Beautiful by Cindy Martinusen-Coloma

Author:Cindy Martinusen-Coloma
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson Inc.
Published: 2009-10-19T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

THE OUTSIDER

The Anonymous Blog about Life at West Redding High February 4

Comments:

I totally agree. People suck.

You need some therapy, Outsider.

Save the whales!

This blog could make money with advertisements and affiliate marketing. www.makeamillionb4graduation.com This blog is depressing. I love it!

* * *

The life of the hospital went on as it always did, as it had before she’d come and would after she left. It wouldn’t notice that Ellie Summerfield was gone, just as it hadn’t noticed the kids who didn’t leave or went out to the morgue. Such was life in the hospital, as well as life itself, Ellie thought as Dad pushed her out of the pediatric ward amid waves from the nurses, Natty, and her mother. Natty was leaving to look for her baby birds in a few days.

Ellie sank into the wheelchair seat and leaned to the left when she noticed the sideways stares as they moved through the main hospital population. Look at that poor girl, she imagined they thought. What a shame.

Ellie could walk fine. The wheelchair only made her appear further disabled, but this was hospital policy. Megan followed, pushing a cart with Ellie’s belongings and the last of Ryan’s flowers.

“Just a stop at the pharmacy for your long list of medicines, and we’re out of here,” Mom said cheerily.

Another woman waited in her wheelchair near the counter with a baby in her arms. A man, who Ellie presumed was the woman’s husband, stood at the window and talked to the pharmacist at the cash register.

The mother stared down at the pink-colored bundle in her arms, adjusting the little hat with an expression of utter contentment.

Then she noticed Ellie. Her eyes leaped up to Mom and Dad, then down to her child. She smiled slightly, trying to recover.

“Oh, a little one,” Mom said in her quick, nervous tone. “How old is she?”

“Two days,” the woman said proudly, glancing at Ellie again.

The husband turned to his wife, holding up the little bag with a smile. When he saw them—or rather, when he saw Ellie—his expression faltered too.

From the pharmacy to the entrance of the hospital, Ellie wanted to hide beneath a blanket. She tried to pretend she didn’t notice the stares and curiosity that caused people to look her way.

Mom talked incessantly. “Say good-bye to the hospital. No more hospital for us. No more cafeteria food or hard hospital chairs.”

Ellie wanted to remind her that they’d be back not just once, but a number of times for all the surgeries that waited ahead.

“I’ll go get the car,” Dad said, giving her good shoulder a squeeze before he hurried ahead.

Megan pushed the wheelchair now, while Mom pushed the cart. They reached the lobby, where a surprising number of people were coming and going. Ellie kept her eyes ahead.

A little girl holding her mom’s hand looked at Ellie. Her mouth dropped, and she tugged on her mother’s sleeve. “Mommy! What’s wrong with that lady? She looks like a monster.”

Megan pushed the chair faster. Mom said, “Slow down. I can’t go that fast.

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