Maya was diagnosed with a concussion and told she had to stay overnight for observation. By the next morning, Maya was out of her mind with boredom. Her parents were sitting in the dark hospital room with her, but seemed to be taking the doctor’s “minimal talking” suggestion to heart. Maya also wasn’t allowed to listen to music, watch television, read, or focus on anything for an extended period of time. She had started to look forward to the regular check-ins from doctors and hospital staff just for something to do.
Maya sighed and rolled over in her bed. If she craned her neck slightly, she could see a sliver of the doorway from where she was lying.
After a while of watching visitors and doctors make their down the hallway, a large white cast and the wheels of a wheelchair came into view. Paige knocked on the doorway gently and then let herself in.
Maya’s parents greeted Paige and left to go find some coffee.
Maya smiled and sat up. “Hey,” she said. She hadn’t realized that her friend was still in the hospital. “Are you trapped here too?”
“For a little while longer,” Paige smiled at her. “They just wanted to make sure there wasn’t an infection, but they’re releasing me at noon. My dad’s at home getting the living room ready. Since I can’t use stairs for a while, I’ll basically be living there for the next few months.”
“Ah, that makes sense,” Maya said as Paige wheeled herself alongside Maya’s bed. “So you’ll be sleeping on a couch, and I’ll be trapped in dark rooms. What an exciting pair we make.”
Paige looked over at her, concern in her eyes. “Sorry about your concussion. I hadn’t realized you were hurt when you came back out to the sandbar to get me.”
“There’s no way I was leaving you out there,” Maya shrugged. “Sorry about your leg.”
“It’ll heal just like your head. Then we’ll be able to hit the waves again.” She chuckled a little. “At least neither of us got eaten by the shark, right?”
Maya let out a puff of laughter. “True. Very true.”
There was another soft knock on the doorframe, and Maya turned to see Kai standing there holding a surfboard under one arm and a plastic to-go container under the other.
“Mind if I come in?” he asked. Paige waved him in. Kai stepped forward, putting the container on the bedside table between Paige and Maya. “I was in here to get my appendix out a year ago. The food’s terrible, so I brought you some breakfast.”
Paige popped the top. “Hey! Bacon!”
“And an omelet,” he smiled.
Paige immediately started in on the food, but Maya still wasn’t very hungry.
Kai smiled at Paige’s enthusiasm. Then, turning to face Maya he said, “I brought you this.” He laid the board out next to her on the bed. “I won it at a competition, but I figured you deserve it more.”
Maya looked at the board. “You don’t have to give this to me.”
“Yeah,” he replied. “I kind of do. If I had just let you surf with us, this wouldn’t have happened. That’s not a mistake I’ll repeat.” He put his hand over his heart. “Promise. I told some of the others what happened. They thought it was awesome, and uhh, well, they’re gonna call you Shark, but you can surf with us any time.”
“They’re going to call me Shark?” Maya raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah.” He pointed to the board. “I was up late last night, so I painted that.”
Maya flipped it over to see a painting of a cartoon bull shark with a surfboard between its jaws.
Maya couldn’t help but laugh. “I love it.”
“Well,” Paige said, chewing on a strip of bacon. “I vote we never go to Ripper’s Cove again. All in favor say ‘aye.’”
“Aye,” Maya said.