Authors: S. E. Campbell
“
Pickles, I
'
m so glad you
'
re okay,
”
Miranda said.
“
So glad.
”
“
What happened?
”
Pickles groaned.
Another familiar face appeared above her. It was their neighbor, Nancy, the one
who
had
stolen Miranda
'
s decoration. Pickles groaned again. She had to have been dreaming. That was the only
way any
of this made sense.
“
I took my son to the park,
”
Nancy said.
“
I pushed him down the slide
â
and then he screamed
â
then I heard
this awful clunking n
oise. I ran down the slide and saw
you and my son at the bottom
. I didn
'
t have my phone and wasn
'
t thinking too clearly, so I put you in the stroller with my boy and pushed you back here. I
'
m sure glad to
hear you
were okay. My heart was beating so fast.
”
Then
the Harrises
called the ambulance.
Pickles
moaned, shook her head
to try
to clear the pain and the fuzziness. It didn
'
t go away. Tears filled her eyes.
“
My head hurts,
”
Pickles said.
“
I
'
m sure it does,
”
Miranda said, her voice soothing.
“
We
'
ll put you in the car and take you to the hospital, okay? The EMT
says we
need to get your head X-rayed,
but you
should be well enough to drive with us.
”
Pickles didn
'
t like the idea of going anywhere. More than anything else, she wanted to just
lie
on the couch.
She heard David speak to the man
who
had been shining the lights in her eyes,
then
the two men disappeared. Once the door shut, she covered her ears with her hands
and groaned
again.
But too soon David scooped her up
, holding her tight against his chest
. Her head pounded
as
she fought down the urge to cry. She
thought those
men were wrong. She was
sure she
was
dying. How could anybody hurt so much and not be? She moaned
and buried
her face in David
'
s shirt.
David
carried her
to the garage
and gently placed her in the back seat
.
After walking around to the front of the car, he climbed in as Miranda took the passenger seat
.
David pushed the automated button on a black device and the garage door opened
.
He
pulled
the car out of the garage
.
Pickles
didn
'
t like the movement because it made her head ache
even
more.
“
Why was she out of school?
”
David asked.
“
Was she abducted?
”
Pickles saw Miranda cast a look at her with a pale face and massive eyes.
“
I don
'
t know, David, but
this is not the time
,
”
Miranda said.
“
If she was abducted, then it
is
the time.
”
David
'
s fists tightened on the steering wheel.
“
We have to call the authorities.
”
“
She
'
s been through enough.
”
Pain filled her body, but this time it wasn
'
t because of her headache. It was because, when she
stared
at Miranda, Pickles
saw she
had tears streaming down her face. She also saw how angry David
'
s face
appeared
,
though
he never looked like that. Ever. She was the cause behind it. She didn
'
t deserve to be a part of such a great family, no matter how much she wanted
to be
.
She let out a loud sob.
Miranda swiveled in her seat
then
grabbed her hand.
“
It
'
s okay, Pickles. It
'
s okay.
”
“
I
knew we
should have let the EMT take her.
”
David
stared
at her through the rearview mirror.
“
What did they mean, sound? She is obviously not sound.
”
This only made Pickles cry harder. She wanted her head and heart to stop
aching
. Between the two, she felt as if she was being ripped apart.
“
I went to the park. I left school early.
”
Pickles wept harder.
“
I
'
m real sorry.
”
“
It
'
s okay, Pickles.
”
Miranda massaged the top of her hand.
“
You don
'
t have to talk about this now. You can explain it to us once we get some medicine for your head.
”
“
No, I have to tell you now,
”
Pickles said,
“
or else I feel like I might die.
”
Both Miranda and David exchanged glances. David pulled over
to the side of the road
then
stopped the car. Pickles
could see through blurry eyes they were by a house
and not
at the hospital.
“
Okay, Pickles,
”
Miranda said.
“
Tell us, then.
”
“
I wanted
so much for
you two to adopt me. When I found
out you
were having a baby, I started to
get scared
. It happens to kids like us all the time. After a new baby comes, there
'
s no room for us,
”
Pickles said, tears streaming down her face.
“
I
thought maybe
if I had some information on
you
that
you
didn
'
t want me to tell anyone, then I could make you keep me. I
'
m sorry. I shouldn
'
t have done it.
”
To
Pickles
'
surprise,
neither Miranda
nor David
appeared
shocked. Instead they exchanged looks again.
“
I know, Pickles,
”
Miranda said.
“
Iâ¦
I found your list while I was cleaning your room. I tried to figure out what it meant, but I couldn
'
t. That
'
s why I asked you
if you had
anything you
wanted to tell me. I didn
'
t understand what was wrong. The principal also told
me you
were having some trouble making friends, so I
'
ve been worried about you.
”
“
I
'
m sorry
,
”
Pickles repeated.
****
After Pickles had her X-ray, she lay on a cot with her head in a daze. She could hardly think
. She
knew it
was late because David had called in to work and
said he
wasn
'
t coming in the next day.
“
It
'
s going to be okay,
”
Miranda said for the thousandth time, massaging her head.
With
the medicine chasing away the pain
, Pickles
was starting
to believe it too. David
stood silently
at her side, gazing at her with half-moons under his eyes. A moment later, Dr. Carmichael came in. He was short
and
thin
and wore round glasses. In her mind
'
s fog, Pickles felt as though she was looking at a giant fly in a white lab coat. She tried to blink
the
image away.
“
You
'
re Pickles Bartley
'
s guardians?
”
Dr. Carmichael asked.
“
Yes, we are,
”
said Miranda.
“
Is she going to be okay?
”
“
She
'
s going to be fine,
”
Dr. Carmichael said.
“
She has a minor concussion.
”
A concussion?
Pickles
blinked. She wasn
'
t sure what
it
was.
“
Poor Pickles,
”
Miranda said.
“
Do we need to do
anything
special
?
”
David asked.
“
I
know you
aren
'
t supposed to let
concussion victims
sleep.
”
“
In some cases, that may be true, but not with one as minor as this.
”
Dr. Carmichael smiled at Pickles in a kind way.
“
Let her sleep but gently check on her every couple of hours to
ensure she
'
s
okay. She should be fine within a few days. I
'
ll prescribe some
mild
medication to make
sure she
isn
'
t in too much pain.
”
Miranda smiled
while she pressed a hand to her heart
.
“
Thank you, doctor. Thank you so much.
”
Though Pickles focused, trying to figure out what was going on, everything began to fade out.
Â
Â
The next day, Pickles awoke
in
her bed with a pounding headache. She
pushed off
the sheets
then
climbed from the bed while gripping her
ears
. She heard her door squeak open
.
When
she
glanced
up
,
David
stood in the opening
.
“
David,
”
Pickles said.
“
You okay?
”
David asked.
“
I was listening for you.
We have your
medicine, if you need it.
”
“
Yes, please,
”
Pickles said.
“
It
'
ll be best if you take it with water,
”
David said.
“
Let
'
s head downstairs.
”