Prettyinpinkgal: I am infinitely sorry to my readers who have been waiting for me to update one of my other fanfiction, but I just have to start this before the story is out of my head. I finished "The Summer We Got Saved" literally ten minutes ago, and I cried when I read about Maudie's death. So, here's a fanfiction where she doesn't die. What if she had lived and the parade went according to plan? What would have happened between Jessie and Maudie? Well, here's how it would have been like in my mind. Of course, it won't be as great as the actual novel, but I hope it will suffice.
Boy, I really sound like an adult when I write after a good cry.
Please forgive the title. It was very uncreative, I know. What is with all of the pathetic titles I've been coming up with?
Disclaimer: I don't own "The Summer We Got Saved". It belongs solely to Pat Cunningham Devoto.
THE SUMMER SHE WAS SAVED
CHAPTER ONE
Maudie came to, feeling the searing agony at last. But at the same time, it was a good sign, wasn't it? It meant she was alive. It was much better to feel and know you're alive than not feel and know you're about to die.
The white room was filled with machines, and Maudie shivered, cold even after the extreme heat at the church.
A woman in a white nurse's uniform walked in. The seriousness of the nurse reminded Maudie of Nurse Betty.
"I see you're awake," said the nurse.
"Yes, ma'am." Maudie licked her lips, her mouth dry.
"Here." The nurse tipped the glass she had with her into Maudie's mouth.
Licking the drops off of her chapped lips, Maudie asked, "What happened?"
"One of your friends drove you here. There was some man 'specially that kept insisting on seeing you. His friends called him Jessie. He was hurt a bit, but not as much as you," said the nurse bluntly. "That preacher had to stay here, too. Said you was the one who started the fire."
"That's a lie," Maudie replied, too exhausted to explain any more.
The nurse raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything more. "Are you hungry? I'll--"
But Maudie was already asleep.
The next time she woke up, she heard a doctor saying too quietly for her to make out all the words, "...badly hurt...severely burned...leg..."
"Am I going to live?" asked Maudie, feeling slightly more awake.
The doctor whirled around, obviously surprised. "Yes, yes, child," he said. He had grey hair whisping around his chin.
"Good. I've beaten polio, haven't I? I'd hate to let some burns do away with me." She looked the doctor square in the eye. "What's wrong with me?"
"You have severe burns, especially on your legs and face. You had a concussion when you first came in. And..." he hesitated.
"And?" she prompted. "What else? It's my body; I ought to know what's wrong with me."
"Of course. It's just, we're afraid your spinal cord was affected when you fell from the explosion. There is a chance that you may not walk again. I realize you already have a leg that doesn't work right for you, but the impact of your fall may have permanantly ended function for both of your legs." He looked at her pityingly. "I'm very sorry."
Maudie looked at her legs, trying to move them.
They would not budge.
The doctor must have realized what she was doing, because he then said, "They will not work now, whether they will move again or not. However, with some therapy--"
"I understand." She had been through it before. She'd been in a wheelchair, trying to regain control of her legs. She knew the drill, she just needed to do it again. Surely, her good leg would work again.
The doctor excused himself, explaining that he needed to see another patient. Maudie nodded. The door shut, and she was alone to her thoughts, feeling numb just like the night of the explosion, like everything that was happening was seperate from her, was not connected to her.
A nurse came in, asking if she needed anything. Maudie shook her head no, then the nurse told her that she would begin therapy tomorrow, if she felt up to it. Maudie nodded a yes, then the nurse disappeared.
After so much hard work, it had been Reverend Earl who had shattered their hard work, their dreams. No, corrected Maudie, it was not their dreams he had destroyed. He had destroyed their dream of the parade, but not everything, like being able to vote and so many other dreams the members of the voting school cherished. Still, the fact that the reverend would do something like that...
Maudie closed her eyes, listening to the steady beat of the heart monitor. She was lulled to sleep, listening to her own heartbeat.
Prettyinpinkgal: Sorry about the shortness, but I hope you enjoyed it! Please review.