A voice called to her. It seemed close, and it was getting louder
as the pain got sharper. "Hey? Hey! Are you all right?" it
asked.
Mary blinked several times before she could finally see again. She
was in the middle of the street. The cars had stopped and people on
the sidewalk were staring.
"Are you all right?" the voice asked again. It was coming
from a man wearing some type of uniform.
"What…?" Mary tried to say more, but her voice suddenly
stopped working.
"Careful," he said as he helped her up. "Looks like
you can move all right. Here, let's get you out of the street."
He helped her over to the sidewalk. "Stay here. Someone's calling
the paramedics." And then he was gone.
Mary sat there, still in a daze. She started noticing familiar stuff
all over the ground—an open book bag, books, folders, unused tampons,
a shoe, and an apple with one bite mark. Her eyes followed the trail
of debris to a brilliant red sports car, half of which was smashed in
by a city bus.
What had happened? Mary studied the whole scene, trying to puzzle
together the pieces. Then it dawned on her. The car had hit her. Not
intentionally. She had run in front of the bus without knowing it. It
was about to hit her, but the car had gotten in the way first. It had
saved her life.
Mary thought about looking in the car. Then her feet sorta moved without
her meaning them to, and she made her way to the passenger door. She
recognized the person inside. Carter. She knew his last name, but she
couldn't think of what it was. He was slumped over the seat with blood
oozing all over his face. His eyes were shut.
Mary knocked on the window. The tears in her hand stung.
No response.
She beat the window with her fist.
Still nothing.
Mary stared. She couldn't believe it. On any other day, she wouldn't
exchange two words with this guy. Just yesterday, he nearly mowed down
an elderly couple while driving out of the school lot. Mary had secretly
wished he'd be taught a lesson. But she didn't mean this.
She tried the door handle, but it was still locked. Suddenly, Carter's
eyes flickered opened. He looked straight at her.
Mary gasped and pressed her face against the window.
Carter's eyes closed.
She stared at him, waiting for him to open them again. Waiting for
any sign of life. But he was still like he was before.
Hands suddenly took hold of Mary, pulling her away from the car. Her
feet moved on their own again. Someone was yelling "Miss"
a lot. Parts of her brain found other noises too, like sirens, voices,
beeping, and other things. The hands directed her to sit on something
hard and cold.
"Miss? Can you hear me? Can you tell me your name?"
Mary didn't answer. She still hadn't found her voice, and her mind
was fuzzy, too.
"Is that her bag there? Does she have a driver's license?"
A different person spoke. "No license, but I found a student
ID. Her name's Mary Phan. She's seventeen and a junior here at Lewis
Prep."
Mary heard a third voice. "I just talked with some of the kids
on the sidewalk. One of them said her mom's a nurse at the memorial
hospital."
"Find out how to contact the mom. Anyone see what happened?"
"Cops are questioning witnesses right now. Looks like she ran
in front of the bus. It would've nailed her if that sportster hadn't
gotten in the way."
"Anything on the bus or the driver of the car?"
"Everyone on the bus looks fine. The car belongs to a kid named
Carter Maxwell. Also a junior." A sigh. "I wouldn't hold my
breath. He looks really bad in there."
Mary tuned out everything else. All sights. All sounds.
The only thing she could see in her mind was Carter staring at her.
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Alice in Wonderland by Rod Espinosa
