11 – The Limit

Chapter Eleven

The Limit

Noelle

There was something special about running. When Noelle was out on the field, she didn’t have time to think. No worrying about her dad, no dread at talking to her mom, no fear that her fellow students would start to notice changes in her appearance.

There was just Noelle, and the world moving under her hooves.

She pushed herself faster. She could almost feel herself escaping her thoughts, like they were on the track with her, but they couldn’t keep up.

“I think you should come with me. It’s, well, it’s your dad.”

No, keep running. Just go faster.

“You can forget about getting a refill on those damn pills of yours unless you earn them.”

Faster.

“Hey, is everything okay? You seem kind of… distracted.”

Faster!

“You know, if you want to talk…”

“I’m so sorry for what you’re going through.”

“Why don’t you just take it easy today.”

“You know, if you’re not feeling up to it, I’m sure I can study by myself.”

No no no no no! Noelle needed to go faster! This was supposed to be her one escape, the thing she could count on to keep all these thoughts away. She was supposed to be safe here.

Just a little bit faster. If she could just go a little bit faster…

Although she stumbled a little bit, Noelle righted herself and kept going. She couldn’t stop. Her muscles hurt from the strain, but she ignored that. She just had to go faster, just a little faster.

She stumbled again, and this time, she didn’t catch herself. Noelle fell to the ground. Distantly, she heard people yelling something, but it sounded strange, like she was underwater. 

She tried to push herself up, but she fell again. She felt dizzy and thought she might throw up. Her breathing was ragged, and she found she no longer wanted to get up. She stayed on the ground and just wished things would stop spinning.

Someone was speaking to her. She felt herself being pulled upright and realized the person speaking was saying her name.

She blinked a few times, unsure what was going on but sure that she needed to let them know she was fine.

“Noelle! Noelle!”

“S-Susie?”

“Noelle, are you okay?”

Although her vision was fuzzy, Noelle could just barely make out Susie’s face in front of her. “I’m fine,” Noelle said. Or at least, she thought she said it, but she wasn’t sure if the words actually made it through her mouth.

She felt something cool and damp on her head, then heard another voice say, “Can you drink a little?”

Noelle squeezed her eyes shut tight for a second, then opened them. “Coach?”

“Here, try to drink.”

Noelle raised her hand to try and get the sports drink he was offering, but she couldn’t really manage. Still, she felt it press against her lips and took a few awkward sips, only after realizing that Susie was holding it for her.

“Mmm…” The fuzziness was starting to dissipate, and Noelle was becoming aware that Susie was holding her up while her coach kneeled beside them. Kris was also there, and they looked worried as well.

That wasn’t good. Noelle’s friends had come to watch her practice, and she’d worried them. She tried to push herself up to sit on her own, but Susie held her firmly. “Hey, take it easy.”

“I… I think I’m okay.”

Her coach had other thoughts. “No, I don’t like how that leg looks.”

“My leg?” Noelle looked down at her leg and saw it already looked swollen. Seeing it made her more aware of pain radiating from it, though she still didn’t feel it as much as she thought she should.

“What do we do?” Susie asked.

“I’ll have to take her to the nurse,” Noelle’s coach answered.

Kris pointed out that he had to keep an eye on the other students and offered to take Noelle with Susie.

The coach looked at the others for a moment, then nodded. “Alright, you two take her to the nurse.”

Susie nodded. “Will do. Come on, Kris, help me get her up.”

“I’m okay, I can stand,” Noelle forced herself up, then almost fell over again when the pain in her leg proved to be too much for her.

Thankfully, Susie caught her. “Hey, take it easy. Do you want me to carry you?”

Noelle blushed, imagining Susie carrying her through the school. “N-no, you don’t need to do, uhm, that.”

“Alright, but at least lean on me.”

Noelle obliged, keeping her head down so Susie couldn’t see her blush. Kris walked on her other side, ready to help in case Noelle stumbled.

The three of them made their way slowly into the school, Noelle limping all the way. Meanwhile, Susie kept an arm around her, somehow being both strong and tender at the same time.

“How do you feel?” Susie asked. “I mean, I know your leg hurts, but like, aside from that.”

“I don’t know,” Noelle admitted. “I feel a little lightheaded. Everything’s kind of fuzzy.”

“Yeah, okay. Hold up for a minute.” Susie stopped, so Noelle stopped as well. She looked into Susie’s face just in time to see everything shift as Susie picked her up like a baby.

“S-Susie!”

“You shouldn’t be walking. You might faint again.”

Although she was already hot, Noelle still felt her face heating up to unbearable levels. She covered it and tried to ignore the fact that she was all sweaty from running. It didn’t seem that Susie minded, at least.

Because school had ended already, the halls were pretty empty. Still, Noelle knew that everyone they did pass would have their eyes on them, so she kept her face covered. It helped hide her blush too, although she could always blame it on being overheated.

“You okay?” Susie asked as they walked.

“I’m fine, you really don’t have to carry me.”

“Just relax, it’s not every day that I give out free rides you know.”

Noelle uncovered one eye to see Susie was grinning at her. She could swear that her heart was going to beat straight out of her chest.

After a few turns through the halls and a few too many students catching sight of them, they came to a stop in front of Nurse Seraph’s office. Kris opened the door, and Susie carried Noelle inside.

“Oh, hello,” Nurse Seraph said. “Trouble on the track field?”

“Yeah, Noelle fell and hurt her leg,” Susie answered.

“Well, set her down on the examination table. Let’s have a look at you.”

Susie did as instructed, setting Noelle down carefully so she didn’t hurt her leg any more.

Noelle pulled at the track shorts she was wearing, wishing she had something longer on. She kept her eyes down as Nurse Seraph approached.

“I see it’s already swollen. Does it hurt much?”

“It’s sore, and it hurts when I walk on it,” Noelle answered.

“Let me know if you feel any pain when I do this.” Seraph prodded Noelle’s leg as gently as she could, although it did hurt quite a bit. After a few moments, she revealed, “I don’t think it’s broken, but it looks like a pretty nasty sprain. Still, it would be a good idea to go to the hospital for x-rays.”

Noelle nodded.

“Uhm, she also said she was dizzy,” Susie added, and Noelle winced.

“Oh? Are you dizzy now?”

Noelle shook her head slowly. “Not really. I think getting out of the sun helped a lot.”

“It’s probably heat exhaustion then. That can be pretty serious if it’s left alone. Here, I have a bottle of water, I want you to drink it.”

Seraph opened a mini fridge near her desk and pulled out a bottle of water, which she handed to Noelle, who drank it quickly.

“Easy now, you’ll throw up if you drink too fast. Slow sips.”

Noelle nodded and paced herself more.

“I shouldn’t have to tell you this, but you’re covered in fur. It may be autumn, but you’ve still got to be careful out there. It’s easy to overdo it.”

Noelle nodded again. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, be more careful. I’ll call your mother, sit tight.”

The last person Noelle wanted to see was her mom. Still, she said nothing. Seraph used a phone on her desk to call Noelle’s mother, who didn’t answer, so she left a message.

“Should I bring her to the hospital?” Susie asked. “Noelle’s mom can meet us there.”

Susie carrying her all the way to the hospital? Noelle was going to die if that happened. “I think I’ll be fine, I can just –”

“You won’t be fine,” Seraph said. “But you shouldn’t be out in that heat right now. I’ll give you a ride there myself, it’s almost time for me to go anyway. You kids are lucky I’m still here.”

Going with Nurse Seraph sounded a lot less embarrassing than being carried all the way there by Susie, even if part of her wanted to be carried again. Still, it was for the best. She couldn’t imagine what her mom would say if she found Susie carrying her around…

So they waited a few minutes while Nurse Seraph packed up and Noelle drank the rest of her water, then they were ready to head out.

Susie was quick to get to Noelle’s side before she could get off the table, however. “Maybe I should carry you to the car?”

“Susie, I’m fine,” Noelle said, then she dropped her voice. “Besides, it’s embarrassing…”

“At least lean on me.”

That was probably the best compromise she was going to get, so she took it. Kris once again opened the door for them, then Susie and Noelle left the room together side by side, and Seraph brought up the rear so she could turn the lights off and lock the door.

From there, Seraph took the lead, bringing them to the staff parking lot. Noelle kept her eyes on the ground to avoid the other students’ stares, and it was a painfully slow walk.

“We can go to the hospital with you,” Susie said as they walked to car.

Noelle frowned. She didn’t want Susie around when her mom showed up. “Uhm, actually, do you think you could get my stuff? Then Kris can bring it to my house when they head home later.”

“You sure you’ll be okay on your own?” Susie asked.

“I’ll be fine. It’s sweet of you to be worried, but I’m okay, really.”

“Alright, I guess…” Susie sounded reluctant, but the important part was that she agreed. 

They stayed together until they got to the parking lot, where Susie helped Noelle into Seraph’s passenger seat. She waved to her friends, said goodbye, and then they were heading to the hospital. Noelle breathed a sigh of relief, which was soon replaced with dread as she imagined what her mom would say about her getting hurt.

“You did the right thing by coming in here.” The doctor who had examined Noelle’s leg was writing something down on his clipboard. “It’s not a clean break, but your x-rays show a hairline fracture. It’s safe to say you won’t be running for a while.”

Noelle nodded slowly. She had known that, even if she didn’t know her bone was fractured. Life had taken another thing from her, although that was par for the course. “Okay.”

“We’ll need to set a cast, and I’m worried about you fainting as well.”

“Nurse Seraph said it was heat exhaustion.”

“Yes, I think she was right. But you’re a smart girl, Noelle. You know better than to get yourself into that situation. What’s gotten into you?”

Noelle winced. She wished he could just leave it alone. “I don’t know.”

The doctor sighed. “Is this because of your father? I know you’re worried about him, but you shouldn’t push yourself like this.”

“It’s not because of Dad.” Noelle frowned. She didn’t like the idea that this could somehow be his fault. “I just… guess I got careless today.”

The doctor regarded her for a moment, then nodded. “Alright. Well, in any event, I think you should take a few days off from school to recover. We don’t need you agitating that leg.”

“What?” Noelle blinked. “I can’t miss school.”

He grinned. “Oh, come on. Everyone knows you’re the star student at school, I’m sure a few days won’t hurt.”

“It’s not…” Noelle stopped herself from continuing. How could she make him understand it wasn’t that? Her grades were a concern, but only because of what other things that would mean.

“I know, I know. I was pretty academic as a kid too, and I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on school. But you know, your body needs rest.”

Noelle looked down at the floor. He couldn’t… make her miss school, could he?

Before they could continue that conversation, the door opened. Both of them turned to see Carol Holiday walk into the room, and she locked eyes with her daughter.

“Are you hurt?”

Noelle smiled a little. “It’s not too bad. I guess I do need a cast, though.”

Carol sighed, then turned to talk to the doctor. They went over Noelle’s condition, what had happened, and what they would have to do from there.

Then they got to the one thing Noelle was afraid of. “But Noelle doesn’t want to take time off from school.”

“I’ll be fine!” Noelle said. It was important that her mom knew she was willing to fight to go to school, not to mention that she wanted to go for her own reasons just as much as her mom wanted her to go. “I’ll be careful and walk around on crutches and everything, I can’t miss school!”

“We’ll talk about it later,” Carol said simply.

The doctor nodded. “Well then, let’s get that cast going.”

The doctor had a nurse come in and assist in getting a fiberglass cast for Noelle. To make her feel better about it, they let her pick the color, and she chose purple. They wrapped her leg in protective cotton, then wrapped that in strands of fiberglass, which hardened as the doctor gave her instructions for caring for it.

“And you’ll come back in six weeks to get that off,” the doctor said.

Noelle grimaced. “Six weeks?”

“Afraid so. And it’ll be at least a few more weeks after that before you’re running again.”

Noelle groaned and fell back on the examination table.

“More time to focus on studying,” Carol said.

“I guess…”

It didn’t take too much longer for them to head out. They stopped at the front desk to check out and schedule the follow-up appointment, then Noelle hobbled out of the building on crutches.

“Do you need help getting in?” Carol asked as they reached the car.

“No, I can manage.” In truth, it was difficult to get into the passenger seat of the car, but Noelle didn’t want her mom’s help. She didn’t even want to be in the car with her mom, really, but there was no way she was hobbling all the way home.

Carol did help by putting the crutches in the back seat, but at least Noelle was allowed to get in on her own. She was buckled up and was ready to go by the time her mom made it into to the driver’s seat.

“So,” Carol said with a pointed look at Noelle, “you still want to go to school?”

Noelle nodded and met her mom’s eyes. “I can do it. I’ll be careful, and everything will work out.”

“Okay.” Carol started the car and backed out of the parking spot. “I think it’s good you’re so dedicated.

Dedicated to getting away from you…

Of course, Noelle didn’t say that.

“Do you have any ideas of how you’ll get home in the afternoon? I could take a late lunch in to bring you home, I suppose.”

“No, don’t do that,” Noelle said quickly. She thought fast and added, “I’m sure Ms. Dreemurr can bring me home.”

“Okay. I’ll ask her about it.”

“I can ask her,” Noelle said, wanting to do as much as she could on her own.

They pulled up to a stop sign, so Carol took the chance to take a look at her. “I’m glad you’re owning up to this.”

Noelle just nodded.

Carol started driving again. “Of course, you should have been more careful. You know better than to push yourself like that.”

“Yes, Mom.”

After a few more comments about how careless Noelle had been, Carol let them make the rest of the drive in silence. It was at least a short drive, then Noelle struggled to get out of the car while her mom got the crutches from the back, though she managed to do it without help.

“I have to go back to the office,” Carol said once Noelle was standing on her own with the crutches. “Will you be okay?”

“I’ll be fine, Mom. Thank you for getting me.”

Carol nodded. “I’ll see you at dinner then.”

“See you then.”

Carol got back into the car, so Noelle hobbled up to the front door. She went to fish keys out of her pocket only to remember she was still in her cross-country uniform and wouldn’t have her keys until Kris showed up later, and she had to flag her mom to come unlock the door for her.

Once that was done, Carol left, and Noelle shut the door behind her. She let out a small sigh, then hobbled up to the stairs, where she groaned at the thought of having to climb them up and down every day.

Since Kris was going to be stopping by, she didn’t bother to climb the stairs yet. Instead, she hobbled into the kitchen where they still had a landline phone – her cell phone was in her backpack – and dialed a familiar number on it.

It rang twice, and then a cheerful voice said, “Hey, there’s my girl.”

“Hi, Dad,” Noelle said, tears threatening to come out now that she was alone and talking to him. “How are you feeling?”

“Oh, can’t complain. Not doing too bad these days.”

Noelle smiled. “That’s great! I’m really glad to hear that!”

“Yeah, you know, I just needed to clear my head with some of this freshly polluted city air! I tell you, too much of that country stuff is bad for your health.”

“Of course, Dad.”

“So how was school today?”

“Well, it was fine until cross-country… I fell and hurt my leg.”

“Nothing too bad?”

“It’s a hairline fracture. They had to put a cast on it.”

“A cast?” Rudy sounded worried, then pushed that away and returned to his jovial nature. “And I ain’t even there to sign it?”

“You can sign it next time I visit. They said I need to wear it for six weeks.”

Rudy let out a whistle. “Guess that puts a damper on cross-country, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess it does.”

“Aww, you’ll bounce back in no time. How you feeling?”

“Not too bad. It doesn’t hurt as long as I stay off it, and, uhm…”

“Uh oh, an uhm, huh?”

Noelle blushed deeply. “Well… Susie carried me to the nurse’s office.”

“Aah, atta girl!”

Noelle giggled, finally finding the time to feel a little bit of happiness. “I wonder what she’ll say at school tomorrow.”

Rudy was quiet for a moment, then said, “You sure you should be going to school right now?”

“I’ll be fine, Dad. I can’t miss school over this.”

“Noelle… there’s more important things than getting good grades.”

More important things like getting out of the house, and even more important than that, away from her mom. “I know, but I’m really okay. Uhm, I should go though, I have to call Ms. Dreemurr and see if she can bring me home in the afternoons so I don’t have to walk so much.”

“I just worry about you, kiddo. I’m so proud of you for how good you do in school, but you know… There’s a limit to how hard you can push yourself.”

“I do know, Dad. But I’ll take care of myself.”

After a moment, Rudy spoke with a resigned tone. “Alright. Love you, Noelle.”

“Love you too, Dad. I’ll call tomorrow and let you know how school went with the cast.”

“Yeah yeah, let me know all the juicy stories of Susie doting on you.”

“Dad!”

Rudy laughed. “Talk to you tomorrow, sweetheart.”

“Bye, Dad.”

Noelle hung up the phone, but she didn’t call the Dreemurr house right away. Instead she sighed and looked down at the cast. Yet another thing life threw at her, but like everything else, she would rise above it.

She was a Holiday, she was her father’s daughter. Nothing would keep her down, and she would show her mom that she deserved to be respected, and she would take care of herself, and everything would be alright.

Even though there was no one there to see it, Noelle forced a smile onto her face as she called the Dreemurr residence.