“You’ll be fine,” my father said as i stayed frozen on the ground. mom was upset i was interrupting my brother’s celebration. (3 of 7)

He rolled his eyes. “Come on, get up. You’re embarrassing yourself.”

“I can’t get up,” I was crying now. “Please call an ambulance. I think I’m really hurt.”

By this point, a small crowd had gathered, taking their cues from Jason, assuming this was just another family drama. My father pushed through the onlookers. “Dad,” I sobbed, “I slipped and fell. I can’t feel my legs. I need to go to the hospital.”

What I got instead was a dismissive scoff. “For God’s sake, Audrey. Walk it off. Stop being a baby. You are making a scene at your brother’s party.”

My mother knelt beside me, her voice an angry whisper. “Audrey Matthews, that is enough. You have always been jealous of your brother’s attention, but this is taking things too far. You are ruining his birthday party with this… performance.”

The betrayal cut deeper than any physical pain. Then, from the edge of my fading consciousness, I heard a new voice, firm and authoritative. “Excuse me, I’m a nurse. Let me through, please.”

A woman I didn’t recognize knelt beside me. “Hi there, I’m Rachel. I work in the ER at Mass General.” I explained what happened. She gently pressed her fingers against various points on my legs, asking if I could feel the pressure. I could not.

“I’m calling an ambulance,” she announced, pulling out her phone.

“She doesn’t need an ambulance,” my mother protested.

Rachel fixed my mother with a level stare. “Ma’am, your daughter has signs consistent with a spinal cord injury. Moving her could cause permanent damage.”

“How did this happen?” my father asked, his expression shifting from annoyance to apprehension.