Torn Between Two Ways

“Mikey?” I could barely hear Anna’s whispered voice through the receiver.

This was a bad sign. When she whispered, it meant she was either hurt or trying not to get hurt. She wouldn’t really admit to me what was going on at her house, but sometimes she let things slip. I knew that sometimes if she was too loud, she would get hurt.

I was instantly concerned. “Anna, are you okay?”

“Um,” she said slowly. “Kind of. I don’t know. Can you come pick me up?”

I ran my fingers through my hair. “Yeah,” I said, but when I said it, I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. I knew that sometimes it was bad if she tried to leave. “But will you be able to get out okay?”

She sighed. “I hope so, but this time I have to get out, so it doesn’t really matter.”

“What do you mean?” As I spoke, I turned off the TV and tiptoed up the stairs and into me and John’s room.

“I think I need to go to the hospital,” she admitted.

I frowned, quietly snatching the keys from where John had left them: on the floor. Once I was out of the room, I said, “Huh. Well, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Uh, Mikey?” she asked hesitantly. “Can you pick me up at the end of the street?”

I grimaced. This was another bad sign. “If that’s what you need.”

“Thanks,” she replied, relieved.

I hung up and got into the car, shaking my head. I worried about her all the way to the end of her street. It turned out I had a right to worry, and it got even worse when I saw her.

Her right cheek was badly bruised, and she held a bloody towel to the left side of her forehead. “Anna!” I cried as she carefully stepped into the passenger seat. “What happened?” As I asked, I knew she wouldn’t tell the truth. But hey, I just had to try.

She eyed me cautiously. “I fell – well, I tripped – and hit my head on my bedpost.”

Maybe it was just me, but her excuse sounded weaker than usual. I shook my head, saying, “Come on. I’m sick of you lying to me. I know you’re not that clumsy… or at least not when you’re around me. Or when you’re around John either, for that matter.”

Anna glared at me. “I’m not lying. I tripped,” she said evenly.

I rolled my eyes. “Okay, fine. We’ll go with that. For now.”

She ignored me and didn’t say another word until we got to the hospital. I sat next to her in the waiting room until a doctor called us into a small room.

“Hello,” he said, smiling. “I’m Dr. Cole. What happened here?”

“I hit my head on my bedpost,” Anna replied, sounding much surer of herself than when she told the story to me.

Dr. Cole nodded and started to wipe away the blood on her face. Before he cleaned the actual cut, he warned, “This might hurt a little.”

Anna grabbed my hand. I breathed steadily, reminding myself that – to her – this was just a friendly gesture. I was there for her; I was the friend that was there to look after her. That’s all it was to her, but I couldn’t help but wish it was more.

She tried to hide the fact that whatever the doctor was using to clean her cut stung, but one time she shut her eyes tighter and squeezed my hand. I clenched my teeth to keep from squeezing back.

When she let go, I almost felt relieved. Almost.

“You got lucky,” Dr. Cole informed Anna cheerfully. “You won’t need stitches. This looks worse than it really is.”

Anna and I sighed in relief at the same time. She gave me a funny look, and we both laughed.

Once the doctor had patched her up, we went back to my car. Before I turned it on, I looked at her. “Are you going back home?”

She frowned.

“You could always come to dinner at my house. My parents adore you, and John will be there too, I think.”

This made her smile. “Thanks. I’d like that.”

I hesitated before saying, “Maybe that will give things at your home… time to cool down?”

Anna nodded thoughtfully.

After a long silence, I said, “I suppose you’re not going to tell me what really happened.”

“I already have,” she stated stubbornly.

I rolled my eyes. “Soon you’re going to start believing your own lies,” I cautioned. “Can’t you just tell me?”

“Not a chance,” she replied. Did I just get her to admit she had been lying?