Chapter 5

“Has she been mixing alcohol with her medication?”

“No. Callie knows better.”

“Has she been complaining about migraines?”

“No,” there was a catch in my mother’s voice. “But maybe she wouldn’t tell me. I work overtime a lot, so does my husband. I’ve been trying to spend more time with her, but…”

“That’s quite alright Mrs. Michaels. From what I’ve seen of Callie’s file, other than the one incident, she’s well adjusted. I’m only trying to rule out anything that might indicate something more than her fainting from over exertion, which I believe is most likely.”

“But her ears were bleeding.”

I could hear my father hushing my mother.

“We’ve done several tests and have concluded that the blood was caused by a ruptured ear drum.”

“Both ears?” My father spoke over my mother’s exclamation.

“Yes, its possible.” Slowly I could see the man’s face, coming into focus. He looked young for a doctor, but one glimpse of the room around us and I knew there wasn’t much else he could be. He smiled a shiny toothed smile at me when he noticed that I was awake. “How are we feeling Callie?”

How did I feel? Like I’d just waged war inside my head and lost.

But that wasn’t what he wanted to hear. “Okay, I guess. My ears are sore and I’ve got a bit of a headache.”

The doctor gave my parents a look that came just short of ‘I told you so’. His words were the epitome of bedside manners. “You’ve been given some ibuprofen, which should help with any discomfort.” He picked up a clipboard from the end of the bed and tried to look intent on the paper held there, even though I could tell by the swift way his eyes passed that he’d memorized it. “You’ve got quite the schedule Callie.” He flipped the page. “Singing lessons, cheerleading practice no less than three times a week. Your parent’s also mentioned you’ve been looking for a job.”

My mother took my hand and gave the doctor a strained smile. “She doesn’t need a job anymore.”

The doctor inclined his head. “That’s good, but I still think you should cut back.”

“I’ll quit cheerleading.” I squeezed my mother’s hand and prayed it would be enough.

“That should help, but…” The doctor frowned and set the clipboard on the foot of the bed. “Have you been listening to very loud music as part of your training? As I was telling your parents, your eardrums have been perforated. Several things can cause that, and since you’re too old to be putting foreign objects in your ears, and you haven’t been on an airplane or gone mountain climbing…”

I sat up. “How would that bust my eardrums?”

“Drastic pressure changes can damage the fragile tissue.” The doctor’s head tilted and he watched me, as though I was about to do something interesting. “Why?”

“No reason.” I fixed my face in neutral. “Actually, I was listening to some music on my laptop pretty loud before I went to bed. I was wearing earphones so it wouldn’t bother my parents.”

“Well there you go. We’ll be more careful from now on, won’t we?”

“Yes sir.” I dropped my legs over the side of the bed. When I tried to stand something wrenched at the back of my hand. I looked down and saw the IV. My stomach turned. “Can you take this out so I can go?”

Shaking his head the doctor retrieved the clipboard so he could pretend to be engrossed in it again. “Not tonight. There’s still some tests we want to do, just to be on the safe side. And we want to keep you at least overnight for observation.”

“But school…” Since he wouldn’t look at me I glared at the IV. There was something very sickening about having a tube stuffed into my vein.

My mother patted my hand. The one with the IV. I sucked in a breath and ground my teeth. She left her hand there in a gesture of support and implored the doctor. “Callie’s such a good student. I’m sure we can get one of her friends to bring her work here, but…” The doctor looked at her and she gave him doe eyes. “Friday’s the Winter Formal. She already has the dress. It’s her first dance…”

“I see.” The doctor’s lips twitched as he watched me rescue my abused hand and hide it under the blankets. Then he gave me a look that said he thought I was a twit. Loyalty kept me from pointing out that it was my mother who’d brought up the stupid dance. “Well I see no reason to keep her any later than Wednesday, which means she’ll make the dance.” He finished the sentence sounding like he was talking to a brain dead puppy. Then he cleared his throat and slid the clipboard into its slot at the end of the bed. “Thankfully we’ve already eliminated the possibility of a tumor. It would pain me to see what something serious would do to her social life.”

With that he turned on his heel and walked out. My mother’s hands fluttered up to the neckline of her starched shirt. My father glowered towards the hall as though he was tempted to go slug the doctor.

I didn’t get a chance to react. Tammy poked her head in the room and it felt like the sun had risen. Her presence would make the stark room and the flesh piercing leash tolerable.