Antonia's Skates

“Owwww!” a little girl, maybe six or seven years old, screamed. Her teardrops dripped onto the ice where they froze into beads. “I can’t feel my legs! Owwww, it hurts! Ahhhhh! I can’t feel my legs!” A nearby woman, a bit confused at the contradiction but realizing that the little girl was more than bruised, squatted down on her skates beside the girl lying on the ice. Antonia – that was the little girl’s name – lay on her back writhing from the waist up and flailing her arms.

“Where’d’s it hurt, honey?” the woman asked. Antonia continued to scream. Lines creased across the woman’s forehead as she grimaced. She had dealt with plenty of bawling children at daycare, but most of their injuries consisted of bruises from headbutting the wall or teeth marks from another belligerent toddler. She assumed that the girl had simply fallen backwards and bruised her rump, but a nagging feeling coupled with the girl’s strange complaints urged her to make sure the girl was okay. “Honey, I can’ help you if you don’ tell me what’s hurtin’.” Antonia managed to suck in her sobs and, breathing erratically, choked, “My back!” “Your whole back, or just your hinny?” the woman followed up. “My whole back!” the girl blubbered. She gasped for air, then commenced screaming at the top of her lungs. Frowning, the woman pulled her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans. “Just hold on, let’s get some help for your boo-boo.”

Within ten minutes, two EMTs clambered over the siding of the ice rink, landing carefully so they wouldn’t slip. Thankfully, Antonia had fallen close to the edge; prior to falling, she had been awkwardly clutching the rail as she slogged along. Kneeling on the ice, they began to assess her injury. About halfway through, the male EMT turned to the woman and asked, “Are you her mother or legal guardian?” The woman shook her head. “No, I dunno who her parents are. She was skatin’ by herself, bless her heart. Perhaps her parents are on the sidelines?” She stood up and surveyed the crowd of parents and younger siblings dotted along the outside of the rink, searching for someone who could possibly be related to the girl. Most of the people who met her gaze quickly glanced down, as if to wish the incident away. Included among these was a man who looked very much like Antonia, but he hastily turned around and headed towards the exit, pretending to be oblivious to the scene. The woman sighed and shook her head at the young girl’s situation.

“I think she’s alone,” she told the EMTs. “You ever ‘ad this ‘appen b’fore?” The female EMT’s face drew taut. “More often than you’d think,” the male EMT grimaced. “Usually, it’s a kid left somewhere fun by their parent hoping to lessen the heartbreak.” After a pause, he raised his head. “Not good. Fractured spine. Need to get her to the hospital asap.” The two EMTs, acting with one mind, gently lifted Antonia onto the stretcher. The girl was only half-conscious now, still muttering “My back, my legs…” Tears had traced streaks along her cheeks and down her chin. The woman dabbed at her eyes. “Can you at least tell me which ‘ospital you’re takin’ her to? So I can make sure she’s taken care of good?” Though rushing to get Antonia to the ambulance, the male EMT paused for a moment to give the woman the address. Then they dashed off.

The woman skated to the rink exit, unlaced her skates, and took both her skates and Antonia’s to the ticket counter. Pulling one mitt off, she unlocked her phone and dialed her husband’s phone number as she hurried to her car.