Tara Falls
And I kept holding her, my hands over her ears, I am not sure why. Maybe to protect her spine, like I was told at the first aid course. But what was the point? Her spine was the issue. Just not the neck that I pointlessly held in place. So maybe it was to help her hold on to sanity. Or to make me hold on to mine.
'My legs, I can't feel them!' she sobs, and I can't even wipe her tears away, my hands are glued to the sides of her face. A face I want to kiss and soothe. I want to tell her that all will be well. But how could I? What do I know about her back? Falling flat on it like that shouldn't be so bad. But if that were the case, she would be up by now. And she is not. She's pinned to the floor, and not because I'm holding her down. Because she simply can't move.
I snapped my eyes closed and fight the dizziness lurching in my head. I won't fall and I won't run. I'm gonna stay here till I'm not needed anymore. Dr Wicks tells everyone to back off, for Abigail to call an ambulance, but she doesn't tell me to move. Maybe I'm doing something right after all. The rest becomes a blur as I whisper her name. 'Tara.'
But she only looks at me for a second as tears keep on swelling in her eyes, pooling as if she were drowning in them. I lean forward and kiss her forehead. She closes her eyes, the tears streaming down the trail carved by their predecessor. And we wait.
The ambulance has just left, and I'm still stuck to my spot. Still on my knees, my hands still Tara's head width apart. Ollie taps my shoulder, and yet I do not move.
'Come on, mate, let's go.' Ben's hand is in front of my face. I grab as he pulls me back to standing. But I can't look at him. I just nod my thanks and run out to the changing room. This is desperate time but I'm not going out there in these stupid white tights. Prince charming? Yeah right, useless plonker more like.
When I get out, everybody else is changed and on the move, apart from Miss Raine who is pinned against the wall by a crowd of people, some of them with cameras and microphones. How do these vultures get in so quickly?
Kat hooks my elbow and pulls me forward. The silver sparkle of her dress clashes ridiculously with the sallow shade of her face. She of the eternal smile and twinkle in the eye, she has been drained of everything good. I let her drag me out the back door, into a cab, where we all pile up. The driver doesn't even say a thing. Our destination and collective desperate facial expression tell him all he needs to know.