The Fruit of My Lipstick by Shelley Adina

Author:Shelley Adina [ADINA, SHELLEY]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JUV000000
ISBN: 9780446538008
Publisher: FaithWords
Published: 2008-08-11T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

I CAME TO in the back of Dr. Hayes’s BMW, just as he pulled up to the doors of the emergency room at the Stanford Medical Center.

My head hurt like it’d never hurt before. Lucas—both of him—sort of swooped by in a lazy, sickening circle, holding the doors for us as Dr. Hayes carried me in, and then the black swarmed over my vision again. “I think she’s concussed,” I heard someone say off in the distance, and then time blinked out.

Until a bright light shone in one eye. Then in the other. Ow.

“Hello, young lady,” a deep voice said. “Decided to join us, did you?”

“Unngh.”

“I’m Dr. Matsuda. They tell me you tripped and fell.”

“Uh-hunngh.”

“Looks like you clipped your temple on the corner of a dresser or bed frame or some other hard object. We stitched you up while you were out.”

Gross. Thank you for that.

“How many?” Was I going to be bald on one side?

“Just three. They’ll disappear on their own in a week or so.”

“Thanks.”

“Look up, then down, please.” I did. “Your responses are good. I don’t think you’re concussed, but you definitely need to take it easy for the rest of the day. Maybe even the rest of the weekend.”

“I have to study.”

“You’ll be able to do that tomorrow. But no swim meets or cross-country races.”

“No problem.” I looked past him. “Did a guy come in with me?”

“A guy?” Dr. Matsuda looked puzzled.

“Tall, thin. Seventeen or so. Brainy-looking.”

His face cleared. “Oh, him. He and his dad left a couple of hours ago.”

“Left? Left?” How could they have left? Didn’t they care about me? What was I supposed to do, stuck in the wilds of Palo Alto with a hole in my head? Flag down a cab?

Dr. Matsuda put a hand on my shoulder and pushed me back onto the pillow. “Relax. When you’re ready to be released, they left a number for me to call and they’ll come get you. Apparently the younger gentleman had to work.”

Work. Oh, my gosh. Because I’d been such a klutz, Lucas had lost who knew how many hours of coaching time. Could my timing have been any worse? Could I have spoiled the day any more?

Dr. Matsuda did a couple more tests with my eyes and reflexes and pronounced me fit to leave. While I ground through the boredom of producing my health insurance card and filling out forms, I asked myself when I was going to get a grip.

Lucas, obviously, had been right. I didn’t do it on purpose, but my subconscious had to be hard at work, making sure I was at the center of everyone’s attention. A ferry crashes into a New York dock? Never mind the old lady squashed underneath her, is Gillian okay? An elevator gets stuck in the Eiffel Tower? Yup, there’s Gillian, hyperventilating and making a scene. A brilliant mind needs a day of coaching so he can be in the Olympics? Sure, as long as we can take time out to get Gillian to the hospital.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.