To make matters worse, Chief Duck arrived before they could get me safely away.
"Bella!" he yelled in panic when he recognized me on the stretcher.
"I'm completely fine, Char—85 Dad," I sighed. "There's nothing wrong with me."
He turned to the closest EMT for a second opinion. I tuned him out to consider the jumble of inexplicable images churning chaotically in my head. I had never had so many thoughts in my head before, much less images. When they'd lifted me away from the wreck, I had seen the deep dent that fit the contours of Fredward's brawny hands... as if he had braced himself against the truck with enough force to damage the all-American steel frame... How could a person, any person, be so strong? It just didn't make sense.
And then there was his family, looking on from the distance, with expressions that ranged from disapproval to fury, but held no hint of concern for their brother's safety, since he was clearly fine.
I tried to think of a logical solution that could explain what I had just seen—a solution that excluded the assumption that I was insane.
Naturally, the ambulance got a police escort to the county hospital. I felt ridiculous the whole time they were unloading me.86 What made it worse was that Fredward simply glided through the hospital doors under his own power. I ground my teeth together. For how gorgeous and perfect he was, he sure made me angry sometimes.
They put me in the emergency room, a long emergency room with a line of beds separated by pastel-patterned curtains. A nurse put a pressure cuff on my arm and a thermometer
85. Because Bella is in a high-adrenaline state of confusion, she temporarily forgets her manners and almost calls her dad by his first name, like she does when he isn't around.
86. There is a stint of time that passes where the ambulance is driving to the hospital. Bella is referring to the acute embarrassment she felt when, after arriving at the hospital and parking the vehicle, the EMTs went around back and spent twenty seconds unloading her.