All Jagged And Broken (56/73)

We were planning to stay in Anaheim for a few more days after we were done visiting Disneyland. Grandma Lois had us booked a few bus tour trips in the days following. First up was Knott’s Berry Farm, another ride filled amusement park. Then on the second day, we were off to Sea World. Dallas, Devon and myself had never seen any sea animals before this day nor had we been to San Diego before. The weather was beautiful while we walked around Sea world visiting all the animal habits. My favorite was the penguins; they walked around as if they owned the place. Not a care in the world.

As we headed back to Anaheim from San Diego, I fell asleep on the bus. The last couple of day had caught up with me. I was having so much fun but the burden of knowing that we only had five days left until we would be starting out for home, made me nervous. I did not want to go back to Edmonton or to my home. I still was refusing to talk to Jack and I knew that I would pay for that when I got back home. The thought of this clouded my mind as we headed to the pool after dinner.

Grandma Lois and my Mother were soaking in the hot tub while Dallas, Devon and me splashed around in the main pool. The pool was not as full tonight as it had been previously. This pleased us children very much, especially Devon. He enjoyed having the pool to him self. I thought it would be funny to sneak up in Devon as he played Marco Polo with some other children he had met. So I quietly snuck out of the pool and walked around to get closer to the area he was in. Once I did, I stood on the edge of the pool and jumped in with my arms reached out in attempt to pull Devon under water and scare him. An idea I did not really think through when I put it into action.

Instead of scaring Devon, I ended up hurting myself in the process. Once my feet hit the water I knew I was in for trouble. My chin collided with the top of Devon’s head and when it did my teeth crashed down on each other shattering my mouth to pieces as it did. I went under the water and sprung back up with my hands grasping my face and mouth. Blood and pieces of tooth were floating around me. The pain over taking me as the tears started to roll down my face. An elderly couple close by had noticed what had happened and swam over to help me. After they helped me out of the pool, I headed over to the hot tub to get help and comfort from my mother. I knew I was hurt bad because of how much pain there was. Everything time I breathed in I felt a shooting pain race across my upper and lower gums of my mouth. Once my Mother noticed I was hurt she immediately got up out of the hot tub and took me back to our room.

Once we reached the room, my Mother had me rinse my mouth out with warm water before she looked to what the damages was. My mouth had stopped bleeding by now but the pain was getting worse. As my Mother looked at the damage in my mouth, she gasped at the site. I had chipped or broken at least twelve teeth in my mouth. My mouth was left all jagged and broken. Fortunately, there was a doctor staying at the hotel whom came and looked at my injuries. After he examined me, he told my mother that I would need to see a dentist once we returned to Canada. He also stated that I would be in come pain over the next week or two as I also brushed my face in the accident. Considering Grandma Lois and my Mother traveled with a small pharmacy they had me covered when it came to keeping me comfortable for the rest of the trip.

The accident could not have happened at a worst time, in the morning we were heading to Mexico for the day to go shopping. I was really looking forward to this leg of the trip and now I would be in pain the entire time I was there. The worst part being that I could not eat anything but mush for the next little while. Not to mention that I was given a moderate dose of narcotics to keep my pain at a tolerable level.

For the night, I was given something to help me rest. Which it did. With in twenty minutes of taking the medication I was sound asleep. A canon could have went off in our room and would not have moved an inch. I was out. However, the next morning was a bit of a different story. By now, my mouth was fully bruised and it had began to swell. From the moment I opened my eyes I suffered in pain. My face ached as if a baseball bat had hit it and my teeth were destroyed. I do not think I realised it the night before due to shock but as I looked in the bathroom mirror, I could see the damage. I looked like something out of a horror movie. Every time I breathed in the air would sting the exposed nerves in my mouth. This sent a shock wave of pain through out my head.

My Mother could see that I was in pain and came to give me something to help. In that moment I did not know how I was going to make it through the day and prayed that the medication made me able to participate. I was determined to enjoy the day no matter how hard it would be. What other choice did I have? Staying back at the room was not an option. Who would stay with me?