From Rockybado 4: Running Up a Hill
After the end of the work day, Dawson and Brody had spent the afternoon in Valparaiso for two reasons. The first reason? They love Valparaiso, and they wanted to spend some time there! The second reason? They had gone to the arcade room right off Highway 30. The third reason? Dawson and Brody had to pick up some stuff from the store before they came home. Before the thirty-minute trip back to Crown Point, they had stopped at a store on LaPorte Avenue to get a few things for Dawson’s apartment. Brody thought that it would be a good idea to pick out some movies from the five dollar bucket. Surprisingly enough, Brody had found some movies that he has not seen in quite a while. He got four movies from the five dollar bucket that he thought everyone would want to see. Dawson needed to get some more clothes hangers, a few more towels for their bathroom, and some more coffee mugs. After spending about thirty minutes at the store, Dawson and Brody were at the check-out line. “I picked out some movies that we should watch tonight,” Brody remarked. “Oh really? What did you choose?” Dawson asked. “What do you think I always like to watch?” “Oh yes. That.” “Aren’t you excited? You haven’t seen that movie in a long time,” Brody said. “It has been a while,” Dawson replied with a smile. “And Mom and Dad are planning to order pizza for the night.” “Nice! It’ll be fun to have a night with all of us around.” “I know! All we have to do is get home.” “Exactly.” Dawson paid for everything, and then he and Brody headed toward the car, which belongs to Brody. They put their bags in the trunk and started the car. Brody was in the driver seat, and Dawson was the passenger. Brody backed out of the parking lot and then headed west, toward the university. Dawson and Brody did not say much for a while. They were thinking about different things at the same time. Dawson was thinking about everything that he had just bought for his and Daniela’s apartment. Brody was just thinking about pizza. Come to think of it, he was starting to get a little hungry. As was Dawson. “I hope we get pizza soon,” Brody broke the ten-minute silence. “Yeah. Me, too,” Dawson replied. “I’m starting to get really hungry.” “I know! And didn’t we eat recently?” “Probably. You know how I am!” Brody remarked, causing both boys to laugh. “I know how you are,” Dawson said. “At least we’re only about twenty minutes away from home.” “I’ve made it home in fifteen!” “Well, that’s because you live in Merrillville! It takes you like five minutes to get there.” “True, true.” “Wazzup.” Dawson and Brody were joking for a good part of the way back to the Ingram’s house in Crown Point. The drive on Highway 30 was not a bad one, actually. Even though it was clearly afternoon, and it was probably rush hour. The boys were still doing pretty well with time. But then, everything happened all at once. The car was on Highway 30 and Highway 51, headed into Merrillville. Dawson and Brody had the green light, and they saw a silver blob cross Highway 30 toward their car. Before they knew it, they heard a crash that hit the hood of Brody’s car, causing it to spin in the other direction. Once the car stopped, it was stuck near the corner of 51 and 30, facing 51. Dawson looked at his hands to make sure that he didn’t break anything. Brody did the same thing. Only when he was trying to wiggle his fingers on his right hand, he found it hard to do so. “Dammit,” Brody said after he looked at his hand. “What’s wrong?” Dawson asked his younger brother, worried. “This isn’t good.” “What? Just tell me.” “I can’t move my fingers. This isn’t a good sign,” Brody remarked. “You probably broke your wrist,” Dawson commented. “I know I did.” “What should we do?” “I don’t know, but my chest also hurts.” “I’ll call an ambulance.” Dawson and Brody just sat in the car, not quite sure what else to do. But Dawson then decided to call their parents and let them know what happened. At least their mom was home, so she could easily drive over to the site of the crash and make sure that her sons were not in a world of hurt. Brody started crying because his chest hurt so badly. He didn’t do anything else because he found it hard to even move. Dawson kept a close eye on him to make sure that nothing else would happen. He put his hand on Brody’s shoulder to let him know that he was still in the car with him. A man came out of the silver pick-up truck and stormed over to Dawson and Brody. This couldn’t be good. He was obviously mad. Dawson was ready to fight. Brody would have been as well, but he was not in the right mind to do anything but remain defenseless, and he was also starting to feel nauseous. “I HOPE YOU HAVE CAR INSURANCE!” the man shouted at Dawson and Brody. He looked like he could be 25 years old. “You were the one who ran into us,” Dawson remarked to the man. His left hand was on Brody’s shoulder; Brody was trying really hard not to throw up. “No. You ran the red light.” “We had the green light, for crying out loud!” “You’re placing all the blame on me, for crying out loud!” the man shouted. “I do not always like to pick fights, but I get ugly when I do,” Dawson pointed out. “This ain’t time for jokes. This is serious.” “Why are you twisting everything I’m saying?” “You ran a red light.” “No. You ran the red light, as I said before.” Mrs. Ingram made it to the scene of the crash, and she saw Dawson and Brody. Dawson was okay, except that he was beyond furious at the man who ran into them. He and the man, whose name he would never know, were still arguing. How long would this stupid argument last? No one would know. Brody was still in the car. He didn’t want to move because it hurt too much to do so. However, five minutes later, he had a weird feeling in his stomach. It was a combination of severe nausea and pain. With this bizarre feeling, Brody couldn’t handle it anymore. While his mom was watching him, he slowly opened the car door with his good hand and walked toward the grassy area. He made it just in time to throw up. Dawson and their mom ran over to where Brody to make sure that he was okay. After he was finished throwing up, he slowly sat on the ground and stared into space. Mrs. Ingram sat with him and put her arm around his shoulder. Dawson called an ambulance to take Brody to the hospital. A few minutes later, a police car and an ambulance arrived at the scene. The policeman approached Dawson and the man with the silver truck. The EMTs approached Mrs. Ingram and Brody. In five minutes, Brody was lying on a gurney in the ambulance. His hand had a burning sensation. His chest hurt. And his stomach still had that weird feeling. Dawson opted to ride in the ambulance with his younger brother, and their mom drove her car to the hospital where Brody was going to be for a little while. While riding in the ambulance, Brody closed his eyes and tried to block out everything that had happened today. Before they knew it, they were at the hospital near their house. Right now, Brody was taken to the emergency room. “Hi, Brody. I’m your nurse for tonight. So I’ve heard that you were in a car accident this afternoon,” the nurse said in a friendly manner. “I think I broke my wrist and some bone in my chest,” Brody remarked sleepily. The nausea was finally gone. “We are going to examine you to make sure there is nothing serious.” “Is Dawson okay?” “Is he your brother?” the nurse asked. “Yes. He was also in the accident,” Brody said, trying to remember everything. “I know who you’re talking about. He refused medical treatment because he thought that he didn’t get injured during the accident.” “So, I took the brunt of everything.” “Well, hopefully none of your injuries are serious. Now I’m going to listen to your chest and you tell me where it hurts the most when you breathe in.” “Okay.” The stethoscope felt very cold against Brody’s chest. The whole room felt very cold. Brody lost the shirt that he was wearing today, so the only thing he had similar to a shirt was a hospital gown that was open to expose his chest. He still had his shorts on, though. When he had the chance, Brody looked down at his chest and noticed that there was a decent-sized bruise in the center. He must have broken his breastbone to some extent. Hopefully the injuries weren’t much more serious than that. He also noticed some bruises on his right hand, which he thought he also broke. “What’s this thing on my finger?” Brody asked a nurse. “That’s a pulse oximeter,” the nurse replied. “What does it do?” “It measures your pulse rate and your oxygen saturation.” “Can I take this home with me?” Brody questioned with a weak smile. “I wish I could say yes, but you can pick one up for relatively cheap at a convenient store,” the nurse remarked. “Maybe I should invest in one.” “It’s pretty cool, if you really want to think about it.” “How much does it cost?” “The cheapest one is about twenty-five dollars.” “That’s expensive.” He lay on the gurney, not quite sure where he was. A doctor came in to see him and to check his vitals to make sure that he was stable. Then, Brody had to have both his chest and right hand x-rayed. The results came in within a few minutes. Brody bruised his sternum, and he broke his right hand. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to talk. It hurt to even move. Mrs. Ingram was with him for an hour, but Dawson was planning to stay the whole time. When their mom had to leave, David, Toby, and their dad came to the hospital to check on Brody. David and Toby left after an hour, but their dad stayed at the hospital. “You okay, Brody?” Mr. Ingram asked his son, putting his hand on Brody’s left shoulder. “Yes,” Brody replied softly. “Are you comfortable?” “No.” “Does your chest hurt?” Mr. Ingram asked. “Yes,” Brody replied, still very softly. “At least you didn’t get seriously hurt.” “I got hurt.” “You did, but nothing was serious.” “That’s good.
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