The cool water drops trickled down my legs.
I’m almost there, I told myself painfully.
Feel the burn in your knees, I could hear my dead running coach saying in my head. Before I knew it, I was crossing the muddy finish line, and the sound of cheering filled my ears. I knew I had reached my goal, the goal I created seven years ago when my coach was alive. I turned around and fell backwards into the wet mud. The rainy atmosphere made me tired, and I was extremely surprised when a tall gold trophy was placed next to me.
“And the winner is…Jennifer Hazel Jones!” the announcer shouted as he helped me off the ground.
I breathed heavily, but I was thankful for the wonderful rainy weather. I’ve won the five mile marathon! It took me a few minutes for me to get the idea, because all I knew during the race was ‘Run forward as fast as I can, don’t look back’. I had laid that command on myself 6 ½ years ago, as Coach Marta yelled ‘Forward! Forward! Don’t look back at me, look forward!’ I felt dizzy, and I felt a sharp pain down my back. I collapsed into the wet mud, I had fainted.
I woke up to see I was being carried by my dad towards the car. He laid be across the backseats gently, and then almost slamming the door on my legs. My dad hopped in the driver’s seat, and my brother was already in the front seat, both heavily drenched in rain. I looked down on myself, and I realized I looked like I had been dipped in a mud bucket. The trophy was in the floorboard next to my feet. I leaned easily forward, just to find my back burning with pain. My dad drove about 15 mph over the speed limit, and it sounded like my brother was calling my mother on his cell phone. In front, behind, to the left, and to the right of us were police cars, their lights flashing, their sirens blaring. My dad looked back behind his shoulder.
“Go back to sleep, Jenny,” he said, his throat hoarse.
All I could move without hurting was my eyes. I looked down to my legs, they were coated with drying mud, but they felt hot and heavy. I tried to move them, but I had no feeling below my waste. I fell into a deep sleep after looking at my legs, because when I woke up I was being rushed through a series of doors in a plain white hallway.
I studied my surroundings, and I discovered I was lying on a soft wheelie-bed with rails on either side. I was under a white sheet, and my dad was rushing along with the wheelie-bed. I had my hands placed in front of me, and when I looked at them, I saw that they had been cleaned. We finally entered a procedure room, and I had no idea why we were in a procedure room. My dad had gone back to the waiting room, and suddenly I was surrounded by people in white smocks, gloves, and masks.
“We need the injection,” one of the people said behind their masks. Someone else came rushing to me with a huge needle filled with a tan-looking fluid inside the tube. They stuck the needle into a fleshy part of my arm, and I blacked out.

“Look, she’s waking up,” I heard my brother whisper. I started to open my eyes, but I still hurt to where I couldn’t move. My dad walked over to me quickly. I was in a plain white room, covered in a white blanket, and there were some filled chairs on the far side of the room.
“How are you feeling?” my dad asked me softly.
“Stiff, why am I here? I won the race,” I said as I tried to get up. Even if I wanted to get up, I couldn’t because I couldn’t feel my legs.
“Sweetie, it will all explain itself when the doctor arrives,” said my dad, who was bent over me.
“Good day, Mr. Jones. I’m Jennifer Hazel’s doctor for her stay. Are there any problems right this very minute?” the doctor asked. I read his name tag, Dr. Hamilton. “I’m sure you’re a little stiff, right Jennifer?”
“Yes sir,” I managed to say.
He turned to my dad. “That’s normal, because after all, it was a complicated emergency surgery.” Then he turned to me. “We’ll need to test, to see if this is just a regular injury. I’m sure it is, but I just want to be on the safe side.” He motioned in a nurse, who was rolling a cart into the room.
“Ok, I’m going to need you to sit up in the bed,” she said, picking a needle from the cart. I tried to sit up, but every time I shifted, a deep pain was sent down my back. “Ow, I can’t move without hurting,” I said painfully.
The doctor swiftly headed over to the bed, and pressed the recline button. The mechanical bed reclined me towards the nurse with the needle.
“Now, I’m just going to put this rubber band around your arm.” She acted as she had explained. “Ok, that looks good. Now, you’re just going to feel a little poke on your arm.” She poked the needle into my arm, right below the rubber band. I watched the blood drain into the tube, and I watched as she snatched the needle out of my arm. She disconnected the tube from the needle, and then walked quickly to one of those ‘needle dispose’ containers. The disposed of the needle, and put the tube onto the cart. “Thank you, that’s all for now.”
“Miss Jones, at the race, did you feel strange at the end?” Dr. Hamilton asked me, clutching a notepad.
“At the end, when I finished, I collapsed. That’s all I remember,” I said, looking up at the ceiling tiles.
“After you woke up, how did you feel? Did your legs have an odd sensation?” the doctor asked, scribbling down something.
“In the car, when I moved, I felt nothing except pain. In my legs, I couldn’t feel them at all. I still can’t, either.” Dr. Hamilton scribbled more onto his pad.
“Thank you, Miss Jones.” Dr. Hamilton said. Then, he turned to my dad. “We’ll be in here in a little while, Mr. Jones.” He turned back to me. “If you would like some entertainment, the T.V. is right up there,” he pointed to the Northeast vertex of the room (the bed is on the south wall) “and the remote is connected to the bed. The T.V. guide is next to the remote. I suggest channel 14, Nickelodeon,” he said, then exited the room.
“Well, you might as well turn on the T.V. and get some rest,” dad said, picking up the T.V. guide. “So, channel 14? And there’s Disney on channel Cartoon Network on 17. Your pick.”
“Channel 16 would be fine,” I said. Then, I drifted off to sleep.

I don't know if I should write this story anymore. It seems like people don't like it.