LITMIR.BIZ

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called, bending down to try to grab hold of her. But I couldn’t quite reach her. She reached up as far as she could, but then she lost her balance completely and went crashing down from the junk heap. It was horrible. She just sort of crumpled up and thudded to the ground, hitting her head on the concrete slabs of the patio.

      It was just the worst sound ever. I’ll never forget that CRACK! But worse than that was all the blood that started to ooze out of her head. I’d never seen anything like it, and I spend my life watching stuff like Casualty on the TV. This was a zillion times worse than anything I’d ever seen on that programme.

      It must have taken a minute to happen, but it felt like an hour. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. I was vaguely aware of the others screaming and crying, but it was like it was background noise or something. It was only when Fliss started wailing, “You’ve killed her, you’ve killed her!” that I was finally brought back to my senses.

      “Don’t be stupid!” I told her in my calmest doctor’s voice. “She’s just had a fall.”

      I bent down and put my ear to her mouth. She was still breathing, thank goodness. But her eyes were closed and she seemed completely out of it.

      “Go and call for an ambulance!” I shouted, and Frankie ran inside.

      Just at that minute Tiff and Spud came round the corner.

      “What’s all this screaming?” complained Tiff, sounding all superior. “I thought Mum told you not to play here!”

      Then she saw Rosie lying in a pool of blood and started screaming herself.

      “Oh no! Oh no! What’s happened?” She bent down and looked as though she was going to try to make Rosie sit up or something.

      “Don’t move her!” I told her sharply. “I think she’s got her foot caught, and if we try to move her we might cause more damage. We should leave it to the ambulance people.”

      I couldn’t believe how calm I sounded. Because inside I was a trembling mess who just wanted to throw up.

      “Rosie! My baby!” Mrs Cartwright, Rosie’s mum, pushed her way through. She knelt beside Rosie and started to stroke her hair. “It’s all right my precious, the ambulance is on its way. Everything’s going to be fine.”

      I felt terrible. This had all been my fault.

      “I’m sorry,” I mumbled.

      Rosie’s mum looked up at me. She looked like she was about to ask what had happened, but then she just shook her head.

      “The ambulance will be here soon, Kenny. Do you think you could ring your father and ask him to come and pick the rest of you up?”

      I nodded and ran into the house. Trembling, I dialled my home number. When Dad answered I just lost it completely. I never ever cry. I think the shock must have got to me.

      “Can you come and fetch us from Rosie’s?” I sobbed. “There’s been a terrible accident and Rosie’s going to hospital and it’s all my fault!”

      “You just stay there Kenny, I’m on my way,” he told me calmly.

      Outside I could hear the screeching of a siren. I ran to the gate and started waving frantically so the ambulance would know where to stop. The paramedics were really calm. They grabbed their bag and asked me what had happened. I explained about Rosie falling and hitting her head.

      “Now you just stay calm, she’s going to be fine!” they reassured me as I showed them where Rosie was lying. “There’s always a lot of blood in head injury cases. And they usually look a lot worse than they are.”

      Everyone stood right back to let the paramedics through. One of them checked Rosie over and talked to her in a reassuring way, even though she was still unconscious. The other one dealt with her ankle. He had to cut it free. It was all swollen and twisted – gross!

      When they were ready they lifted her on to a stretcher and put a mask over her face. It was dead frightening seeing her being wheeled away like that.

      Just as they got to the front gate, Dad arrived. He put a comforting arm around Mrs Cartwright’s shoulders.

      “She’ll have the best of care at Queen Mary’s Hospital,” he reassured her. “Try not to worry. Is there anything we can do to help? What about Tiff and Adam, will they be all right?”

      Mrs Cartwright nodded. “Adam’s round at his father’s anyway, and Tiff’s going to go round there too, aren’t you?” She looked at Tiff, who raised her eyes then nodded sulkily.

      “Give me a ring when you’ve got any news of Rosie,” Dad called to her as the ambulance doors closed.

      Then the ambulance sped off with its siren blaring.

      “Right you lot, look sharp and get your stuff together,” Dad said. “Kenny’s mum has called all your parents, so they’re expecting you back. Hey, come on now, cheer up! I know you’ve all had a shock, but I’m sure Rosie’s going to be fine. She’s going to the right place to be looked after.”

      We all went up to Rosie’s bedroom to collect our sleepover stuff. It felt kind of weird being there without her. I guess we were all thinking the same thing because none of us spoke. It was only when we were in the car that Fliss broke the silence.

      “I knew that something awful was going to happen!” she sobbed. “I tried to tell you Kenny, but you wouldn’t listen, as usual. Well Rosie’s dead and it’s all your fault!”

      

      I felt just terrible. It didn’t matter how much Dad reassured everybody that Rosie most certainly wasn’t dead and would be just fine. I couldn’t help blaming myself for what had happened. And you could tell that the others blamed me too. They didn’t say anything, they just wouldn’t look at me when they got out of the car. Even Frankie, and she’s my best mate.

      “Come on love, I’m sure everything’s going to be fine,” Dad tried to reassure me when we got home.

      “But you didn’t see her, Dad!” I protested. “She was all white. And there was so much blood!”

      “Well, that’s something you’re going to have to get used to if you’re going to become a doctor,” he said.

      “But you don’t understand. It was all my fault! What if I’ve caused her some permanent damage?”

      “It’s not like you to get so wound up. You must be very upset,” Dad said gently.

      I could feel tears welling up in my eyes again. I wiped them away angrily I hated crying, but somehow I just couldn’t help it. “Look love, there’s no point worrying,” Dad told me. “We’ll just have to wait for Rosie’s mum to ring.”

      I swear to you that waiting for that phone to ring was the worst time in my life. I’ll tell you how bad I felt – I couldn’t even kick a football about, and that’s BAD. And it didn’t help that my horrible sister, Molly the Monster, kept winding me up.

      “I knew your stupid wild ways would get you into trouble one day,” she said. “I’m just sorry it’s not you in hospital!”

      “Why don’t you just shut your mouth before I put my fist down your throat?” I snarled.

      “Oooh, temper temper!” she mocked. “I think one injury’s quite enough for one day, even for you!”

      I think I would have thumped her anyway if the phone hadn’t rung. I ran to answer it, but Dad had got there first.

      “Hello Karen. How’s the patient? Good… Oh, that is good news… Ooh dear,

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