All She Can Take

E I G H T E E N

 That crash came. Most people would likely lose consciousness from their head smacking against the pavement, but no, not Sid. She was awake, head hammering, and dizzy through the whole thing. Through it all the cyclist screaming at her, alternating between asking her why'd she just step off the damn curb without looking and also asking her with great concern if she was okay.

No, she was not okay.

She tried to push up off the ground but a sharp pain ran through her ankle and from its intense swelling she knew it wouldn't be good. The rising lump on her forehead also wasn't a great sign. And her shoulder seemed to be sitting at an awkward angle that was accompanied by a throbbing pain she hadn't felt since the contractions during labor with AJ. Long story short, she was fucked up. It seemed everyone who witnessed the collision saw that she was in bad shape too because within minutes an ambulance was on the scene to whisk her off to the hospital. She groaned because her entire body hurt, but more so because she thought of her mother at that moment.

AJ had health insurance from Aiden. But her, she was still on her mother's health insurance. She tried to jump off of it right after she safely gave birth to AJ -- you know, loosen the reigns a bit -- but her mother insisted that she stay on until she was twenty-six, the ultimate max. What if you get into an accident or something?  Tanya Berry had said. At the time Sid rolled her eyes and threw a whatever over her shoulder but now look at her...in an accident or something. Once her mother found out, she would never hear the end of it. She hoped they didn't call her mother. Wait. Her phone. Sid turned her head quickly to the EMT on her right side which caused intense pain to shoot from the base of her skull to the crown of her head. She yelped in agony.

"We're going to need you to take it easy. You have some bruising to your neck. Just hold tight." He assured her in a voice that either seemed calm or bored. She couldn't really tell. Either way she decided to take his advice and laid back with her eyes squeezed shut. The whirring alarms of the ambulance and the rocking as it careened over potholed streets lulled her to sleep...or maybe she had finally blacked out. Sid would let the doctors decide.

***

The scent of bandages and hand sanitizer assaulted her nose sometime later and she opened her eyes.

"Sid," Tomi whispered next to her.

"What?"

"How did you get hit by a cyclist?" It was totally like Tomi to launch into a line of questioning. No need for small talk with her.

"I drank too much." Sid leaned back on the stiff pillow behind her head. Tomi was so close to her that she could smell the light berry scent of her matte lipstick. "Could you back up?"

Tomi looked around the small bay they were in. The stiff curtain was pulled tightly around them.

"There ain't much room to move around. They have everybody packed in here like sardines."

She suspected they were in the Emergency Room but had no idea how long they'd been there.

"How'd you find me?"

"I was the last person on your call log so they called me."

Sid furrowed her brow and felt a stiffness there. Her hand reached up to touch a large bandage across her forehead. Her toes peeked out from beneath a tight layer of bandages around her left foot and ankle. Her right arm was in a sling. Lord, the amount of mess.

"Am I good to leave now?" Sid asked despite her injuries.

"They're working on your discharge."