Page 100 of Broken

“What are your names?”

“Tucker. And that’s Annie.”

“Alright. Can either of you tell me what happened?” Business and urgency rang through the woman’s tone.

I looked up, watching as my best friend tried not to fall apart.

“She fell from up there.” Tucker motioned by turning his head, looking up to where Izzy’s pom poms rested on the steps near the top, marking the start of her fall. “She hit her head on the corner of a bench on the way down,” he added. “It instantly knocked her out, and she tumbled the rest of the way down.”

My stomach swooped at the new information, churning like I might be sick as I tried not to imagine.

“Keep the pressure on her head,” the woman instructed him while they continued to work over Izzy.

Tucker pressed the shirt harder against her head, keeping his focus on Izzy’s face. Like it was too much to watch. Whispering again in her ear instead while the paramedics went over her definite and probable injuries.

“How far along is she?” one of them asked, his voice kind yet urgent, but we all sensed the underlying note in his tone. Annie stiffened in my arms.

“Twenty-three weeks,” she answered. “Why?”

The paramedics didn’t answer, their focus steady on their patient.

“Why? Is something wrong with the baby?” Tucker pressed, sounding frantic now. Like it had never even occurred to him to consider it, he’d been so concerned about Izzy. “Tell me!” he yelled when they didn’t respond, making the rest of us jump.

I was certain his heart had to be in his throat like mine. It would kill Izzy if something was wrong with the baby. But I was surprised at the level of fear in Tucker’s voice.

“Please,” Annie begged.

“I can’t say yet, but possibly,” the woman answered after meeting her eyes, and she pushed Tucker out of the way to tend to Izzy’s head.

Tucker sat back, his forehead resting against shaky hands. He rocked back and forth as he worked hard to breathe. “Please,God, no,” he pleaded, desperation ringing through his words. “Help them…”

ANNIE

The ride over to the hospital was a blur. I’d ridden in the ambulance with Tucker, and even the first few minutes in the waiting room when we’d all listened to his explanation of what happened up in those stands seemed surreal to me now. The facts of it all evaded me at the moment. I mostly just remembered Mom’s tears as we clung to each other.

It felt like ages since the doctor had told us Izzy was going into emergency surgery for internal bleeding and her head wound, but the clock on the TV with the surgery listings told me it had only been a few hours.

I lifted my head from Jet’s shoulder and removed my hand from Mom’s to stand up, stretching my muscles that were stiff with the hours of immobile waiting. My abs spasmed as I pulled my arms above my head, and then I leaned forward to touch my toes, needing my blood moving again. I headed over to the water cooler at the corner of the room.

I filled one of the small paper cups and sipped slowly, just so I wouldn’t have to hurry back to my chair. The cool water was like a balm to my dry and scratchy throat, a product of my earlier screaming and crying, and my eyes still felt puffy from my tears, but they were at least dry now. I had pretty much cried myself out.

Now, I just felt empty. Except for the sick feeling I had in the pit of my stomach, my twin vibe in full effect.

I wanted to kick myself, or a lot more than that really, for not getting to Izzy right away, but Jet and I had headed outside to try and flag down a cab, leaving Tucker and the others to wait for Izzy. We were halfway down the long stretch of sidewalk, packed with tons of people all trying to leave, when that familiar warning screamed through our tether, and I’d bolted back for the stadium as fast as I could, Jet on my heels. The second Tucker saw me running and the look on my face, he’d taken off.

Neither of us were fast enough.

My chest lurched now with the urge to cry, but not even a prickle crossed my eyes. I had nothing left. Not until I knew more about Izzy. A part of me wanted to say I was sure she was going to pull through. That everything was going to be fine. The connection we shared almost guaranteeing I wasn’t going to lose her. But there was this feeling in my gut that I couldn’t ignore, and I couldn’t relax as long as it was there.

I filled and downed my cup three more times, not realizing how parched I’d been, and looked around the waiting room, finding it deserted except for my friends and family. There was a larger waiting room across the hall, but Chuck had led us into this smaller one, and I was relieved for the privacy.

We were all spent, exhausted and terrified. Mom’s head was resting against Jenna’s shoulder with Jenna’s head resting against hers, platinum blonde mixing with dark brunette. They held hands, and on both their cheeks, there was evidence of dried tears.

To their right, I watched Tucker fidget between Jet and his dad, his foot tapping impatiently against the white linoleum, his hands constantly moving, grasping together, clutching the arms of the chair, then moving up to his face where he’d swipe at tears that would occasionally escape his red, bloodshot eyes.

He looked like he was going insane with worry, and my heart went out to him. He truly loved my sister. I knew that. I’d heard him say it before, but it wasn’t until tonight when I watched him breaking apart that I was able to fully grasp that his love for Izzy was just as deep as the love I held for Jet.

Noticing Jet watching me, I tried to smile, but it turned out more like a grimace. He smiled back, understanding, and turned his head to whisper something to Tucker.

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