She bites her bottom lip.
“If it’s broken, you need medical care,” I say, hoping that sways her.
She nods. “Okay. But only after midnight.”
I reluctantly agree. I try calling Aunt Kate a dozen more times, but she doesn’t answer. This always happens in the evenings because she often forgets to turn her phone off silent mode when she gets back from work.
Belle and I attempt to watch a funny show while we wait for the clock to hit midnight. I can tell she’s in a lot of pain, though, and I wish she’d just let me call a freaking ambulance. Or an Uber. I ask her multiple times, but the answer is always no.
Finally, it’s time.
Belle dresses in a pair of loose-fitting sweatpants because it’s all that will pull over her swollen ankle, and a black hoodie. I put a fuzzy sock on her bad foot and together we stand up. She wraps her arm around my shoulders and I wrap mine around her, and we shuffle out of our dorm room. We’re down the hall and to the doors before Belle says anything.
“Whoa.” Her eyes go wide as I try to shuffle to the side and open the door while still holding onto her. “I’ve been in so much pain, I barely noticed being in the hallway.”
I smile. “Maybe this ankle pain is what will help you overcome your anxiety.”
To my surprise, she smiles back. “Maybe.”
We step outside and Belle gasps as the crisp night air hits us.
“It’s beautiful,” she says, gazing up at the starry night sky. “I haven’t been outside in so long.”
“This way,” I say, turning sharply left. We have a short walk in the open and then we can duck behind a long, overgrown hedge that leads straight to the gardens. No one ever comes back here and it’s the perfect place to sneak around.
Belle’s tears continue to fall as we hobble our way to the hedge.
“Are you hurting really bad?” I ask.
“Yes, but that’s not why I’m crying. I’m just really, really glad I’m finally outside.”
I smile, but she probably can’t see it in the darkness. “I’m glad, too.”
We make it to the first bench on the inner edge of the gardens and then we sit down to rest. Belle can’t stop looking around, even though the dim street lamps and the half-moon in the sky makes it a little hard to see. I’m keeping us on the outer rim of the gardens, which is the most popular walkway, and has the highest probability that we’ll run into some other students who are also staying out past curfew, but I don’t tell her that. I don’t want to worry her, but there’s no way we could walk into the center of the gardens. It would take too long. She needs a doctor now. Luckily, just across campus, we’ll only have a short two block walk until we’re at her mom’s apartment complex. Then she can take us to the hospital.
“Ready?” I say, after we’ve rested on the bench a while. Belle nods. She stands up on her good foot and then reaches out for me.
“Tell me about the garden you’re going to take me to someday. The hidden garden.”
“Well, we’ll have to wait until your ankle is healed first,” I say. It’s true, but the extra time is also needed so I can find the key. Belle doesn’t know about that part yet.
“But then you’ll take me to it?” she asks, her voice hopeful.
“Yeah, of course.”
“So where is it?”
“It’s hidden deep inside these gardens,” I say as we walk along the worn path. “It takes about fifteen minutes to walk to it from here.”
“Isn’t this place a labyrinth?”
“Yes, but I know the way. It’s hidden behind a secret door that no one else knows about.”
“Then how do you know about it?”
“I found it on accident. Well… sometimes I think the bird wanted me to find it. Like maybe that little bird just knew what I needed. A secret place. Somewhere to escape this cruel world.”
“I can’t wait to see it.”
