*
After that, the next thing I knew, I was sitting up in an ambulance, with a block of wrapped ice on my sweating forehead. My leg had swelled up to four times its size, and my head was throbbing uncomfortably, making me feel dizzy and disorientated. I didn’t need to see it to know my leg was injured. It was tingling now, pins and needles travelling from my thigh to my toes, which were bleeding uncontrollably and hurting a lot.
I woke up properly then, after drifting in and out of consciousness, seeing a blonde-haired nurse with a caring face and hazel eyes checking on me. Sitting in the moving vehicle, my head spun around like a rollercoaster but I tried hard to regain my confidence and consciousness, not realising where I was and what was going on. But I decided I liked her and piped up nervously, “Excuse me, miss, am I going to hospital? Is my leg broken? Will it hurt? Am I going to be all right?”
She smiled at me, laughing kindly. “Oh, darling, of course you’ll be all right! Don’t you worry, once you’re in hospital the lovely doctors and nurses will sort your leg out. It won’t hurt for long, I promise.” She spoke gently, holding my sweating palm. “You’ve had a terrible accident, darling, and I know it hurts horribly, but just be brave. I know you can! How’s your head?” She felt my forehead in concern, her slight eyebrows furrowing deeply in her small, heart-shaped face. “How do you feel?”
“I feel so … light? It is hard to explain, like a feeling of being in your soul when you’re dead. I feel all dizzy and lost, trying to feel my way around without sight; it just flickers and fades each time I try to concentrate properly,” I explained, shaking. “I’m all out of breath and tired, and the pain in my leg is totally overwhelming, but my head feels all empty and cloudy and woolly.”
“Oh dear,” said the nice nurse sadly. “Concussion.”
I stared at her in dismay. So this is what concussion feels like. I felt strange and sad and very ill, a sickly invalid.
I arrived at hospital at one o’clock in the afternoon, still feeling sick, and the pain in my leg had got worse, as well as the drowsiness in my hurting head. It was making me faint over and over again. I was in a ward all by myself with random doctors and nurses scuttling in and out hurriedly, carrying notebooks and clipboards and scribbling on them.
“Sapphire, how did you injure your leg?” asked Doctor Hughes, the doctor who was checking me out, sarcastically. “Honestly, you kids,” he added under his breath, sighing theatrically.
“Thanks,” I retorted angrily. “I was hit by a car that was going far too fast, and I was knocked onto the road. But then everything went black, and I felt like I was dead. So, no big deal, really.” I gave a detailed recount, returning his sarcasm.
“Huh – you do have a sharp tongue, missy. Don’t talk to me like that,” snapped Doctor Hughes, frowning.
“Doctor, there is a patient in Room 29 that you still haven’t seen to. Being lazy, again. I shall put that in your record.” Another nurse entered the room and spoke sharply.
My leg felt numb and fuzzy now. I was beginning to get worried. “Nurse, my leg is still sore,” I moaned, holding it dramatically.
“Come along, my sweet. I’ll see to it.” The blonde-haired nurse stood up, smiling at me kindly. She began pushing my bed along the polished floors of the hospital. “There, don’t worry.” She held my trembling hand, her long nails distracting me from my sore leg.
“Hello, Nurse Mauve. Who is this, may I ask?” a kindly doctor with a funny smile asked. “Hi there.”
I smiled at him nervously, wincing when he accidentally leant on my foot.
“Oh, sorry, Sapphire,” he murmured, blushing while he conferred secretively with Nurse Mauve.
When I woke up, my leg was bandaged heavily.
“Sapphire Blue!” winked lovely Nurse Mauve.
I sat up, using all my strength, admiring my bandages.
“Sorry if it hurts, darling. Your leg is badly bruised. It must hurt a lot,” the nice doctor said, patting me on the head and grinning. “But you’re brave, my girl.”
“Yes, Sapphire, you are. Very brave. One toe has been fractured. But you’ve also badly bruised your leg. And the driver who hit you is in prison,” the nurse in charge of Doctor Hughes informed me.
“I’m really proud of you, my love! That must hurt, sweetie. You’re so brave!” Nurse Mauve exclaimed with enthusiasm, giving my hand a squeeze.
Sapphire Page 7