Ella
I opened my eyes slowly to take in my environment. I was at the entrance of an ambulance and I could see traffic from one corner. My head was throbbing with mild pain and I was finding it hard to concentrate.
There were muted voices around me as I tried to sit up. It was then I realized that I was held down by the straps on a stretcher.
"Easy, ma'am," a voice said, "If I were you, I wouldn't try to move."
"Where am I?" I queried from a place of pain. The person who spoke to me was dressed in a paramedic outfit and was checking my pulse.
"You're at the intersection between 5th and 6th Avenue," he said as he touched my temple, "do you remember your name?"
"Ella," I quickly replied.
"Can you tell me the last thing you remember before you blacked out?" He said.
"Blacked out?" I said as I tried to sit up.
"Ma'am, you have to stay still until we are sure you can do otherwise," he said as he gently pushed me back into the stretcher.
"Jake…" I said suddenly. I was with Jake, "please where is Jake? He's my boyfriend."
That was when I saw him standing beside a cop and another paramedic.
"Tell me the last thing you remember please?"
"Jake?!" I screamed, "I remember Jake." We've been driving to 5th and 6th Avenue and that was where my mind stopped.
Jake rushed to where I was. "Ella!" he grabbed my hands, "thank goodness you're awake."
"The Pontiac," I said in a whisper. Now I remember why we were on the 5th and 6th. My dad's call came to mind as well.
"What did you say?" Jake asked.
The Pontiac was not in the position where I left it after the sedan bumped into me earlier this morning. The thoughts came back. Where was the Pontiac? What would I tell my dad?
"Where is my dad's car?" I managed to speak up.
The cop stepped forward just in time to explain things to me, "Ma'am, I'm Inspector Ryder, the Highway Patrol Officer in charge of the 5th and 6th. I believe you should not worry about the car for now. It was towed to a repair shop nearby and your father has been contacted. So no need to worry, yeah?"
"Can I see it?" I said as I tried to sit up again. The paramedic tried to restrain me again but the police officer nodded him off.
"She seems a lot better, yeah?" the inspector said, "So let her sit up."
Thankfully, I felt a bit better after the straps were removed. I could see people in the distance and a cop controlling the traffic we'd made.
"You fainted while in the car, Ella," Jake said almost in tears, "I had to call for an ambulance immediately."
That didn't answer my question but it did touch me that Jake really cared about me.
"What's the update?" the inspector asked the paramedic who was checking my vital signs. They were deliberately ignoring me.
"No concussion of any kind," he said as he looked at Jake, "she seems to be under a lot of stress lately."
"At least that puts off the hypothesis of a collision," the inspector said to no one in particular, "She's good to go, yeah?"
"I will suggest we head to the hospital where she can get proper rest under a doctor's advisement," the paramedic said.
Immediately I heard hospital, I jumped down from the stretcher. My dad's insurance expired when he was laid off after the accident. Going to the hospital was an unforeseen expense my mother couldn't bear at the moment.
"I'm fine," I said as Jake held me to sit by the side of the stretcher, "where is the Pontiac?"
"Like I said, it was towed to a nearby repair shop," the inspector said. He hesitated a little before he continued, "You should've known better than to leave the car in the middle of the road and just… walk off."
"I was rushing off for my quiz," I retorted. Jake squeezed my hand to keep me shut.
"That's not enough reason to break traffic laws," he said.
"But…" I stood in my defense as Jake interrupted me.
"Ella, I believe this issue can be resolved amicably," Jake said.
"Of course," the inspector said as he brought out his traffic ticket, "I already booked the car for Failure to Move a Disabled Vehicle."
"What for?" I said.
"Because you abandoned the car on the highway, ma'am," he said, "I'm sorry but I was just doing my job, yeah?"
"Thank you, officer," Jake said as he stood to shake the officer's hand.
"Please do well to take a final look at her before you discharge her," he said, "You can't keep a patient against her will, yeah?"
The paramedic nodded as the inspector stomped towards the intersection.
"Please stay still," the paramedic said as he flashed a penlight into my right eye, "open your left eye too," and he repeated the exercise.
"You're free to go," he said
"Thank you so much," Jake said as he led me to the car.
I've been quiet all this while as my thoughts were going haywire. At this moment, I wished I'd woken up earlier and taken the school bus like every normal student instead of rushing off with my father's Pontiac.
And here was Jake; holding me as if I were the world's most precious thing. I was still angry with him because I was up all night to replicate the assignment instead of sleeping and reading for the quiz that never held.
And for the first time today, I was angry with the driver who hit me. It was all his fault the car had stopped because if I had not come down to check the bump, I wouldn't have switched off an ignition that needed two people to start nor rushed off to school without thinking it through.
Now I was angry with my professor too for fixing a quiz early in the morning and still not turning up for it. It looked stressful already to work after school and then do silly assignments on the eve of a quiz, only for the quiz not to hold.
As we got into the car, I picked up my phone from the dashboard only to see messages from my father and mother. I called Mum first and put the phone on speaker.
"Are you okay, sweetheart?" my mother said over the phone. Of course, I was her sweetheart, "I was worried sick."
"I'm fine mum," I said, "I lost consciousness and I have been attended to."
"Are you at the hospital?" my mother asked, "Just stay put, your dad's on his way with Eddie, who owes a tow truck. You'd be home in no time."
"Mum, I'm at the intersection and have a work shift today," I said.
"That's canceled," she retorted, "it's either that or we'll take you to a hospital for a proper check."
I could've gone with the paramedic if I didn't know the state of things in my house.
There was a brief pause.
"Is Jake with you?" my mother asked.
"Hey, Mrs. Anderson," Jake said from his side of the car.
"It's Sandy, young man," my mother said. She hates it when someone calls her by her last name, "Where have you been?"
"I was the one who called an ambulance," he replied.
"You did well," my mother said, "just bring her back in one piece."
"We have to go mum," I said, enough of the pampering. I really felt bad for my father.
"Call your father. He's worried too," my mother said.
"Bye," I said abruptly and dropped the call.
A thought had just occurred to me and I know a way out of the bad mess I put myself and my family in.