Read Online Chosen by Jessica Burkhart - Free Book Online

and plucked a
     black, summery A-line skirt covered with dozens of fleur-de-lis designs that were
     stitched on with fine, silver thread. I stayed in the same section to select a delicate
     scoop-neck tissue tee in soft white.
    I grabbed a cardigan sweater from the sister section—a grape-y
     purple button-down with sparkly rhinestone buttons that Becca convinced me to purchase
     from J.Crew just last weekend. I felt the thin microfiber material between my thumb and
     index fingers, grateful to be holding a sweater my sister had picked out, that I’d
     tried on and realized ran small and swapped it for a size up, one that we bought in the
     store together and that I assumed she wanted me to get because it was her favorite color
     and she’d borrow it before I even got to wear it once.
    A sweater that surprised me because, here I was, cutting off the tags to
     wear it out on a date with Tay, my boyfriend—not some guy I met and competed
     against in the arena. Just a boy I liked hanging out with—an athlete, like me, who
     got why I had to take a break after my fall, who got why I only drank tea with kettle
     water, and why spending a whole night just watching a movie and going out for a slice of
     pizza felt like a luxury. A boy Lauren Towers a year and a half ago wouldn’t even
     have time to text.
    An ambulance siren wailed, making me feel queasy.
     I’d been dreading today for a while—it was the grand opening of a new
     hospital a few blocks away. It had been all over the news that today had been Union
     County Hospital’s ribbon-cutting ceremony. I hated the h-word, and just hearing
     the far-off siren brought back memories I didn’t want to think about.
    I sat down on the closet floor, squeezing my eyes shut as I leaned my back
     against the shoe wall. Memories of a time before sweater shopping and movie dates and
     getting to know more about a boy than how many blue ribbons he’d snagged wanted to
     invade! Memories about a girl before she fell, before it was splashed across the news in
     slow-motion on every channel. A busy, thrilling, whirlwind competitive time and the way
     it all halted so fast. The sound of a shocked, worried crowd, those memories—the
     darkest, scariest ones—I’d tried to stop thinking about were coming
     back.
    The ambulance siren I’d just heard sounded just like the ones
     I’d heard when I’d been on the ground. Everyone around me had looked so
     worried.
    â€œI’m fine,” I assured them.
    Mr. Wells asked me to wiggle my fingers and toes, which I did without a
     problem.
    â€œEverything feels fine,” I said again. But
     something wasn’t right. I felt . . . fear.
    But this had been my first serious spill. There hadn’t been any
     warning at all. One second, I was galloping toward a jump—the final jump. My body
     had already gotten comfortable, and in my head I was excited about finishing.
    The next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground, aching all over.
    All of a sudden, the world was moving again. All I wanted was
     stillness.
    Two paramedics—or maybe three?—placed a brace around my neck
     and loaded me carefully onto a stretcher.
    What people would remember most was the way I protested. This was
     unnecessary, I insisted. The last thing I wanted was to go to the hospital where
     strangers could keep staring. I really just wanted to curl up under every blanket on my
     bed and sleep away what had happened.
    Maybe if I slept, I remembered reasoning, the fear would disappear.
    But I didn’t go home. Instead, I spent a night in the hospital.
     “For observation.” The doctors were worried about possible head trauma. I
     was released the next day with clearance to ride again as soon as my body felt
     ready.
    I barely spoke the next week. Whenever Mom and Dad
     brought up riding, I made up excuse after excuse.
    Too much homework.
    I was still sore.
    Skyblue probably needed more