Claudia and the Bad Joke Read Online Free PDF Page B

Claud. Did Betsy call your parents or Mimi?”
          I shook my head.
          “All right, then I’ll go do that.”
          “Don’t call Mimi!” I cried. “She can’t drive. She won’t be able to do anything and she’ll go crazy worrying.”
          “Then I’ll call your parents. Maybe they can beat the ambulance here.”
          “I doubt it,” I said.
          “Well, let me find out. I’ll be back in just a sec.”
          Dawn ran inside and I was alone again for a few minutes. Where was that ambulance? My heart was still beating in my throat.
          When Dawn returned, she said, “I reached your mom right away and she’s going to call your dad. They’re going to meet the ambulance at the hospital. So I’ll ride with you, and Mallory wifi stay here with the kids. We left a note for Mrs. Rodowsky. When Mrs. Sobak comes home, Mallory will tell her what hap-
    pened. . . . What did happen, by the way?”
          I tried to explain, but I was feeling pretty woozy. I was very relieved to see the ambulance a few minutes later.
          Mallory kept the kids out of the way while the ambulance pulled into the Sobaks’ drive. Then the attendants jumped out, checked me over, and carefully (but it still hurt) loaded me onto a stretcher and into the ambulance.
          “Her parents are going to meet us at the hospital,” Dawn told one of the attendants. “I just called her mother. They couldn’t get here before you did, but they’ll be at the hospital to sign papers, or — or whatever they have to do.”
          Just before they shut the doors, Betsy’s tearful face peered in at me. “I’m sorry,” she said again. “I’m really sorry, Claudia. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
          “I know you didn’t,” I told her.
          And then the driver slammed the door shut.
          “Dawn?” I called. “Where’s Dawn?”
          “I’m right here,” she replied. “I’m up front, next to the driver.”
          The other attendants, a man and a woman, were in the back with me. They were taking my blood pressure and trying to put something on my leg. To hold the bones in place, I guess.
          We sped toward the hospital. I was sort of
    disappointed that the driver didn’t make the siren wail. I guess they only do that for big emergencies — I mean, like for car accidents. I was glad I wasn’t a big emergency, but roaring along with the siren blaring would have been exciting.
          After awhile, the ambulance came to a stop and the driver got out.
          “We’re here, Claud,” Dawn said.
          The back doors were opened and the stretcher was wheeled out. The stretcher is kind of interesting. It’s on these collapsible legs. When the attendants had put me in the ambulance, they’d collapsed the legs to make it fit inside. When they took me out, they pulled the legs down again. Then they wheeled me inside the hospital. It was like being on a traveling bed.
          “I don’t see your parents yet, Claud,” Dawn said, “but I’m sure they’ll be here any minute now. You know how traffic can be at this time of day.”
          I nodded. I thought of the last time I was in the hospital — right after Mimi had her stroke — and I began to cry.
          “Hey,” said Dawn, running along beside me. She found my hand and held it. “Don’t worry, Claud. I mean, go ahead and cry. That’s okay. But I know everything’s going to be all right. I just know it. Why don’t I go watch for
    your parents? I can tell them where you are. Then I’ll come find you. Or your mom and dad will, okay?”
          “Okay.” My leg was beginning to hurt — a lot. I bit my lip.
          It seemed as if Dawn was gone forever. Before she came back, a nurse wheeled me away to have my leg X-rayed. That’s all I remember clearly. After that, somebody gave me an injection that made me feel very