Assistance Required

Free the Leg

Sat Dec 12

Virgil stretched his leg in the car. It felt really weird but gosh he missed being able to bend his foot. He heard Janus laughing beside him.

"You can see your toes again," Janus said.

"I've always been able to see my toes, Janus. It was the rest of my leg that was missing."

"You know what I mean."

Once they got back to the dorms Virgil awkwardly walked his way to the bathroom to shower. He could finally clean his leg properly. He didn't need cling wrap anymore! It felt so good just being able to let warm water run down his leg. He had to be careful to dab it dry before getting dressed. The doctor said the skin would be a little sensitive there.

Once he was dressed, he met the others in the student center. They clapped at his arrival making him blush.

"You have a leg again!" Remus said.

"Yeah, I guess so," he said.

"Now I can hug you without worrying about knocking you over!" Patton said as he pulled Virgil into a hug.

"Ah! Yeah! Okay! Thanks, Pat, but um... could you let go please?"

"Oh, sorry!" Patton said as he pulled out of the hug.

"Should we get going?" Logan asked.

"Yeah! Where are we going?" Thomas asked.

"Oh, I'll show you where it is," Virgil said.

"Okay, but how many cars are we taking?" Roman asked.

"I think we can fit in two cars," Logan said. "I'll drive one, who wants to drive the other?"

"I will," Janus said.

"Great, who's riding with who?" Thomas asked.

Remus raised hand. "I want to ride with Janus!"

Janus rolled his eyes. "Of course you do."

"I assume Patton's riding with Logan," Joan said. "I'll ride with them."

"I don't mind either way," Patton said with a shrug.

"I guess I'll go with Janus," Virgil said.

"Then Thomas is with Logan," Roman said.

"Sounds good," Thomas said.

They all walked to the parking lot. Virgil gave Janus directions to the little restaurant and Logan followed them. They remet in the parking lot and walked in together. The hostess jumped a little at the sight of them.

"Hello!" she said with a large smile.

"Eight," Logan said.

"Okay," she looked over a paper or something before beckoning them forward, "just follow me."

She sat them down and a waitress came to get their drinks.

"There are a lot of people here," Thomas said as he looked around.

"Yeah, this place is kind of well-known around here. Everyone went here in high school and I always wanted to go, but never got the chance. They say the food here is amazing!" Virgil said as he looked over the menu.

"What high school did you go to?" Patton asked.

"Oh yeah, you weren't here when he showed us," Roman said.

"He showed you?"

Roman nodded.

"Yeah, over fall break. We were bored, so we went around town and Virgil showed us some of his favorite places growing up."

"Well, more like the places I ran to when I was trying to avoid going home," Virgil muttered. "Anyway, there's pretty much only one public high school in the area. I went to that one."

"Oh, I'm sorry I missed it," Patton said.

Virgil shrugged.

"There wasn't much to miss. Honestly we just drove around town and grabbed some food. The most interesting place was the park we're going to after this."

"I hope the dogs are there again!" Thomas said.

"There were dogs?!" Patton asked excitedly.

Thomas nodded.

"Yeah! Some of them were so cute! I wanted so badly to go pet them but I didn't want to ask."

Patton bounced in his seat.

"I love dogs! Oh, I hope we get to see some!"

Logan placed a hand on Patton's head.

"Calm down, Patton. We still have to eat first."

Patton deflated.

"Right."

The waitress came back and they all ordered their food and waited.

"Have you tried any art on the laptop yet, Virgil?" Logan asked.

"Oh, I've mostly been playing around with the options. I haven't really thought about anything to draw yet."

"You can draw on the laptop?!" Roman asked. "That's so cool!"

"Well, I can but like I just said I haven't really done anything yet. Maybe I'll come up with an idea over break?"

"Will you send it to me when you do? I'd love to see it!" Roman said.

"Me too!" Patton said.

"I could also show you when we see each other," Virgil said.

"But that's a whole month away!"

"It's only a few weeks. We'll see each other for the ski trip and then we'll be back in school," Logan said.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot about the ski trip!" Patton said.

"How could you forget about it? I can't wait for it! We can hang out together without the stress of school!" Roman said.

"I guess with finals I kind of forgot everything else," Patton said sheepishly.

"That's understandable," Logan muttered.

"Don't get me wrong, I love Remus and everything, but spending a week alone on a mountain with him and Dad can be a little too much. I'll be glad to have you guys with us," Roman said.

"Did I hear my name?" Remus said.

"We're just talking about you," Roman said.

"Should I be worried?"

"No," Patton said.

Their food arrived and everyone stopped talking to eat. It was just as good as everyone claimed. Virgil was almost sad to finish his burger. After lunch, they all paid and went to the park. Logan made a detour to pick up the cupcakes. Patton laid out a blanket he had brought and the group sang to Virgil. He hated it. He hid his face in his hands and Roman wrapped an arm around him laughing.

"Here, eat your cupcake," Roman said handing him a little cake.

Virgil grabbed it and took a bite. Everyone sat around eating the cupcakes for a bit before cleaning up. Patton took the blanket back to the car before joining the others in walking the trails. They decided to take it slow since Virgil was still getting used to walking again. It felt really awkward moving around on it but he tried not to dwell on it too much. Instead he focused on laughing with his friends. He was really going to miss them over break, but he'd see them again shortly. For once, he couldn't wait for school to start again so he could be with them again.