A/N: This is another short story for my Creative Writing class. This is a background story for Vera Rivkin in the movie Ask the Dust. If you have seen the movie, you know that Vera is a wounded soul and that she has burns down her thighs and legs. This is a story of how she got those.
Disclaimer: I don't own Ask the Dust, or any part of it. This is just my idea on paper.
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Behind the Burns
Born in 1905 to a middle class Jewish family, little Vera Rivkin had always been known to be a happy child. Her parents, Benjamin and Ida Rivkin, had repeatedly been complimented on Vera's behavior; she was always smiling and laughing, in comparison to their other children. Vera was the youngest of five. She had two brothers, Benjamin Jr. and Michael, and two sisters, Anne and Deborah. The family lived on the outskirts of New York City in a large farmhouse. In 1912, when Vera was seven years old, a devastating fire forever changed her life.
Ida tucked her three daughters into bed and got ready to continue their bedtime story from Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. The older girls, Anne and Deborah, always fell asleep long before Vera; the story didn't entertain them that much. Vera stayed awake, and would beg her mother to continue reading until the late hours of the night. When her mother sternly told her that she was finished for the night, Vera would stay up and vividly imagine the events that took place in that night's reading. It would be hours later when she finally crashed for the night.
That particular night, Ida had forgotten to blow out the candle that sat on the dresser on the other end of the room. The small window by the girl's bed shot gusts of early spring wind through the room. The candle and its light base felt the blow of the wind and fell over, pouring wax on the top of the dresser. In less than a minute, the top of the wooden dresser was engulfed in flames.
Vera had just fallen asleep when she could sense the presence of bright light pass her eyelids. Her eyes fluttered open to see large flames coming from across her bedroom. Screaming at the top of her lungs, she caught the attention and awoke the rest of her family. Her parents and brothers burst into the room trying to get the whole family out together as one. By the time the girls got out of bed, the family turned back to go the way they came, only to see the exit blocked by ten feet high flames. They didn't know what to do, but the more they sat there, the closer the flames got.
Vera thought she could make it through the fire that covered the door to be able to run for help. She didn't discuss this with the rest of the family, because she knew all she would hear were their protests. She just decided it was now or never. Running as fast as she could, Vera was able to run through the fire, but not unharmed. By the time she got outside, her whole bottom half was saturated with the flames. Remembering what her parents had taught her in a situation like this, Vera dropped in the damp grass and rolled until the flames where gone. Pain flushed through her body, making her cry out in agony. She knew that her closest neighbors were a quarter of a mile away and were not able to hear her pleas.
She decided to run, and run she did. Telling herself not to think about the pain but about saving her family, she ran until her legs were numb and she reached her neighbors. Tears streaming down her face and panic rising in her voice, she yelled and pounded on the door until someone came to her aide.
"Little Vera?" Mr. Frank asked in a groggy voice.
"Please sir, you have to help me. Our house is on fire and my family is trapped inside!" she yelled hysterically.
The man finally grasped what the little girl was saying, and flew to wake his wife.
"Sarah! The Rivkins' house is on fire! I'll go into town and ask for help, and you need to tend to little Vera, she doesn't look too good," he screamed at his wife, causing her to jump from the bed.
Pain shot through her legs, as Vera watched Mr. Frank hop in his car and head for the city. Mrs. Frank grabbed Vera and carried her to the kitchen. She saw how Vera's nightgown had melted to her skin and knew that it was not going to come off easily. Telling Vera to stay put, she went outside to get water for the burns. She came back in with a pail of water and hurried over to where the little girl was sitting.
"It hurts so bad," cried Vera, earth-shattering pain rushing up her legs as Mrs. Frank tried to cool it off with water.
"I know baby, but it's all I can think of to try and help," explained Mrs. Frank.
"I want Mother," the little child stated, tears of pain and fear rushing down her little cheeks.
"Mr. Frank went to go get help, all we can do now is pray," the woman told the child, her heart breaking at the pained state of the girl.
Soon they heard the sound of ambulances roaring down the road, one stopping at the Franks' and the other, along with the fire truck, continued on toward the Rivkins' house. A couple of men, along with Mr. Frank, entered through the front door.
"Sarah?"
"We're in here," Mrs. Frank yelled through the air, her voice reaching the men.
The two medical aides reached the kitchen and knelt down by Vera trying not to scare the young girl.
"Vera?" one of the men asked in a soothing voice.
Vera looked up at the men threw the glistening of tears and nodded her head.
"I know you're scared sweetie, but you need to come with us so we can try and make you better," the other told her, noticing her cringe back in fear.
Vera looked over at Mr. and Mrs. Frank, receiving reassuring nods that told her it was okay and that they weren't going to hurt her any farther. She slowly got out of the chair, wincing at the pain that shot up her legs with every step. The men led her out to the ambulance, helped her inside the best they could. She began sitting on the stretcher in there, still wincing in pain. The burns went all the way from her knees to her waist, so nothing was comfortable for Vera.
The ambulance drove her to be seen by doctors at Cedar-Sinai Hospital in the city. The men did the best they could to try and make her as comfortable, but nothing was helping the child.
"I want my family," was all she would say to the men.
"I know you do sweetheart, but you have to go see the doctor before you can see them again," one of the men told her, knowing full well that the family wasn't likely to survive given the time frame.
All the small girl could do was cry. Cry in pain, agony, fear, anxiety, and hopelessness. In the back of her small mind, she wondered if her family made it out of the house in time. That was a lot for a young girl to take on, but Vera was trying to keep her strength, just like her daddy had taught her.
They finally got to the hospital in a ride that seemed to take forever. The medical aides had Vera walk in because carrying her in would cause her further pain, and the girl has suffered enough. Tears streaming down her porcelain cheeks, Vera limped her way through the hospital doors. A doctor was ready to see her right away given the circumstances.
"Can you make me better?" the little girl asked the doctor.
Dr. Lickschpits knew he couldn't lie to the girl and told her the truth about what these burns had permanently done to her beautiful skin.
"Well sweetheart, I can get the nightgown off and put some ointment to get rid of the pain and eventually the pain will go away for good, but the burns were too bad. You are probably going to have scars on your legs for the rest of your life," the doctor told her, watching Vera break down in more tears.
The doctor and some nurse removed the melted nightgown from her legs and thighs, which was followed by blistering and bleeding. They put ointment and gauze around the legs and tried their best to keep her from moving too much. The medical staff felt their heart shatter in a million pieces as they heard the little girl's screams from the agonizing pain they continued to put her through. Vera knew that the doctors didn't mean to hurt her, but it didn't erase the enormous amount of pain she was feeling.
After the doctors were finished, the small child got a visit from Mr. and Mrs. Frank. They dreaded having to deliver the devastating news to the already pain-stricken girl.
"Hey honey," Mrs. Frank whispered as she entered the room.
All Vera could do was give her a half-hearted smile while her eyes filled with enough sorrow and pain to drown the world.
She gave the little girl a gold bracelet to show Vera that she had been very brave to get out of that fire and run for help.
"Thank you," Vera whispered, staring down at the bracelet as large tears rolled down her cheeks. "Is everyone okay?" she asked. She knew in the back of her mind that they hadn't made it, but she refused to let herself believe it.
"Baby, that's what we came to tell you," Mrs. Frank started as she saw the girl's expression change to sadness and grief. "The firemen tried, but they just got there too late."
Knowing that her nightmare was true, Vera collapsed in tears. Her whole family gone in a matter of minutes, and she just didn't think that she could go on without them. Mrs. Frank held her shaking shoulders and shed tears along with the little one.
"We're going to have you come live with us, would that be okay with you?" Mr. Frank asked the little girl in the arms of his wife.
She looked up through tear glazed eyes at the man and nodded her head. She continued to sob, while Mr. and Mrs. Frank told her that they were going to go her room set up and come get her when they could. After they left Vera fell into a puddle of tears until she became so exhausted that she fell into a dreamless slumber.
The next few years were difficult ones as Vera adapted to her changed lifestyle with her new guardians. She never forgot that the doctor had lied to her when he told her all the pain would be gone eventually. The physical pains of the burns were gone in a matter of months, but the pain of the emotional burns lived with her forever. The scars left on her legs and hips made her feel ugly and nobody seemed to be able to look past them. That was until the day she met Arturo Bandini.
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