She opened her eyes as the first large drops of rain were coming down. She was on the side of the path in the grass. Her leg was at an odd angle and when she tried to move it the pain was searing. She peered into the darkness in every direction. The vehicle was gone. No one was around. She didn't know how long she had been unconscious.She closed her eyes again and thought of Cass, her friend, once boyfriend, now best friend. She wished he would appear and help her right now.
Her memory heard him say, "You're the strongest most competent person I've ever met." He'd been in college at the time and impressed with someone making their own way. She'd come back with, "Add brave, and back atcha." They'd even talked about getting married after graduation. By the time that came around it had become evident to them both that Cass was 99% homosexual.
"Time to start moving along," her inner voice said. "And where was everyone, for god's sake?"
She realized that the path between the African and Australian exhibits were not on any service route. She needed help. She struggled to stand but it wasn't possible, so she started crawling with her arms and one good leg. Rain was coming down steady now, blowing in on the west wind as usual. She was soaked and a puddle was forming. She headed into the rain and wind, down the middle path toward the employee entrance, hoping someone would see her soon. She was cold.
She laughed to herself, "Hell of a way to cool off."
Her whole body hurt but her rib cage was the worst, especially when twisting back and forth trying to crawl. She wasn't getting very far, very fast. She lay her forehead down on her extended arm to rest a minute. The wind was still whistling through the trees and she could hear an elephant trumpeting and cries from monkeys and tropical birds. By the time she'd made the curve passing the restrooms, the rain had lightened up. The storm, it seemed, was being pushed along by the wind. Finally, she saw a light and heard one of the electric carts coming toward her.
She was so relieved she just let events carry her along. A warm blanket. Reassuring voices. A cup of hot tea from someone's thermos. A cozy ride to hospital. A nice sedative and a little wrangle getting the leg set and the ribs x-rayed, but all out of her hands and restful for that.
Until she remembered poor Owen - home alone. She asked the nurse to call her neighbor Bea. She had her easy number memorized. Bea had a key to her place and had taken care of Owen for her before. When that was done, she fell into a dreamless sleep until early morning.
When she woke she remembered that Stan had died in a hospital bed just like this one.
