The light had burned my eyes when they opened. But I would take that every day over finding out I have a broken arm, leg, and ribs. All on the right side too.
My parents and Amanda came in and a moment later Dr. Lily came back in too. Amanda was about to hug me before she was told by Dr. Lily that she should wait until I was standing and wasn’t at risk of hurting something.
Amanda put her hand in mine, and I closed my hand. “We’re so glad you’re okay.” Mom said from the end of the bed.
“Yeah, well, I could’ve done without the broken bones.” I said as my ribs stung when I shifted.
“Even in the hospital, you’re still sarcastic.” Dad said with a light chuckle. I formed a small smile. But it wasn’t a true smile in the least bit.
“Your parents got you waterproof casts so you can still shower. Your body will heal around the same period of time, but you need to make sure not to do any vigorous activities and accept help for many things.” Dr. Lily explained.
“We gave your parents lists of things not to do and some exercises you can do to build your muscles back up again. Sadly, since you broke your arm too, it’s best that you use a wheelchair because it would be hard to use crutches.” I tried to picture myself in a wheelchair, how would I get to my room?
Dr. Lily then told me the specific bones I broke-as if I knew the bones she was talking about-and some other stuff that I didn’t hear because I started to zone out thinking about my wheelchair and my room and school.
“Alright, we’ll give you a few more minutes to talk before you’ll need to leave for a little.” Dr. Lily told Amanda and my parents; it turned out I would have to stay here for a couple more days to recover before I could leave.
Once the nurse and doctor left, I asked, “So, any update on Cammy and Finn?” I looked at Amanda’s slightly shocked face. “Forgot people in comas can still hear?” I asked, slightly smug. “No. Kind of. . . And no since it’s Sunday.” I hummed in response.
Cammy and Finn were this couple that had been together for the entirety of middle school, but apparently there was some gossip about them dating other people which caused some problems for them.
“What about at home?” I asked my parents. “Nothing, really. We kept your room clean for you.” Dad said. “Ooh, free cleaning service, I could get used to this.” Although Dad chuckled, Mom gave a kind of broken smile, I guess it’s too soon for jokes.
“Will I have to do all of my homework?” I asked them all. None of them knew though.
“Honey, we can take you out of school for the rest of the time. We want you to heal.” Mom said, placing her hand lightly on my left foot.
“No. . . .I’ll be fine once I get used to it. Amanda can help me, right?” Amanda nodded vigorously.
I did not want to get behind any more than I already am. I also didn’t want some crazy rumors being spread about me or something.
The nurse came in. “She’s needs to rest if you may leave.” She spoke. Amanda squeezed my hand and looked at me. “Bye.” She whispered, and I smiled at her.
“Bye, honey.” Mom said, and Dad echoed it. They all left, and I heard Mom say she’ll give Amanda a ride home.
I sighed and looked at the ceiling. No one was in the room, and my body ached. I laid my right hand on my stomach, and I winced as it all hurt for a moment, the pain only lessening enough for me to close my eyes and fall into a deep sleep.
•••
The next few days went by in a sort of blur. I woke up, the doctors and nurses checked me, then I ate some food, usually slept a little, was checked again, talked to my family, checked again, sleep, and that was my full day.
It was like someone turned my life into one of those shirts, but mine said, Check, Eat, Sleep, Repeat.
Oh, and Cammy and Finn stayed together.
I was told Dad had built a ramp at home so I could get up and down the stairs, and the doctors let me practice using a wheelchair for a bit. I had worked on a little bit of homework, but most of the time it ended up giving me a headache and I had to stop.
Thankfully though, Amanda was willing to do some of it for me as long as I listened as she explained and answered a couple easy questions. A few kids from school, including Cammy, came by with some cards and a few candies.
They weren’t allowed to stay long though, which I was kind of glad about, because it was awkward for me to let them see me like this. Yes, they were my friends, but surface friends. Or school friends. Amanda was different, she knew everything about me and vice versa. We hung out outside of school and have known each other since the 5th grade.
It was Thursday, around 4:30 pm when I was allowed to go home. I wasn’t going to school the next day, of course. I decided to start Monday so I would have a little time to truly adjust to being broken.
“Mom?” I asked once we were in the car. They helped me into my seat, which was a little easier than expected since the other side of me still worked. “Yes, honey?” Mom looked at me in the mirror. “Can me and Amanda have a sleepover this weekend?”
I had talked about it with Amanda in the hospital when we were by ourselves. Having her there would make it easier for me, like having an emotional support animal. We could watch TV, decorate my casts, draw, talk, maybe a little homework, maybe.
“Are you sure? We want you to have time to be able to get used to everything.” In the end, though, she agreed after much of my reasoning and a little begging. Maybe we could go to the park and get ice cream.
It was silent the rest of the way home. When we pulled up to my house, it seemed like nothing had changed. Like it was all a dream, like I could still move freely, and I was planning a regular sleepover with my regular best friend.
Amanda had seemed jumpy and depressed a lot of the time I saw her in the hospital. She said she was fine when I asked, but we all know any time someone says that they’re lying.
I hoped she wasn’t upset about me getting hurt, I needed someone to be happy, I was sad enough.
After my parents helped me into my wheelchair, and through the door, they went to get some stuff out of the trunk. I didn’t know what but didn’t really care. A sudden rush of anger had overwhelmed me, maybe it was because I was back in my unphased home.
It was nice and clean, not a mess in sight. Everything was the same, everything was in the same place it was before, the only difference was the wooden ramp that went over the stairs.
I decided to try and get up before my parents came back in. Sometimes when I wasn’t sleeping, I did arm exercises for my left arm to build up the needed strength to push my wheelchair with one hand. I watched a lot of videos and did some practice on using my wheelchair and going up and down things like ramps.
I backed up a little, wanting some speed, then quickly pushed on my wheel and leaned forward. I got about halfway up when my arm got tired, and I let myself slowly fall back down. After a few minutes of rest and several tries, I got onto the first platform when my parents came inside.
“I got it, I don’t need help.” I said to them, wanting to be able to do it by myself. They respected my decision and went to the TV. I zoned whatever they were watching out and focused on getting up the ramp.
After a little, I finally managed to get up when my parents were making dinner. I decided I was too tired to practice going down and went to my room. I felt like I just climbed Mt. Everest. How was it just a few days ago that I was running up and down these stairs like it was nothing?
I felt the tears behind my eyes but forced them to stay put, I didn’t want to cry, I did that enough when I was by myself in the hospital.
I pulled into my room and looked around at it.
My room had white walls with a desk, dresser, a bed, a full-body mirror, and a nightstand. There was a table under the window that held several plants. The blankets were purple floral print. On the dresser was a music box, schoolbooks, picture frames, and a vase of purple violets.
I pulled up to my bed, touching the top and wondering how I would get in and sleep. Then I heard a pair of footsteps coming up the ramp. It was so fast, and it took me like a hundred years to get up one ramp. Dad popped into my room.
“Are you okay?” He asked. “Mhmm.” I hummed, turning to face him. I saw one of his hands were behind his back. “What’s that?” I asked, nodding my head to it. I think my head is the only functional part of my body right now.
“A gift.” He walked over to me and sat next to me on my bed. “Oh, you really didn’t have to, I’m fine.” I said, feeling guilty and annoyed at the same time that he spent money on something because I got hurt. “Actually, in the crash, your phone broke…” He handed me a white rectangle box with a red bow on top.
I opened it to see a shiny black screen. I took it out of the box and flipped it over. It was a new Android phone. And it had the same case as my last one did. It was trees and the night sky; it looked like you were laying down on the ground and looking up.
I smiled lightly. “It already has all your games and numbers your last one did, thankfully they could save the memory card and such.” Dad explained. “Thanks.” I said, looking up at him. “You’re welcome, honey. I will let you be by yourself.” He stood up and started towards the door.
“Close the door, please.” I asked. He left and the door clicked. I waited a few moments to make sure no one else was coming in.
I pushed myself toward my mirror. I looked tired; I had bags under my eyes despite all the sleep I got. There were still some cuts on my visible skin that hadn’t healed yet. I lifted my shirt my parents brought me to change into before we left.
I grimaced when I saw the bruises on my ribs, along with a couple more cuts. I had to wear shorts because my jeans wouldn’t go over my cast. I went to my nightstand after checking the time on my new phone. I pulled out some birdseed and went to the window.
It turns out I didn’t have to ask my parents to remember that I needed to feed the crow that came every day at five.
The crow soon arrived when I put the seed down. “Hi, boy.” I said as I looked at him. The crow cawed. I poured some birdseed into my hand, and he pecked at it. I looked on the windowsill and saw a dime. “Thanks.” I said and picked the coin up.
I had put birdseed out one time at exactly 5:00 and a crow had come, then I did it every day afterwards. I learned that male crows are bigger than female, so I assumed he was a male because he seemed big to me. He chirped again when all the birdseed was gone, giving an almost questioning look at my wounds.
“Oh, I got in an accident.” Caw, caw, caw. “I’ll be fine…I think.” I sighed. “I really want to break something. Or just throw something. To let my anger out.” I told the bird. “Yet, I feel like I can’t be mad because I didn’t die, and other people have.” I didn’t know why I was telling a bird this, but at least I didn’t have to worry about him telling someone.
I sighed and looked at the ground. Caw? Caw, caw, caw, caw, cawww. I looked up, puzzled. “Are you telling me something.?” I asked, and for a second, his eyes looked purple. “I’m going insane. Maybe I did get brain damage…”
The crow seemed unbothered by my rambling, and he started to flap his wings. “Bye.” I closed my window as he flew off. I pushed myself to my bed and for a few painful moments I struggled to get into my bed. More anger washed over me like waves crashing harshly against a mountain side.
I stared at my ceiling and wished repeatedly that this never happened.
---(AUTHORS NOTE)---
Hi! Ray here (obviously...)!61Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI7DFc55v7j
I hope that this was good and accurate! I also hope that I'm not boring you, because things should get more interesting in the next couple of chapters!61Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3FSW0ONqE2
(At least they should if I wrote them write, I don't really know...)
That is all, have a wonderful day/night/endless abyss!
---(AUTHORS NOTE)---
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