Cian

It's about three dares and two truths later before it's Ruari's turn to ask someone to go next. Jenny smiles at Walker and then looks at Ruari to accept a turn.

"I'll go," she says, turning to look at Siofra and then back at Walker. "I'll do a dare."

I watch Walker get ready to object but then he relents. It's just a game and he can't get all overprotective only a few minutes after Jenny and he have hooked up. Besides, them playing the game has been going well for them so far. What could happen? Then again, there's a look in Ruari's eyes I don't quite trust. He is a little too eager.

Rubbing his palms together, Ruari dares Jenny to kiss someone new; stipulating that it can't be Walker this time. I choke on my soda and look up at his sneering face. Why is everyone suddenly so gung-ho on hooking Jenny up with a bunch of guys tonight? Siofra looks right at me with panic in her eyes. Jenny must be freaking. She would never turn down a dare, but completing this one will be too much.

Before I can voice my opinion, though, Walker is on his feet and across the bonfire up in Ruari's face. "What kind of shit you trying to pull, Ruari? Jenny's not kissing anyone else here tonight."

Fionn and I get to our feet and pull Walker back, as Archer and Brody block Ruari from him.

"Calm down, Walker. Calm down. It's just a game. Jenny doesn't have to do this. It's ok. No one is going to make her," Courtney says.

I look over to where Jenny is sitting with Pearl. Siofra is looking between Ruari and Walker, when I see her silently agree with Walker.

"Yeah, Ruari. Not cool." Siofra injects. "Come up with another dare."

Absorbing the hostile energy around him, Ruari forcibly removes Archer's grip from his shirt.

"Whatever. I dare you to..." he says as he looks around for an idea. Finding his options slim, he settles his sites on the rope hanging over the pond.

"I dare you to swing into the pond." He says in a disappointed huff, sitting back down with the now-frazzled rest of us.

Looking over at the pond I'm secretly glad I haven't gotten that dare. It isn't a hard one, but with the sun down and it being twilight, the pond'll be freezing. With no sun to warm her, Jenny will be a popsicle in a matter of seconds. Then I realize that she'll have Walker to warm her up afterwards. Suddenly, the idea of jumping into the pond doesn't seem so bad. Maybe if I jumped in myself Siofra would offer to warm me up. The thought makes me smile.

"What's so funny?" Brody asks, looking at me.

"Huh? What?" I reply, realizing the gang is looking at me.

Walker shoots me a confused glance.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about something else."

As if he could read my mind, Fionn chimes in. "Yeah, I bet you are," he grumbles, looking between me and Siofra. I feel like she can read my mind now, too, and I blush like a schoolboy. "Screw you, Fionn." I reply.

"So, are we going to wait around forever, or what? You gonna jump in, Jenny? Or, are you turning down a dare?" Ruari asks, sourly; still pissed from the earlier scuffle.

Courtney stands up and walks Jenny over to the pond. Jenny takes off her shoes before grabbing ahold of the rope. Smiling, Jenny looks up at us and finally lands a last glance in Walker's direction. Then she blows him a kiss and sets sail.

I don't notice what was happening at first. I had been looking away to see Walker's reaction to Jenny's kiss, but when I heard the crack I quickly looked back in time to see her fall, screaming into the water. The overhead branch was thundering into the pond after her. Instead of coming up for air, Jenny stayed under. It only took seconds, but in that moment, it felt like time was standing still. While I groped for a reaction, Walker took off his shirt and jumped into the pond after Jenny.

When he brings her up to the surface, she doesn't look right. She isn't moving and her eyes are closed. Walker carries her out of the water and Siofra races to their side with a towel. Courtney and Pearl are already crying as Archer uses his cell phone to call 911.

Once on the ground, I see that the side of Jenny's head is bleeding slightly on her left side, a little forward of her ear. It doesn't look too bad, but then again, she isn't moving. Why doesn't Jenny open her eyes? My insides fill with dread as fear overcomes me. I don't know what to do. Suddenly, Siofra is by my side and my arms are around her, holding her tight.

"Jenny. Jenny. Wake up, Jenny." Walker calls to her in a panic, barely holding back tears. He gently rubs Jenny's face and after what feels like an eternity, her eyes flutter. Suddenly, she turns over, coughing up water onto the sand. When she looks back at Walker, she wipes the side of her mouth with her hand. Walker tries to ask her if she's alright and I can see her brows scrunch up at him like she can't understand what he is saying. Jenny tries to speak, but nothing comes out of her mouth. I watch her brows furrow again and see her frown. She tries to speak again, but no words come out this time either.

Suddenly, Jenny sits up in a panic. She looks around at all of us and tries to speak, but doesn't. Her head tilts back precariously off balance, and Walker catches her. He tries to get her to calm down. It's clear Jenny's upset, but something's off about her focus. She can see us, but something about the way she looks at us is unsettling. I know something is wrong but have no idea what it might be.

Jenny grows frantic. I see her hysteria build every time she tries to say something and doesn't. It's clear that her anxiety is climbing by the second.

As sirens ring in the near distance, Walker keeps talking to Jenny, asking her what hurts, holding her head gently as she points to the left side of her head. He is trying to soothe her and keep her settled long enough for the paramedics to come and take over.

When the paramedics finally arrive on the scene it's pandemonium. Everyone is talking at once, trying to tell the story of what happened. Everyone, accept Jenny, that is. The one person who should be telling them what happened, cannot speak to the paramedics. Their grim looks tell me it isn't good. Jenny's clearly moving and coherent, albeit a little wobbly, but something's very wrong.

As they load Jenny into the ambulance, Walker asks to ride along but the paramedics won't let him go. They say only family can ride in the ambulance. Even when we try to explain that Walker's like family to Jenny, they won't allow him in.

I can see Jenny lying still on the gurney and it scares the shit out of me. There're IVs, oxygen masks and just so many things happening so fast to her. It's all a blur and my brother, Walker, is right there in the middle of it all just trying to help.

"Walker, Walker" I say, pulling him back towards us. "Give them room. Let them help her, come on. Come with us. We'll drive to the hospital right behind the ambulance. Let's go, man. Come on," I grunt with the effort of trying to pull him away. Walker is out of his head right now, though.

"No. No! I have to go with her," he's yelling. "I have to help her. I have to let her know I'm there for her. To let her know she's not alone. Jenny hates being alone at night when she's scared. You know she does, Cian! I have to be with her so she's not scared. Let me go, Cian. Let me go, man," he pleads, tears rolling down his cheeks freely.

I've never seen my brother cry. Ever. He's not that type of man. He's freaking me out.

As they speed away, Walker stands up. He bends down and holds his head between his knees, to try to pull himself together. He's so upset. It was Jenny who crashed into the water but now it's Walker who's falling apart before my eyes. He pulls at his hair and lets out a holler that could wake the dead. I flinch and Siofra hugs me tighter. I'd forgotten she was there, lost as I am in the situation unfolding before me. I glance down and give her a hug back. Just as I start to let go, however, the shouting begins.

Something about Ruari and a comment regarding Jenny and Walker. The remark barely registers before I see Walker unload a sucker punch right into Ruari's mouth. Blood flies out of his lips and nose, while Walker moves in again with an upper cut to his stomach.

When the paramedics came to take Jenny to the hospital, they also brought the police with them. The paramedics are now gone, but the police had been in the middle of taking statements from Archer and Pete when the fight broke out. The police had a front row seat to Walker's fight with Ruari, which is why, within seconds, Walker has joined Ruari on the ground. Not because Ruari has landed many punches, but because Walker has been tackled by the police and is now being hauled up to his feet in handcuffs. The only saving grace is that Walker doesn't do anything to resist arrest or provoke the officers' wrath further. He calms himself enough to avoid any more trouble.

"Wait!" I shout. "He was provoked. Did you hear what Ruari said? Wait, you can't do this. Let him go. He's just upset! Stop!" I yell.

No one is listening to me, however. They're too busy loading my brother into the back of a police car for booking at the precinct downtown.

"Better go home and tell your parents to meet us at the roundhouse, boy," An officer tells me. "Come on, Ralph. Let's go," he says to his partner, getting into the police car.

I've no idea how a night of fun has turned into such a nightmare so quickly. I run with Fionn and Siofra to our truck, and we follow after Jenny to the hospital. I want to be with my brother, but the last thing he shouted to me before the police pulled away was to find out what happened to Jenny. I call my parents along the way and tell them that their son is headed to jail, while the girl they think of as a daughter is on her way to the hospital, unable to speak.

Jenny

One minute I was happy and blowing a kiss to Walker and the next I was flying high into the sky towards the pond below.

I had used the rope swing a thousand times before, so I never expected what had happened to occur. When I swung out far enough over the pond, I heard a loud crack. I looked up to see the branch the rope hung from break, and suddenly, the tension on the rope was gone. We plummeted to the pond and as I fell in, a pain like fire hit my head. I felt a sickening crack that echoed the branch breaking. Only this time, the break came from inside my own head.

The next thing I knew, I was laying on the shore, cradled in Walker's arms. At first, my focus was off. I wasn't seeing two of him or anything, but I wasn't seeing the one of him in focus correctly either. I felt woozy, like I was going to be sick so I let Walker ease me back down. I wanted to say something to him. I tried to, but just as I started to speak, my words left me. They were there, but then they were gone. I tried again, but the same thing happened. Nothing. Nothing came out!

On top of everything else, I was having a hard time making out what Walker was saying to me. I could hear him talking, but I couldn't understand what he was saying. It was almost like he was speaking a foreign language to me. There were only a few words here and there that I could make out.

My heart tripped over itself the longer I laid on the ground. Panic flushed through me. I felt empty. Not empty as in emotionless, but empty as if someone took what I wanted to say and dumped all my words out of my head. I knew the idea of what I wanted, NO!, what I needed to say, but my words were gone! I had no more words! Where had they all gone? What was wrong with me? Why couldn't I speak?

I could feel Walker's panic increase with my own franticness. I tried to lie back and let my mind open but there was nothing.

Soon, there were paramedics and they were loading me into the back of an ambulance. I could hear Cian arguing with them. Walker wanted to come with me. I wanted him to ride with me. When I tried to tell the paramedics this, however, nothing came out of my mouth. I started to freak out in the back of the ambulance. The paramedics tried to calm me down. I could tell they were afraid they'd have to sedate me, but I didn't care. I wanted to talk. I wanted Walker. I wanted him to hold me and tell me I was going to be alright. Most of all I wanted to not be so scared.

When I noticed Walker, though, I forced myself to calm down. He was completely losing it outside the ambulance. I realized that the more I reacted the more he did, too. For his sake, I relented. I stopped trying to get up and gave Walker a reassuring look from where I was laying to let him know I would be ok until we got to the hospital. Hoping he wouldn't be far behind, I let the paramedics strap me in for the ride. They closed the doors to the ambulance and we were on the move. Away from Walker and moving towards whatever came next. I didn't know it at the time, but it would be a long time before I saw Walker again. If I knew that then, I never would have let them leave Walker behind. I would have made them take Walker along. Maybe then, the next part of this horrible day would never have happened.

Cian

I'm trying to hold it together, but on the inside I'm petrified. I've never witnessed anything tragic like this. My life's been pretty boring up until this point. I mean, yeah, we all remember when Jenny's parents died and she came to live with her grandparents. This is different, though. Now, it's Jenny. One of my best friends; a girl who is like a sister to me.

As if knowing I need her support, Siofra holds my hand beside me in the back of the truck's cab. Fionn keeps looking back at us in the rearview mirror, making sure she's ok.

It's deadly quiet. No one says a word as we pull out behind the ambulance. As soon we find a spot to park in the visitor's lot everyone jumps out, catching up to the ambulance bay as it opens its doors. The paramedics pull Jenny out of the truck on a stretcher.

We try to reach Jenny, but the paramedics won't let us get close.

"Give us room. Back up. We have to get her inside," a nurse yells at us.

"Please, is she ok?" Siofra asks. "Is Jenny ok? Is she going to be alright?" Siofra pleads. When the nurses don't reply, we move down to the nearest waiting room. Siofra comes over to me and wraps herself in my arms. She starts to cry softly on my shoulder, helpless like the rest of us to do anything.

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Photography Copyright 2018 A. E. F.

To find out some basic information about Traumatic Brain Injury, you might want to start with the following website, published by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention:

https://www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/index.html

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