Page 69 of The Gathered Fragments of Us
"Yes, against the corner of the bed here." I used my good hand to show her where I hit the side of my head. When my hand came away, it was sticky. I think it was blood. I looked at the officer and showed her. "Am I bleeding?"
"Oh boy. It looks like you are. It's okay. Everything is going to be okay now." She looked at the other officers. "We need paramedics for the child too, ASAP."
"I didn’t do anything wrong!" Mom shouted from across the room. Two officers were holding her arms as one cuffed her—she kept trying to come to me.
"Ma'am, we need you to calm down," one of the officers said to her.
What's happening?" My arm and my head hurt really bad, and Mom was acting so weird—weirder than normal.
"What kind of pills did your mom take, honey?" Officer Lia asked me really quietly.
"I don't know. She had lots of them. White ones and blue ones. She said they help her think. There are some on the floor and I think some in her purse too." I wiped my nose with my good hand. "Is she sick?"
"Yes, sweetie. Your mom is very sick right now. Those pills probably aren't good for her."
I looked over at my mom—sitting on the floor now because the officers made her sit down. She looked so sleepy, and she was hanging her head like she was super falling asleep, her eyes looking tired… and sad.
I could barely hear her through her mumbling, but I think she said, "I was trying to protect you." Her words sounded funny. "Your dad... he doesn't understand. The pills—they clear things for me. "
I don't getit. If the pills helped her think, why was she acting so confused?
"Am I in trouble?" I whispered, not wanting my mom to hear—would she be mad if she found out?"Because I took someone's phone."
"Absolutely not. You're not in trouble at all. You did exactly the right thing by calling for help." She was pushing on my head with a towel from the bathroom. It made it hurt, but it was more of a dull hurt than the pain from when I actually banged it.
A man in a uniform came in with a big bag. Officer Lia told me he was a paramedic, and he was going to look at my arm.
"Hi there," he said. "I'm Mike. Looks like you got hurt, yeah?"
"Yeah. My mom fell on me—on my arm. And then I hit my head." I started crying again because talking about it made it hurt more.
Mike was really gentle when he touched my head, peeling back the towel that Officer Lia was using. He replaced it with some gauze and wrapped it tightly—so tight it hurt a little, but it still felt better. Then he looked at my arm. "I think you broke your arm when you fell. We'll need to have you get an X-Ray." I cried harder at that. Everything seemed like a lot. I wanted my dad. I wanted my mom too… just not like this. "We're going to wrap it with this splint, just to keep it still and make sure you don’t get hurt anymore. Then we'll put it in something called a sling to keep it safe, okay?"
While Mike was fixing my arm, I could hear the other paramedic talking to my mom. She kept saying weird things like "it's all too much," and asking him to make it all stop.
"Officer Lia?" I said.
"Yes?"
"Is my dad really coming?"
"He is. He's driving here as fast as he can. It might take a couple hours though because he was far away."
"Can I wait for him?"
"Of course. We're going to take you to the hospital to make sure your arm is okay, and your dad will meet us there."
"What about Mom?"
Officer Lia looked sad. "Your mom needs to go to the hospital too, but she'll be in a different area. The doctors need to help her with the pills she took."
I nodded. I felt really confused and scared, but also kind of better. With the police here I wasn't as scared as I was before—plus, Dad was coming. Maybe things would be normal again.
As they helped me walk to the ambulance, the officer was putting Mom in the back of a police car. I grabbed Officer Lia's hand with mine, wishing it was my dad's hand. Normally I'd feel like I was too old to hold someone's hand. But I didn't care right now.
Mom looked so sleepy. Even though she scared me and hurt my arm, she was still my mom. I hoped the doctors could get her the right pills. Maybe she just didn't have the right ones.
"Will this be the first time you're in an ambulance?" asked Officer Lia.
