The Purple Patch - Missouri Valley College

sight.
“Are you okay!” Jake blurted as Nathan’s leg came into his
I spun around startled by his sudden presence, but quickly
looked back at Nathan in agreement with Jake.
Nathan simply continued to grunt and rock back and forth
with his knee cradled in his arms.
We immediately realized he wasn’t going to answer us, because
the answer was obvious enough.
“It’s okay, Nathan. Your Dad’s coming. What happened Let
us see how bad it is.”
He reluctantly took his hand off his knee afraid, himself, to
see the damage. I held back my urge to make any sort of shocked
noise, hoping it would keep down his panic.
Jake had snapped out of his eager curiosity and reacted with
a serious, “Ouch.”
On the side of Nathan’s knee lie a gash a couple inches long
and much deeper than a normal cut. It was filled with the filthiness of
the ground and droplets of blood streamed down his leg and into his
shoe. His sock soaked it in, going from white to deep red in just a few
seconds.
To avoid lingering on the seriousness of his injury, I cut the
silence, “Your Dad should almost be here. You want us to help you
across the yard”
He simply nodded.
Jake and I got him up, stumbling through maze of trees and
resting on our little arms. His Dad met us half way through the yard
to take him into the comfort only a parent knows how to relay. We
knew everything would be okay now.
“What happened” he asked softly.
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