Page 100 of Released from the Sin Bin

“Doctor,” I call out once we make it through the door, hoping there’s at least one here.

Willa’s sobbing has slowed, but she’s still clutching my neck with her head buried in my chest.

“What happened?” One of her doctors comes out of his office and steers me to the closest exam room, but Willa won’t let go of me to put her on the bench.

“She,” I pause, catching my breath. “Her other doctor cleared her to skate. We were on the ice for less than a minute.”

I sit on the bench with her in my arms for him to examine her.

“It’s her ankle or I don’t know. She was saying it hurt.”

The doctor quickly puts his gloves on and takes a look at her ankles.

“Ms. Tomlin, you’re going to have to tell me what hurts.” He coaxes her to pick her face off my chest.

“It’s broken. I can’t…” she utters against me with a shake of her head.

“I don’t see anything,” he says after taking her socks off to get a good look at both her feet and ankles. “I’m going to get the x-ray machine to check on the plate.”

“Willa, it’s going to be ok.” I rub her back to soothe her. “You’re going to be ok.”

She shakes her head without picking it up.

“Look at me.” I pick her head up off my chest. “They’re going to figure out what’s wrong, and we will fix this.”

Her red eyes fill up with more tears as her breath comes out shaking.

I kiss the top of her head and hold her against me.

Two hours and multiple tests later, the doctor comes in with another female doctor that I haven’t seen around the school before.

“Willa, I’m doctor Birch. Can you tell me what happened?” Doctor Birch sits on the chair next to the bench.

“What’s going on?” I ask. “Nothing happened. She put on the skates and went on the ice, but she could barely move. What did you guys see?”

“Carter, calm down,” Dr. Cross warns me. “Dr. Birch is here to help. We need Willa to answer some questions. It’d be best for you to give us a few minutes. You can wait outside.”

He motions for me to leave.

I start to get up, but Willa grabs my hand for me to stay.

“No, I want him to stay. Please.” It’s the first thing she’s said in hours, and they’ll have to drag me out of here if they say no.

“Are you sure, Willa?” Dr. Birch asks.

Willa nods and clutches tighter onto my hand.

“Willa,” Dr. Cross cuts in, “we didn’t see anything on your scans. The plate looks good, everything is healing well. There hasn’t been any change since the last ones taken a few days ago.”

“Tell us what happened,” Dr. Birch coaxes her to speak.

“I… I don’t know.” Her hand shakes in mine. “I heard a crack, and I panicked.”

“What were you thinking about? Do you remember?” Dr. Birch’s soothing voice asks her questions to figure out what’s wrong with her ankle.

“I was …” she lets go of my hand and rubs her leg. “I guess my skate was just too tight.” She’s lying.

“Willa,” Dr. Birch takes Willa’s hand, “I want to help you, but you have to talk to me. You’ve been through a traumatic experience. Sometimes we have things that trigger us and can cause flashbacks.”

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