Chapter 8
June 14, 2026 at 5:00 pm
Joshua sat in the first floor waiting room. Surprisingly, his mother and father hadn't received any serious injuries. Stephanie had cuts and bruises on her face and chest from the passenger side airbag's deployment. Sportacus' left leg had some nasty cuts from the pieces of plastic that had pinned his leg to the door as well as some cuts from the driver's side airbag.
Stephanie walked out into the hall holding hands with her husband. He limped along until they stood in front of Joshua. Immediately, the twenty year old stood up.
"Dad, Mom, I…" Before he could get another word out, his parents wrapped their arms around him. The big family hug felt good. He'd almost lost them and now they were all safe.
"How is Samantha?" Stephanie asked as they separated.
"She's up on the second floor. The doctors are checking her hands to make sure there isn't any tendon or ligament damage." Joshua told them.
"Well let's go up and wait for her. I do believe that your mother and I owe both of you a thank you." Sportacus smiled.
"I was just doing my job." The twenty year old tried to brush it off. Sportacus winked at him.
"Come on." Stephanie said. The three made their way to the elevator. Sportacus was still smiling. Joshua and Samantha had saved them and everyone was still in one piece. Maybe everything was going to work out ok.
Samantha sat on a table in one of the rooms in the second floor X-ray rooms. A nurse had taken off the bandages that the EMT's had applied and cleaned up the cuts further. Right now she waited for the results of the X-rays. She hoped that her hands would be ok because she was looking forward to the upcoming soccer season at the high school. It would hard to play goal keeper if her hands were a mess. A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.
"Come in." The fourteen year old called.
"Hey you." Joshua smiled. A smile crossed her face. She went to hop off the table but Joshua stopped her. He hopped up next to her and wrapped his left arm around her shoulders. Then he moved his head toward hers and kissed her forehead.
"How are your hands?" He asked.
"They hurt but I think they'll be ok." Samantha continued to smile.
"You know I didn't mean for you to get hurt. I…" Joshua didn't get a chance to finish that thought. Before he knew what was happening, Samantha moved closer to him and gently pushed her lips to his. They had both agreed that their relationship would change when they were older. It had been almost four years since they had become friends again and they had had the intention to take it slow. But right now that had all changed. At first, Samantha could feel Joshua tense up and she started to pull away. Then Joshua took his hands and placed them on her cheeks. He pulled her closer and pressed their lips together again.
"Oh I'm sorry." A voice said. Quickly the two separated.
"I didn't mean to interrupt." Nurse Susie smiled, her cheeks turning red.
"Uh…" Both Samantha and Joshua's cheeks turned red as well. An uncomfortable silence settled over the room. Finally the nurse broke the silence.
"I have your X-ray results. The cuts are deep and some of them will require stitches but your tendons and ligaments are just fine. I'm going to have to take off the dressings and the butterfly bandages." Susie explained.
"Will I be able to play soccer in August? I play the goal keeper and I want to make the high school team." Samantha asked.
"It will take a few weeks for the cuts to heal and for us to remove the stitches. After that we'll see how things are." Susie said, "I'll be right back to take care of your hands."
"Can Joshua stay with me?" The fourteen year old asked. Susie only smiled and nodded before leaving the room and the two alone.
"I… uh well… um…" Samantha didn't know what to say. Their first real kiss had been exciting but she wasn't sure what Joshua was going to do. He lifted a finger to her lips and smiled.
"Don't say anything. Just…" he gently pulled her face close and kissed her again.
To Be Continued…
