a house phone and she was hoping that they were around to pick up the call.
On the second day which was sunday, my family came to visit me again. Grandpa, my parents and my sister came to see me. They brought a bag of food items and a bag of clothing for me to wear during my stay. I was so happy to see my sister, I got up and gave her the longest hug I may have given her. I was longing to see my family's especially grandpa, zolene and my sister. Seeing their faces made me relieved of the stress of being injured. I talked with them for a while. They asked me if I had eaten already and how my day was. Lucy and I even took some selfies together and she expressed on how much she misses teasing me.
My parents took me off the bed and decided to get me new sets of sheets. In the middle of the process I started to realise the resent in Ellia's face. I could feel jealousy written all over her face. I could see that she certainly was feel in such a way because, not one single of her family members came to visit her during our twenty-four hours in the hospital. Being the jem I was, I decided to include Ellia into my family time.
"Hey, Ellia this is the rest my family, would you like to meet them?" I asked.
"Yeah sure", said Ellia.
I was really happy that she wanted to meet my family and right away, I introduce them to her.
" This is grandpa Maxwell and this is my twin sister Lucy-Ann", I siad.
Just i was almost finished, i realised that a member of my family was missing, Zolene wasnt there.
"Hold on a second, where is Zolene?" I asked in concern.
"Ummm we left her at home, because we werent sure if animals were allowed in the hospital", said grandpa with uncertainty.
I said okay, but something didnt look right. They all looked suspicious or unsure for some reason, but I chose not to question it.
I then prolonged into the meet and greet. I told my family about her illness. Surprisenly, Ellia dived into the conversation and explained more on her conditions. When it was nearly time for my family to leave, she told us that we truly made her day because, she has not gotten a visit from yesterday niether has she felt so loved in years. To be honest, our hearts were truly melted and we were happy we could make her day.
Just before my family left, Ellia asked for a call and she rang her parents house phone. At first no one picked up but, on the second try Ellia's mother picked up. I could not hear what the mother was saying but, I could her hear what Ellia was saying. She was asking her mother if she and her father had abondoned her as to why niether of them had visited. The mother claimed that its because she had no money according to Ellia and thats why she had not visited. For sure, I knew that it was a lie. Certainly money could not stop a caring or a worried parent to come visit their child who is sickly in the hospital. I could see how broken Ellia was after the phone call. My parents tried to comfort her before leaving and volunteered to help her in anyway possible but, Ellia refused and told them to take their money to take care of me.
"Am greatful for the offer but, dont waste your money on a crappy little girl whose life has no meaning? " asked Ellia.
My parents tried to bring her hopes up high but, she decided to sink in them no matter what. By the time the visiting hours was nearly over, the nurses came in with another dose of Injections for me and Ellia. We were supposed to be prepared for our surgery within a few hours. The nurse asked Ellia if anyone had came in to pay her health fees as her surgery had a whooping cost of five thousand krex dollars while mine costed two thousand but, no one came to pay neither did she have an insurance policy. This devastated her more and she wept like hungry squirl. My parents then left and another nurse came in to check my vitals. They then, escorted me to a wheelchair. I told Eliia that I will be back and she should take care of herself and she wished me good luck in return.
I was pushed through many alleys straight to the surgery room. I was panicking and afraid as I dont know what will happen to me nor how I will feel. I was put to lay on the surgery table. Inside the operating room appeared to be a little less brighter. There were many machine, cords, and knives laid out on the table. I looked up to see a huge circular object and when I was wondering what it was, one of the otolaryngologist switched it on. It was the biggest light I have ever seen apart from the sun. It burned my eyes so bad that i had to turn my face.
Next the doctors injected me with an anesthesia and instantly I could no longer feel my nose. Not even when the otolaryngologist was touching it. Then I saw him inserting a shinny looking pliers into my nostrils. For a scond, I started twinging and squeezing my eyes shut because, i thought it would tickle even though I knew my nose was numb. After closing my eye for a second, I was wondering why nothing tickled and so I opened my eyes just to see the doctor pulling the plier looking instrument from my nose. I was almost terriefied. I could not believe. He continued to use some special instrument to put my broken bones and cartilage back in place. Before I could recognize, the surgery was already done. I never expected it to be so quick. The doctor made me look in the mirror and there was a little bandage over my nose. For being an awesome sport during the surgery, I was gien a lolipop will being pushed out of the operating room.
I was so elated that everything went well and I was now looking foward to tell Ellia about all that happened. The doors to the ward was opened and I pierced my head through it searching for Ellia. As I got closer to our section, I saw three nurses surrounding her . It turned out that Ellia's blood sugar level dropped very low and she was not feeling her usual self. She was sweating wet and looked mighty dizzy I made eye contact with her but, she turned her face to the next side whilst tears run from her eyes slowly. My heart dropped and skipped a beat to watch my friend suffer in pain. She looked life less. I wanted to talk with her but, the nurses said that she is lost of her conciousness and needs to get her glucose level stable. She was given some food to eat and a glucose suplement to stble her blood sugar level. she went to sleep for a while.
I was bored all night and I felt lonely. Usually, I would give her turns on my ipad playing dress up games and we would take goofy selfies togather but tonight, I didnt know what to do or if I should wake her up atleast. Worst of all, I was suppose to discharged early tthe next day because, my injury was not as bad as hers. Throughout the entire night, I was overthinking when, the doctors came in and woke up Ellia. They told her thats they had some good news.
They said her bills were being paid for by a good samaritan and that the quicker she did the surgery the better for her. Her surgery was going to need some highly perfessional doctors to fix the fractured bones in both her legs and would be there to monitor he blood sugar level. For sure, this surgery would take longer than mine and her stay at the hospital would be longer especially being that she wont be able to walk for a while. Luckily her spinal cord was not damged. I watched Ellia being lifted off the bed and placed in a wheelchair. I wished her good luck jsut as she did to me. I sat up and waited for hours until she got back but, I was hopeless. I tried to take my mind off it for a while and persuaded myself that the surgery is going well but its just extended. I was already getting tired and worn out when I heard footsteps coming along.
I raised my head up and there she was. Ellia was finally back. She was looking happy and tired at the same time. She was given that wheelcahir to keep because she wont be able to walk for atleast three months. I got up from my bed and snuggled beside her. I gave her a warm hug and asked her how was her surgery. She explianed to me that she was terried of all the knives on the table but, the doctors blocked her view so she couldnt see the inside of her body and gave her anesthesia so she could not feel any pain. she further explained that it was wierd to be cut opened and not feeling a thing.
"It was as If my body was half dead and half alive", said Ellia.
We took some selfies like we normally would do and chatted the night away. I tried to slend as much time as I could with her as I knew that tonightwill be the last and I wont see her again. Worst of all, I had no contact for her except for her parents telephone and she wasnt going to return to school with three months.
The following morning, my parents came in and woke me up.
" Its time to good home! now lets get you ready!" they shouted.
They seemed happy to take me home and trust me, I was. The hospital isnt the best palce to be but, I was going to miss Ellia very much. They talked with Ellia for a while and asked how she was doing and Ellia told them that someone paid for her surgery. She said she doesnt know who the person was but she was truly greatful. I moved around with no life and took forever to get ready. My parents paged my bag and changed me into casual clothing then, they took of my bed spread. Just then a man and a woman who looks like they are in their late thirties came onto the ward. The man was wearing an overall with some type of oil or gasoline all over his clothes and hands. While the woman was wearing a plaid dress and her hair was tied into a cloth.
"Mom ! dad! your finally here! I never thought that I would see you again" screamed Ellia.
Ellia's parents and mine seemed to know eachother well amd I wondered why. Until Ellia's mother revealed why. Ellia's parents explainee to her why they could not visit and they expond on their apology. They went on by saying you should thank Mr and Mrs. Maxwell. They were the omes who paid for your surgery. Ellia and I were shocked. They did a good deed but, no one could have ever thought my parents paid for the bills. Ellia thanked them from the buttom of her heart. I hugged her tightly as if I had no intensions of letting go and said goodbye . I was sure I wont be seeing or hearing from her in a while as her telephone barely picks up but, I was looking forward to seeing her at school.
Now I was happy and looking forward to be home again. I walked throught feeling nostalogic. I was remembering all the memories I had created and I was remembering how I felt when I just got admitted. On our way out, we had to signs some security documents before we left to show proof that I was on the ward, treated and picked up by my parents. I was happy to see Alcuin town agin from the inside and not from the ward windows. I was even more anticipated to see home again. I wanted to be updated on all that I missed in terms of school mostly . My parents took a stop by the bakery then, we went home. Grandma and Lucy was happy to see me as well.
"It sure is a lovely feeling to return back home", I said to myself.
I went inside and made myself home. I sat on the couch and was watching Lucy's and I favorite reality tv show, when I realised that Zolene was not here. I was wondering where she was. Even though I got upset that I fell because of her, she would have come to see me at the door regardless. I started to squander around the house. i searched everywhere but found no signs of her.
"Zolene ! Zolene! I called thats when I heard grandpa said,
" Are you going to tell her or should I lucy?"
"Tell me what!" I asked.
But, no one seemed to want to answer. They all sat and acted as if I was speaking gibberish or a foreign language.
"Where! is my puppy-cat gone to?" I screamed with rage.
"Well", said grandpa.
"Well what!" I shouted.
"We may have lost Zolene during the few days you have been