Read Online Enchanted Again by Nancy Madore - Free Book Online Page B

seemed like hours, listening keenly and anxiously for the longed-for sound, and wishing earnestly for the moment when it would come. When at last it did come, she had to strain to be sure she heard it, barely audible at first, but quickly growing louder as the sirens of the ambulance approached, closer and closer. Only when she was certain the sound she awaited was the sound she heard did she finally stop listening and begin to cry.
     
    In what seemed to be only an instant later, Carol’s body jerked convulsively and her eyes opened to shockingly bright light. Abruptly she closed her eyes again. She knew instinctively not to move. There was pain everywhere—pain in places she couldn’t even identify. She felt so incredibly weak that she wondered if she was fully alive. She longed to hear a voice. She tried to alert someone nearby that she was conscious, but it took three strenuous efforts to finally produce a slight moan.
    “She’s awake!” Was that Mary’s voice? Carol tried to open her eyes again, but they kept snapping shut several more times before she was ultimately able to keep them open for any length of time.
    “Lights,” she croaked inaudibly, squinting and blinking uncontrollably.
    “It’s the lights!” Mary said to someone else in the room. “Turn them down!” She spoke in a harsh whisper, overemphasizing every word.
    “Is that better?” Carol heard Jane ask.
    “Jane?” She didn’t dare move her head. Her eyes were finally able to focus without the harsh glare of fluorescent lights, and Mary’s concerned face came into her view.
    “My God, Carol,” Mary whispered more calmly. “Take it easy now.”
    Someone took her icy hand into their warmer one and Jane’s face came into view. “It’s okay,” Jane assured her in an authoritative tone. “You are going to be okay.” Carol closed her eyes in relieved gratitude. Good, sensible Jane always knew what to say to make her feel better.
    “Harvey’s here, too,” Mary added. “He has been right by your side the whole time. He only just left to get us more coffee.”
    They were covering all the foremost questions on her mind.
    “What happened?” she managed to say.
    “You were in a car accident,” Mary told her, omitting all details of the accident itself, including that the police had been questioning Carol’s alcohol levels or that it had been determined that the crash was her fault. “Everything is going to be fine,” she assured her.
    “My face?” Carol hardly dared to ask the question that was most prevalent in her mind. It had not even occurred to her to wonder if anyone else had been hurt or if she had been responsible. She held her breath as she waited for Mary to answer.
    “Not a scratch,” Mary told her. “Your injuries were all mainly in your—” She stopped there because Jane poked her. Carol caught a glimpse of Jane shaking her head at Mary from the corner of her eye.
    “What injuries?” cried Carol frantically. “Tell me!”
    “There might be some minor injuries to your back,” Jane told Carol after a moment’s hesitation. “The doctor will explain.” Jane gave Mary a warning look.
    “I want to know now,” Carol insisted.
    “There is really nothing to tell,” Jane told her. “We are all still waiting to hear what the doctor has to say.”
    “Here’s Harvey!” Mary blurted with an audible sigh of relief.
    Mary and Jane left the room so that Harvey could discuss Carol’s condition with her privately. In truth, Carol was remarkably fortunate to have suffered so few injuries. But those injuries were in her back and lower body, and there was the distinct possibility that she would never walk again. Neither of her friends wanted to be in the room when Carol learned this.
    “I’m exhausted,” Mary told Jane in the hospital waiting room. “I think I’ll go home and get some sleep.”
    “I’m going to stay until the results of Carol’s tests come back,” Jane said determinedly.
    Mary looked at Jane