8
After the accident an alarm had begun going off. Security rushed in and had gotten everybody cleared out of the area. Ben and Ellen had been in a panic, they couldn’t find Johnny until they got outside of the line.
He eventually appeared, he was shaken and his face was pale. They’d asked him if he was alright but he’d just kept quiet. After getting back to their room, Ellen sat him down on his bed and rubbed his back and tried to calm him. Johnny’s lip quivered as tears rolled down his eyes.
“I saw it mom, they jumped. The big girl grabbed her sister and jumped under the rollercoaster!”
Johnny let out a sob as Ellen hugged him. She looked up at Ben, shaking her head.
“We have to report this Ellen, he’s a witness!” Ben told her.
“Stop it Ben, he’s just a kid.”
“I want to go home,” Johnny cried, “please, can we go home?”
“Of course honey, we’ll head back in the morning, first thing.”
Ellen held Johnny until he fell asleep.
Ben was sat on the couch in the main room when Ellen sat down beside him. She sat down and sighed.
“He might need counseling, at least,” Ben said after a long silence.
“Maybe you’re right.”
She sighed again and put her head onto his shoulder. “Why did this have to happen, Ben?”
She began crying so he put his arms around her.
“It’s okay,” he whispered. After a few minutes the sobs stopped and she fell asleep. He wiped the tears from her face and carried her into the bedroom.