Page 1 of Doctor Second Chance

ONE

Elle

Saturday, July 6, 2024

113 Main Street, Birmingham

3:12 pm

“Just another tiny little pull on this ribbon and… engagement party perfection. I believe that's it! What do you think, Sophie?”

I lean back on the ladder and keep my knees on the rung for stability. Surveying the etched crystal vases, with their elegant looped ribbons, on each end of the outdoor mantle, I look at everything with a satisfied smile. I finally feel like we nailed it. Isabella will love it!

Dozens of freshly cut purple, baby blue, and white hydrangeas, my and Isabella’s favorite flowers, fill each vase. Greenery trails along the length of the stone ledge, spilling over and literally bringing a tear to my eye.

I can't wait to see her face when she arrives and sees everything pulled together for her engagement party. We’ve been planning for about six months, and our group Pinterest board for the event now has over two thousand images. As soon as we all got the text, within days of Isabella’s engagement, we sprang into planning mode.

“What do you think?” I yell across the yard at Sophie, where she's unwinding strings of Edison bulb lights to string across it.

“I told you it looked great thirty minutes ago, Elle! You’ve been fussing over those vases for too long now. Leave them be and come help me hang these up.”

I toss the stem of a broken flower at her. “You know I’m a perfectionist. I do want this night to be absolutely flawless for Izzy. I need to stop fiddling with it, though. You’re right.”

As soon as the last word leaves my mouth, I lose my footing, and the uneven ground causes the ladder to shift.

In an instant, as if in slow motion, the ladder and I both fall straight toward the herringbone brick floor below.

Reflexively, I grab onto the vase closest to me, grasping for anything to steady me. I meant for it to be on the mantel’s edge, but a split second goes by a lot quicker than I imagined it might. The vase is the only thing my hand grasped.

The thud of hitting the ground reverberates through my body, and then the aluminum ladder, as it pins my arm, makes a metallic clang on the brick. As I struggle to breathe, I'm trying to comprehend everything. It dawns on me that the fall must have taken the breath out of me.

In an attempt to free myself, I try to move and push the ladder away, but my arms feel like jelly, and my vision blurs and darkens.

"Oh my god, Elle!" Sophie's shriek cuts through the ringing in my ears, and dark spots dance before my eyes as I struggle to keep my grip on consciousness. I can't pass out. Not here, not now?—

“The party is in four hours.” I struggle to get out as several people rush to me; unidentifiable figures stand over me. Someone picks up the ladder, and I struggle to sit up.

“There is still so much that needs to be done…” I need to get up and finish setting up for her engagement party tonight before...before...

Little pastel pompoms are all around me, swimming in the red sea of the blood flowing from my hand. I feel nauseated at the sight. Someone bends down close to my face and says something I can’t make out. I feel like I am dreaming. Figures and voices seem to float and echo all around me. Nothing feels right.

Streams of blood are gushing between my trembling fingers as I try to move them, unable to close my hand. I’m too tired.

Bile surges in the back of my throat as the coppery scent of blood slams my senses. The pain crests over me in a suffocating wave. All I want to do is go to sleep, to rest for a bit, then we can finish.

I try to speak, but my lips are numb, and my tongue is a lifeless lump of clay. The tang of blood fills my mouth as my vision blurs and dims once more. Faintly, I hear the sirens wail in the distance, growing steadily louder. And then everything goes black again.

UAB Hospital

1802 6th Ave S, Birmingham

3:59 pm

I slowly blink my eyes open. The harsh fluorescent lights of the hospital room cause me to squint. A dull throbbing pounds in my wrist and hand, emanating all the way up my arm and taking up residence in my shoulder and neck. Everything aches.

What happened? The last thing I remember is decorating for the party at Isabella’s house and putting up the final touches. Shit! The party!

I adjust myself in the bed, trying to find a comfortable position.

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