The ride home was absolutely unbearable. In complete silence, Mary was waiting for the impending doom. Mother had told her not to take Dollie to school but she did it anyway. Dollie was her only friend, her safe-haven, her home-away-from-home. What would she do without her? Well, it has created quite a serious situation. How could the principle be so cruel? A whole week of suspension for defending herself?! Outrageous! At least Mr. Anderson was there to protect her. He seemed like he understood. Mary nodded silently to herself. 

     Mother and Mary slowly pulled into the driveway and hopped out of the dark grey SUV. On Mary's way inside, Mother trailed directly behind her, nipping at her heels. She felt a darkness looming over her. The second Mary entered the front door, she heard Mother slam her things on the floor, the keys echoing through the empty house. Mary tried to escape her fate by running upstairs, but Mother caught her halfway up. She latched onto Mary's backpack and yanked it downward. The straps pulled on Mary's shoulders and, in one swift motion, she was tumbling down the old wooden staircase; a staircase with almost thirty steps. After what felt like a lifetime, Mary had finally fallen to the bottom step. It took a few moments before she decided to open her eyes. Then she realized what had happened; Mother had maliciously thrown her down the stairs. 

     Red was everywhere in her blurry vision. After her adrenaline rush had ceased, Mary felt the stinging and reached a shaky hand to the back of her head. Her beautiful blonde hair was caked with blood. She began to analyze her surroundings when she noticed more red. Her leg, it was misshapen. The pain grew sharper as she lifted her favorite yellow, and now red, sun dress to reveal that her leg was broken. 

     Mary began to wail. Her ear-deafening screams caught the attention of Mrs. Malic, the next-door neighbor. Andrea Malic rushed over to see what all the fuss was about. She had just arrived home from the grocery store after dropping her children off at school. They were not much older than Mary but, as you might recall, Mary was forbidden to have friends. 

     Mrs. Malic approached the front door, noticing that it was slightly open. Mother had forgotten to close it when she sprinted after Mary and up the stairs. Mrs. Malic gently knocked on the door and called out, "Is everyone okay? I heard Mary screaming." Before the helpless little girl could yell to Andrea to be rescued, Mother scrambled to the bottom of the steps to Mary's aid. "Please! Call an ambulance! She fell down the stairs and she's hurt badly! Please help my baby!"

     Mary could not believe what was happening. Mother had just thrown her down a flight of steps and now she was pretending to care that Mary was bleeding everywhere?! Before she could give it a second thought, her entire world turned upside down and then went black. She felt relief from the pain of her extensive injuries. 

She briefly woke to sirens and colorful lights. The noises and flashes amplified the agony of her cranium injury. 

She briefly woke to white lab coats shuffling around her. Her eyes were heavy and her injuries felt painless. She felt nothing. 

She briefly woke to Mother staring over her. "You should've listened to me Mary. I told you not to take Dollie to school. I warned you. And now, look what you've done. Look what you made me do!" Mother's tone began to escalate but she instantly corrected herself, spinning around to be sure no one had heard her. She stood up to close the curtain and pulled a small vial out of her cardigan pocket. Mother unscrewed the tube of the IV from the needle and injected the liquid into Mary's vein. She replaced the IV just as she had found it and Mother quickly made her way out of the hospital.