CHAPTER ONE
The gravel crunched beneath my feet as I strolled around the pond with my mom, watching the ducks swim lazily across the water. We walked around the colorful flower beds, talking about our plans for the day. Since it was summer, I had nothing planned besides sleeping in and relaxing. Suddenly, I tripped on a hidden piece of wood, the world tilting as pain shot up my ankle. A sharp yelp escaped me as tears blurred my vision. I tried to take a step and almost fell over when pain shot up my leg. My mom helped me stumble over to a bench and sit down. I heard people yelling and looked around, catching sight of the fountain in front of the park shooting water into the air. “What’s happening?” I asked, trying to take my mind off the pain. “I’m not sure. It looks like the fountain broke.” Everyone moved away from the fountain so they wouldn’t get soaked. We watched as the water slowly stopped spraying everywhere. My mom wanted to head home to make sure my ankle was okay, so I tried to stand up. I winced when I put weight on it and immediately sat back down. At the same time, the fountain started shooting streams of water higher than before. I had the weirdest feeling that the fountain breaking was my fault, but that was crazy. My mom called for an ambulance so I could get my foot X-rayed. As we waited, the fountain once again returned to normal. When the paramedics arrived, they helped me into the ambulance so I wouldn’t have to use my foot. At the hospital, my mom filled out paperwork while a nurse wheeled me into the X-ray room and asked what happened. “I fell while I was out walking with my mom. I guess I wasn’t watching where I was going, and I tripped over some wood.” “Are you sure you only tripped?” she asked after taking a set of X-rays. “Yes.” “We’re going to do another set.” She walked out of the room after reminding me to stay still and took another X-ray. “Let’s get you to an exam room so the doctor can look at these.” She wheeled me around, and we started back down the hallway. She didn’t say anything else, but she seemed worried. “Did the X-ray look bad? What’s wrong with my ankle?” “I have to let the doctor look at it. He’ll let you know,” she said with a frown. I let her wheel me to the exam room without asking any more questions. When we got there, my mom was waiting. “Are you all right, Sally? Does it still hurt?” “Not much, Mom. I’m sure it will be fine.” A few minutes later, the doctor knocked on the door and walked in. “Hi, Mrs. Abeneb. I’m Dr. Stevens.” He turned to me. “You must be Sally. How are you feeling?” “I feel fine.” “I was looking at your X-rays. That must have been a nasty fall.” “Not really, Dr. Stevens. I tripped on some wood while we were out walking.” “Are you sure?” “Dr. Stevens, what is going on?” My mom sounded agitated. “I was with her when it happened. She barely tripped. Frankly, I’m surprised it hurt her.” Dr. Stevens looked at us and reached into the folder he had brought with him. He took several X-rays out. “This is your daughter’s ankle,” he told my mom. I stared at the pictures. Right across my ankle, you could see a huge break. “She definitely broke her ankle. She’ll be in a cast for at least six weeks, and we may have to do surgery if it doesn’t set correctly.” “How is this possible? Are you sure these are her X-rays?” my mom questioned him. “Yes, we already double and triple-checked. I think it would be best if we ran a few blood tests to see if something’s wrong that could cause her bones to be so brittle.” “Of course,” my mom agreed. The next few hours were a blur as they put a cast on and told me to stay off my foot for a few weeks. At one point, my dad came with our neighbor to drop off my mom’s car. He left after checking on me and said he would see me soon. The doctors did their tests, gave me crutches, and said I could go home. “We’ll call you tomorrow when the results come in,” Dr. Stevens told my mom. “Make sure she’s careful until then.” My mom thanked him, and we left. “Are you all right, Sally? Honestly?” “I feel fine, Mom. My ankle doesn’t even hurt right now. It hasn’t hurt since the ambulance ride. Did I really need all those tests?” “It’s only a precaution. Normally, tripping like that doesn’t cause bones to break.” “I know, Mom. I’m sorry if I’m a little grouchy. We spent all day at the hospital, and I’m tired.” “When we get home, you can lie on the couch and rest. Tomorrow we’ll see what the doctors say.” That night, I fell asleep and dreamed I could control water. I could command it to do anything I wanted. I could make it rise into the sky and create spirals back down to the ground. It was a fantastic feeling. I woke up feeling refreshed and went to jump out of bed when I remembered the cast. Carefully, I pulled my covers off and swung my legs over the side of the bed. I was waiting to feel pain, but it never came. I put my foot down gingerly on the floor and tried standing up. Surprisingly, my ankle felt great, and I was able to stand and start heading toward the kitchen before my mom caught me. “Sally, you shouldn’t be walking. The doctor said you have to stay off your foot for a few days.” “My ankle doesn’t even hurt.” She frowned at me. “Fine. I will try to relax today,” I promised her. She helped me to the couch in our living room and started making breakfast. While we were eating, the phone rang. I didn’t pay attention to the conversation until I heard my mom’s questions. “What do you mean, her bloodwork isn’t normal? What’s wrong with it?” I couldn’t hear the doctor, but the look on my mom’s face told me it wasn’t good. “Of course. Send me the address. We’ll be there as soon as we can.” She hung up the phone and stared into space. “Mom, what’s wrong? What did they say?” “We need to go see a specialist. I’m going to call your father and pack a bag for us.” “Pack a bag? Where are we going? You aren’t going to leave me in the hospital, are you?” “No, honey. I’m not leaving you, but the specialist is a few hours away. We’re going to stay there for a few days while they run more tests on you.” “Mom, you still haven’t told me what they think is wrong. It must be bad if we have to go that far away.” “Hopefully, it’s nothing serious, but we need to make sure. Dr. Griffith specializes in cases like yours.” “Like mine?” “When the hospital checked your bloodwork, there was something different about it. I didn’t understand all of it, but something about your DNA breaking down. I’m sure everything will be fine once we see Dr. Griffith. Rest while I call your father and get our clothes ready.” She gave me a kiss on the forehead and headed to our bedrooms to pack. When she finished, we got in the car and headed east, toward the shore. At first, my mom acted like we were on vacation, asking me about school, my friends, and the boy I liked. But as the day wore on, she became more and more agitated. I could tell by the way she kept drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. “Are you all right?” I asked. Maybe she knew more than I did, or perhaps reality hadn’t sunk in for me yet, because I wasn’t nearly as upset as she was. “Yes, I’m just a little concerned. Your father talked to the doctor and told me more about him while we were at the rest stop. He specializes in rare blood disorders and is the best in his field. I’m sure he’ll be able to tell us what’s going on.” She wasn’t trying to convince only me. She was also trying to convince herself. “It’ll be fine, Mom. Besides, I feel great.” We fell into an uneasy silence. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, my mom was shaking me awake. I glanced out the window at a small hospital. It didn’t look like a place that specialized in anything. “Are you sure this is the right place, Mom?” She looked around skeptically. “This is the address they gave me. Let’s go check it out.” She pushed her door open and got out of the car. “Come on, honey. We have an appointment at three o’clock. We only have a few minutes, and I don’t want to make them wait.” As she was speaking to me, I saw a man in a white lab coat walk out of the door to the hospital and start heading toward us. “It looks like they’re already waiting,” I mumbled. “What do you mean?” She turned to see what I was looking at as the man came within a few feet of us. “Mrs. Abeneb?” My mom nodded. “Yes.” He put his hand out. “Hi. I’m Dr. Griffith. It’s nice to meet you, though I wish it were under better circumstances.” My mom shook his hand, and I took the opportunity to look him over. He looked like a professor up close, not a doctor. He had on glasses that had a line through them. Bifocals, I think. My grandpa had a pair of glasses like that. His hair was turning gray, and he had a few wrinkles, mostly around his eyes. When he turned to me and smiled, the lines around his eyes got even bigger. “I know this must be a lot for you to handle, but my staff and I are going to make this as easy as possible. Why don’t you follow me inside? We can get the preliminary tests out of the way so Sally can rest. My assistant Emma spoke with your husband and has you set up in a cottage on our property. We will get the keys for you before you leave.” “Thank you, Dr. Griffith,” my mom said as we followed him into the building. I immediately realized this was a different type of hospital. It had a very welcoming feel and no sterile waiting area. It looked like a large living room with a desk set to the side. The lady sitting there stood up and shook my mom’s hand. “Mrs. Abeneb, it’s a pleasure meeting you. My name is Emma. If you need anything at all, let me know.” Dr. Griffith opened a folder sitting on the counter. “The hospital already sent over their test results, so we don’t need to redo those. I’m sure Sally doesn’t want to do more tests than necessary. Follow me, and we’ll get started right away.” He led us down a hall and into an office. A large, round desk and chairs sat in the center of the room, and he walked straight to it. “Sally, why don’t you look around the room while I speak with your mother and fill out your paperwork?” “She really should sit down. The other doctor told her to stay off her ankle as much as possible.” “Sally, how’s your ankle feeling? Do you feel like you need to sit down?” he asked with genuine concern. “My ankle hasn’t hurt at all today. I don’t think I need to sit down.” I looked at my mom apologetically for disagreeing with her. “It’s all right, Mrs. Abeneb. I don’t think her ankle is nearly as bad as you think.” My mom didn’t look convinced. As they started filling out paperwork, I took the doctor’s advice and looked around. The room was much bigger than I had first thought. As I walked away from the table, something caught my eye. Against the back wall was a small fountain on top of a bookshelf. I slid my hand over the shelf, and something sharp cut me. I let out a small cry. Water bubbled over the edge of the basin and ran across the bookcase onto the floor. “I’m sorry, Dr. Griffith,” I said as he walked over to me with my mom behind him. “It’s all right, Sally. What happened?” “I don’t know. I slid my finger over the shelf and hit something sharp. Then, the water started bubbling out of the basin. It must have gotten clogged. I don’t think I touched anything that would have caused it.” “Well, it’s all better now,” he said, pointing to it. He was right. The water was flowing fine, and besides the water on the floor and bookshelf, you wouldn’t even know it had been clogged a minute ago. “It’s nothing a few paper towels won’t fix. Now, let me see where you hurt your hand.” Holding it up for him, I tried to show him where I cut it, but there was nothing there, not even a red mark. “I guess I didn’t actually get cut,” I said slowly. I really thought I'd cut my finger. “It’s all right, Sally. Who knows, maybe you did cut yourself, and it healed very quickly,” Dr. Griffith said, smiling. I laughed. “Thanks, Dr. Griffith.”
