"Wait! Mom's ring is out here."
Sarah fought against the EMTs — those were the people who came in ambulances to help others. She didn't care that they were nice or that they had badges. They were pulling her onto a stretcher and walking away from the tree.
"I have to get her ring! I'll never get it back!"
An EMT, whose name was Linda, hoisted the stretcher into the back of the ambulance and turned to Mila. "What's she talking about?"
"It's my mom's ring. She...passed away, and it's important to us. She dropped it when she fell out of the tree."
"What were you doing climbing trees in the dark?" Linda asked.
"It's kind of a long story," Mila said.
"We were going to see my mom," Sarah said. "I was going to take her her ring, and I fell, and I need to find the ring."
Mr. Johnstan rushed outside. "Is everything alright?"
"Sir, looks like these kids were climbing in your tree," the other EMS worker said. She frowned down at Sarah's broken arm and shook her head at the old man.
"I'm sorry," Mila said. "It's just my sister thinks...well, she thought she saw...something in the tree, so we went looking for it. Then, she fell."
"Saw something in the tree?" Mr. Johnstan said. He watched the little girl get loaded onto the stretcher. Her arm looked like a mangled mess, that was for sure. He knew very well that something lived inside of his tree. He'd kept watch over it for the past six years...day in and day out...always watching to make sure it didn't get anyone else hurt, especially them.
"It's my mom," Sarah said. "My mom's in the tree."
"Sweetie," the second EMS worker smiled. "Your mom can't be in that tree."
She was a nice lady who meant well. The red lipstick she wore looked good on her dark skin, even in the flashing strobe lights of the night. The ambulance hovered over them like a box of ice. It was big, silver, and chilling.
"I've never been in an ambulance before," Sarah said.
"First time for everything, right kiddo? My names Natasha, but you can call me Nat."
"Thanks, Nat. I dropped mom's ring. I have to get mom's ring. Can you go get it?"
"Honey, no, I can't. We've got to get you to the hospital, but maybe we can look for it when you're all better, alright?"
"No, it's not okay. I need to get it. I said I wouldn't lose it."
"I'll find it," Mr. Johnstan said. "Don't worry, pipsqueak."
"Hey, he calls me pipsqueak too," Sarah said.
Linda raised an eyebrow at Mila and then smiled back down at Sarah. "You sure are brave. Most people cry like babies when they break their arm this bad."
"That's because I'm not a baby," Sarah said.
"No, you certainly aren't," Linda smiled. She hopped up into the truck and held her hand out for Mila. "Don't worry. We'll get her all taken care of. That's a pretty bad break. They'll do some imaging at the hospital and get her something for pain. Then, you'll need to make an appointment with osteothemologist to get it set probably, if I had my guess. I trust I don't have to tell you that that was probably a bad idea."
"I know," Mila said. She sat down on the seat along the sides of the stretcher and watched as Linda shut the doors. Linda gave a nod to the driver, and the motor in the ambulance roared to life. They didn't use the sirens, because luckily for them, Sarah wasn't dying. She was just hurt.
"It looks weird," Sarah said. "Like Bugs Bunny dropped an anvil on it."
Mila's face turned green. It did look awful. Her arm was straight, dipped with a peak of bone, and straight again. Out of all the trees they'd climbed, out of all the times they'd done stupid stuff, why did it have to be then?
"Stop touching it," Mila said.
"Sarah," Linda began, "I'm going to start an IV. Have you ever had one of those before?"
"A what?" Sarah asked.
Linda looked over at Mila for advice. "Is she afraid of needles?"
"Um," Mila shrugged. "She's not, but I kind of am."
"Well, don't worry, it's not going in you."
Mila's face turned red. She couldn't watch.
"I've got to clean your arm off first," Linda said. "The other arm, sweetie. I don't want to stick your broke arm. It's just alcohol. It's to make sure no bad germs get inside of you."
Linda swabbed Sarah's arm with a cold wipe. She blew on it, and then put a bright orange band around the top of her arm and tied it tight.
"Ow, it pinches," Sarah said.
"It won't be long," Linda said. "Alright now, kiddo, just a quick stick. Ready? Three. Two. One...."
"Ow!" Sarah yelped.
"And done," Linda said. "Be still. I still have to tape it down. This is so we can get you medicine faster. Medicine will help you faster if it goes right into your arm."
"Well, it doesn't hurt as bad as my other arm."
"Haha," Linda smiled and tossed a plastic cap into a red bin behind her. "Yeah, I bet. Is this your first time ever breaking a bone?"
"Mhm," Sarah said. "I've never broken a bone before."
"Well, kiddo," Linda smiled. "You have now, and it's a doosey. I remember I broke my collar bone once when I was about your age."
"How?" Sarah asked and stared down at the plastic tube and needle that was taped to the inside of her other elbow.
"Well, my brother and I thought it'd be a good idea to pretend he was a horse. He stopped moving, and I fell off and hit a cabinet. Broke my collar bone. Swear you can't make this stuff up."
Mila gave half a smile and looked away. She should have known better. She should have known it was dangerous to go at night. It was just...she didn't want to go to sleep with Sarah still mad. With all that stuff going on...she just wanted to see if maybe...if she could have heard too.
"Hey, don't feel too bad about it," Linda said. "All kids do stupid stuff."
"Yeah," Mila said, "but I'm not a kid anymore."
"You look like a kid to me," Linda said.
"I guess," Mila said. She knew Linda was just trying to make her feel better, and it did a little. She turned her eyes back to Sarah. She really was brave. She wasn't crying nearly as bad as she should have been. Her face was red, and her breathing was short, but she wasn't screaming like Mila probably would've done.
The ambulance pulled out into the street, revved the engine, and started on its way. Linda unbuckled and adjusted her green latex gloves before grabbing a clipboard from the back.
"Alright, let's go."
They talked over information as they unloaded the stretcher and wheeled Sarah inside of the hospital. Mila gave them all of their details: their phone number, address, date of birth, all of the stuff you never told anyone unless they were someone like that.
