News On Nellie

Hi everyone! It's Elyssa here. We're sorry we haven't posted for so long again, but Nikki got mumps, and then there were a lot of other things to take care of too. Kit's cousin's arrival has been rescheduled, so she won't be here for a while yet, but we have been told what's happening with Nellie.

A few days after the accident, Lindsay and I went to visit her in the hospital. Samantha came with us - she visits Nellie every chance she gets. Nellie looked like she was in a lot of pain, and she was wearing casts on her arm and leg, and a splint on her finger.
"I brought Lydia for you," Samantha said, trying to smile. "You can keep her until you're out of here." I thought Samantha was doing a very good job of staying brave. She was more upset then any of us about Nellie being hurt, and we all kind of knew that she thought it was her fault, although she didn't say anything.

"Thank you," Nellie said, smiling, as Samantha put the doll down next to her.
"How are you doing in here?" Lindsay asked.
"I... I'm alright. Everybody's very friendly." Nellie looked a little distant.
"How much longer do you have to stay?" I asked.
"Well... I... They say quite a bit longer," Nellie said slowly.
"How much?" asked Lindsay.
"They... They say they don't know..."
"But why?" Samantha said, sounding very concerned. "Is something wrong?"
Nellie took her glance away from us.
"Wh - what is it?" Samantha asked, sounding almost tearful.

Nellie looked away.
"I... It's... They say... the break in my leg isn't going to heal normally."
"What?" we all said in shock.
"What does that mean?" Lindsay asked.

Nellie turned even farther away, and I could see she was trying not to cry.
"It - it won't heal with just the cast," she said. "They're going to take it off... And, they have t-to operate."
"Oh, Nellie!" Lindsay said.
"Is it a safe operation?" I asked.
"Yes... it's safe for me... but... they say it might not work."
"A-and... what..." Samantha gulped. I could see she was shaking. "Wh-what would that mean?"

Nellie turned to look at her and closed her eyes.
"They... they say if it doesn't work I won't walk again," she murmured.
We were all horrified.
"Oh... Nellie..." Samantha whispered shakily, her eyes filling with tears. She bent over and hugged her.

"I'm so sorry Nellie... This is my fault... I could have stopped you falling, but I didn't, and it's my fault... I'm so sorry..."

Nellie put her arm around Samantha.
"It - It's not your fault, Samantha," she said, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. "It was mine... I just slipped.You could never have done anything about it. It wasn't your fault. I promise you it wasn't... Please don't think it was."
Samantha slowly stood up.
"But...but I could have stopped you falling..." she said.
"No, you couldn't... I promise you, Samantha, it wasn't you fault."
"But now this is happening to you, and -"
"It's not hopeless. They're going to try the operation, and it may well work."
"But what if it doesn't?"
"Don't think about that... It'll be okay. I promise," Nellie said, trying to stay strong.
No one said anything for a moment.

"When are they going to do the operation?" Samantha asked finally.
"It hasn't been scheduled yet, but they say it will be a few weeks."
"Will you be okay?" Lindsay asked.
"Yes, I'll be fine." Nellie tried to smile.
"We'll come and visit you again," I said.
"Yes," said Samantha and Lindsay.
"Thank you."
I looked at the clock on the wall. "We have to go now," I said. "I'm sorry..."
"It's okay," said Nellie. "I'll see you again soon."
"Yes, see you again," said Lindsay.
"Goodbye," said Samantha.
"Goodbye... I promise you I'll be okay."
Samantha nodded, and soon we walked out and went home.

We found ourselves sitting in silence and staring at the walls. None of us could even believe this was happening. How could it be? We couldn't talk; we all had to take some time to think, and take the news in.
"She must be okay..." I said suddenly. "Surely..."
Lindsay glanced over but then turned away again. "I'm sure she will be..." she said slowly.
Suddenly Samantha flopped down across the bed and burst into tears. We turned in surprise.

"Ohhh...!" she cried. "It's my fault! I shouldn't have let it happen!... It was my fault!..."
Lindsay and I looked on, uncertain of what to do. After a few seconds Lindsay got up and sat down next to Samantha.

"Samantha, it wasn't your fault," she said, putting a hand on her back.
"It was..." Samantha sobbed.
"It wasn't. Sam, if you'd been able to stop her from falling, you would have, wouldn't you?"
"Yes..." Samantha murmured, slowly sitting up.
"Then you couldn't have done anything about it, because if you could you would have."

Samantha looked away from Lindsay, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"But I tried..." she said. "I tried to get a hold on her arm, but I couldn't."
"The thing is, you couldn't. You tried. You did everything you could. Nothing is your fault."
"But it wasn't Nellie's either..."
"It wasn't yours."
"It wasn't anybody's," I said. "It was purely an accident, and no one could have stopped it... But there's only a chance of the operation failing, and it's probably a small chance... Nellie is almost certain to be perfectly fine..."
Samantha nodded, with a sniff, and tried to stop the tears falling.
"Everything's going to be okay," Lindsay said, but she sounded sad.