Being with Michael: Part 1 (Book Two)

Chapter Sixty Two

"Can you get me a cane or crutches or something?" Paige asks Janet.

Janet hesitates and Paige rolls her eyes, "Oh, come on. I'm not going to hurt myself. I just want to try to stand on my own."

"Uhm," Janet says. "Okay, I'll go ask."

Janet leaves the room and Paige stays sitting on the side of the bed. She's in a pair of black pants and top, but the top is a little uncomfortable, so she just takes it off and leaves the tank underneath on.

After a couple minutes, she hears the door open and looks over to see both Janet and Michael coming in. Janet's holding a pair of crutches.

Michael speaks first. "I don't think you should be straining your leg. You should probably just wait and work with Scott."

"Who's Scott?" Paige asks.

Michael's eye shift as he remembers it's more than just her leg they're dealing with now. "Uhm, we can talk about that later."

"Okay," Paige outstretches her hand for the crutches and Janet hands them over while giving a side glance to Michael.

Michael turns and leaves the room. He's not staying to watch.

Paige sees him leave and a familiar feeling pushes up inside her and she tries to suppress it. She fumbles with the crutches, but she can't concentrate.

Janet steps forward to help, but Paige stops her. "No! I don't need your help."

It comes out cold and sharp, and Janet knows it's better to leave her alone so she can shuffle through anything going on inside her. She steps back and turns to go out the room.

As the door closes, Paige drops the crutches and curls back up against the bed. She has to keep convincing herself that her parents are dead and she doesn't have anyone or anything to be worried or nervous about.

It's just the way Michael acted and how quickly he left that made her instincts react. She can tell she did something wrong, even though she doesn't know what that is.

Although it was never her fault, she always tried to change her behavior and actions to try to please her parents so things could change. It's always been instinct to perfect things so the ones she's closest to won't be upset or angry.

She clearly upset Michael somehow.

Now she's got to fix it if they're going to be spending a lot of time together, which she assumes is going to happen since they're living together.

She decides to wait it out and let the nurse come in and let her know she can leave.

She sits on the bed and waits, every minute digging a deeper pit of emotions as no one comes in to check on her. She doesn't know anybody out there except Jonas, but she somehow expects them to care about her. Nobody comes in, though, not even Jonas.

She falls asleep and she's woken up with a nudge a couple hours later. It's a nurse telling her she's being released. Paige looks down and sees she has a wheelchair with her.

The nurse helps her in and Paige flashes her a slight smile of gratification. She's wheeled out of the room and finds that there's no one in the hall.

The nurse takes her to the waiting room where they find everyone. Michael is talking on the phone.

Too soft for Paige to hear, Michael says into the phone, "Make sure those plans are made. Things are changing."

Then he stands up and the nurse tells him Paige is being released. Michael looks at Paige and she gives him a look that reflects a shrug.

The nurse turns her around, and as she starts rolling her down the hall with the others following, she asks, "Are we going to the back or front entrance?"

"Back," Paige answers for Michael. To be honest, she doesn't care what he thinks; she just doesn't want to be in a wheelchair in front of a crowd of people. Everything is still new for her.

Once they get settled into the middle of the three waiting SUVs, the driver shifts into gear and says, "Hello, Mr. Jackson. And... Mrs. Jackson."

Paige looks over at him as she remembers her new name, but she doesn't like being called Mrs. Jackson. She doesn't know the driver, but Michael looks comfortable, so apparently he does.

"Hello, Bill," Michael says.

So he does know him, she thinks.

Bill. She takes note of the name because she knows she's going to be meeting a lot of new people. She needs to make sure she keeps track of them.

They drive for a couple hours in silence. Paige rests her head against the window and looks out at the passing landscape.

She sees them pass a couple houses spaced apart and then they slow down as they approach a mailbox on her side.

The car turns into a driveway with a simple black metal gate. Bill punches a code in to open the gate.

Paige looks around confused. "Is this the place on TV?" She asks. "Didn't the gate say Neverland or something like that?"

"We're not going there," Michael says.

"Why not? Is this another house you have or something?"

Michael says, "We're living here from now on."

Paige is about to ask another question when Bill flashes her a cautionary glance. She stays quiet.

They drive onto the estate in front of a big, white brick house. The land is quite big also, at least ten acres.

The driveway forms a circle in front of the house and the cars pull up to a stop by the door.

Bill gets out of the car and walks over to Paige's side. She takes a quick look at the house as she prepares for how the rest of her life is going to be.

Bill opens the door, with the wheelchair in his hands, and offers Paige his hand to help her down. She hesitates, but then takes his hand.