ELLA WALKED WITH US as we left her place.

"I was like 10 and Lois was 6. My dad had given me this Barbie doll that could talk. I was so excited that day and when our babysitter came to look after us, I was so eager to show it to her. Lois and I were at the top of the stairs and she kept on bugging me about the doll. She'd been bugging the whole day so I was annoyed at her.
I told her to leave me alone and pushed her. I didn't know that she was just at the beginning of the stairs, I swear."

Her eyes were wet and it was as if she had been holding it in for a very long time.
I also noticed that she had unconsciously shifted to David's side.
There was something going on with these two but that wasn't a priority right now.

We needed to help Ella before she did anything she couldn't reverse.

"I realized too late that she was falling and I just stood there and shrieked in horror and I could bones crunching," she stopped again and looked at us.

"It was horrible. I'd never felt so useless in my life and her screams as she fell are still in my mind. Our babysitter, Tina rushed to her and screamed at me to call 911 and I did. They rushed here and before I knew it, we were at the hospital."

4 YEARS AGO

The doctor came out of the surgery room, still dressed in green overalls and called out for the Clarkes. Mr. and Mrs. Clarke got up and Mrs. Clarke warned Ella to sit down quietly and stop crying. She had been crying since they came to the hospital 12 hours ago and Mrs. Clarke was infuriated with her.

"I have some bad news and some good news," the doctor said to the Clarkes.

"Is our baby okay?" Mrs. Clarke asked the doctor.

"She's stable and will recover but she won't be the same again. She broke both her legs and her ribs. Her left lung was pierced by a bone shard but we managed to seal that. She might have some breathing difficulties later on in life. The bad news is that she broke the lumbar section of her spinal cord and will most likely not be able to walk again."

Mrs. Clarke sobbed loudly and buried her face into her husband's chest. Ella's tears began to flow harder when she saw her mother's outburst.

She couldn't hear what they were saying but she knew that it was all her fault. She hadn't been a kind girl like how her Sunday school teacher had taught and now her sister was hurt.
Ella walked over to her parents and hugged the leg of her father. Mr. Clarke took one look at his daughter and the sadness in her eyes and tears streaked down his face.

PRESENT DAY

Ella finished and looked at us. I pulled her into a hug and held her tight. I couldn't pretend to understand how she felt but I knew she had been in pain for long and I'd been a bad friend for not helping her out.

Things we're going to change. I would do anything I could to take away some of Ella's pain. Dave and Grace had done the same for me I would do the same for her.

"I am sorry I haven't been here for you. Things are going to change. I promise," I said and dried the tears on her face with my fingers.

She smiled, nodded and turned to David,
"Thank you so much for what you did today. I don't think any of us had ever seen her that happy in a long time."

"I love kids. And anyway I can make her happy, I will."

Ella had friends now. Real friends. We would make damn sure that whatever she was going through, we would be there every step of the way.

We said our goodbyes and she turned to walk back to her place. Before she turned, she said to David,
"You can tell Jade what happened between us. I trust him."

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Hey guys! Hope you all are doing great. How was your weekend?
Mine was boring cos we have exams this week and next week so I had study, study and study and couldn't read like how I wanted to.
Anyway, hope you have a great week!
Sorry for my ranting😂😂