Once back at my house, all hell broke loose. My dad called Matthew’s parents, who Matty told him were having lunch at the country club. My mom, meanwhile, ushered us both into the backseat of her car. “Matthew, your parents will meet us as the hospital. Girls,” my dad said to my sisters, Sarah and Katie, “go next door to the Millers and tell them what happened. They’ll let you stay there; we’ll call them once we know if these two will need surgery.”
“Surgery?” Matthew and I both exclaimed in unison. “Won’t we just get casts?” I asked.
“Have you two looked at your arms?” my dad asked incredulously. “I’m no doctor, and I hope I’m wrong; but I’d be shocked if casts will be enough to fix either of you up.”
And that ended up being true, and both Matthew and I had broken multiple bones in each of our arms. The ride to the hospital was brutal. Our bodies jerked in pain at any slight bump in the road; and we once again found ourselves holding hands while sitting in the backseat, squeezing tightly anytime the car hit even the smallest bump. My mom glanced in the review mirror at one point, and I swore I saw a slight smile on her face as she noticed our fingers laced tightly together.
Matthew’s parents beat us to the emergency room; and at that point, we were both taken into different exam rooms, albeit in the same section of the E.R. I could hear Matthew’s father berating him for being so careless, angry that, as Matty had predicted, he would have to miss out on playing sports in the coming months. I didn’t hear his mother say anything. Meanwhile, my parents, while not happy to hear we had been out by the pond near the woods in the first place, were more concerned about my well-being and what I would need in order to recover. It would not be the first time that I would see and hear the difference between my folk’s and Matty’s parenting styles.
The next thing I remember is waking up groggy after surgery in a recovery room. I didn’t recall actually going into the operating room or being put under. My arm was mostly numb but I could still feel an aching sensation. I drifted in and out of sleep as the nurses continued rousing me to take sips of water and to check my vitals. It seemed only minutes later that I was in my own hospital room, although, glancing at the clock, I realized that several hours had passed. I looked towards the window and was startled to see that it was already dark outside. My parents were sitting next to my bed, and my mom, seeing me open my eyes, helped me get as comfortable as possible. I don’t remember falling asleep again, but the next sound I heard was someone whispering my name.
“Leah? Hey, LEE-AH, wake up!” I opened my eyes to see Matty in a wheelchair next to my bed, leaning over with his good hand resting on my shoulder. He gave me a smile, and I managed to bring my lips up slightly to grin back at him.
“Just a few minutes, young man, then you need to get back to your own room,” a nurse said before giving me a wink. “He’s been nagging me all night to come see you.”
I turned my head to look around the room. “Your mom drove your dad home,” Matty said, seeming to read my mind as to where my parents were. “She’s on her way back, don’t worry. Both my parents left shortly after I got to my room, but your parents have been checking in on me. They are both super nice.”
“Uh-uh,” I agreed in groggy voice. “I’m so tired.”
“You were in surgery a lot longer than me; your arm was in a lot worse shape. Took them awhile to piece you back together. The doctor told your parents that it will take you a bit longer to come out of the anesthesia since you were out so long.” Seeing the look of panic on my face, he quickly added, “But you’re okay; they fixed your arm up and you’ll be back to normal before you know it. We both will. And in the meantime, we’ll be cast buddies!”
I managed a small laugh and asked him how he felt. “The breaks in my arm were clean; the doctor thought they would heal okay on their own with just a cast, buy my dad insisted on surgery as he thinks I’ll get better faster. Gotta be ready for baseball season, you know,” he added with a shrug of the shoulder that wasn’t in the cast.
I wanted to comfort him, but I could feel the medicine luring me back to sleep. As I drifted off, I muttered the one thing I wanted him to know, “I’m happy you are here with me, Matty.”
“Me, too, Leah,” I heard him say as I succumb to sleep. And just before I went completely out, I could swear I felt the brush of a kiss on my forehead.
That was the day that our relationship made a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn. The teasing between us continued, but the joking was gentler and usually in private. In public, we went from two bickering kids to best friends. I don’t know if it was the guilt of what had happened or the shared bond it created; or if all along we were headed towards friendship. But overnight, all the animosity I had felt in the months prior vanished as Matty quickly became the person I trusted most.
While Matty was released from the hospital the
