I'm a Walking Travesty (Adopted by Tony Perry)

Chapter 2

"Reggie, can you help me figure out the crutches? I haven't used them before." He nods. Kyra helps keep me stable while Reggie fixes their size. "Alright, do those feel alright?" He hands them to me. I nod. "Can you try walking on them? You might have it correct anyways."

I walk a little shakily and Reggie nods. "That's accurate." "Okay. Let's go practice now!" I lead them back to the garage. We go in. "Rachel, you should go to the doctor's." I groan. "Fine." Everyone leaves my house. I text my mom. "Mom, I'm going out but my phone's about to die. I'll be home later."

I power off my phone. I drive to the hospital with Kyra following behind me. She comes in to the ER with me. I sign in. They bring me back and I bring Kyra with me. The doctor looks at my knee and does a few tests before bringing me back for a MRI. She leads me back to the room again.

"Looking at the MRI, you have a torn ACL, MCL, and PCL. Your meniscus is also damaged. You'll need surgery to repair all of them. I can do it tomorrow morning but you will need your parents to approve it. If you have it tomorrow morning, you can stay here tonight. You're severely dehydrated so that will make the surgery easier in the morning if we have you properly hydrated." I nod. "I can call my mom now."

The doctor leaves and I call my mom. "Mom, I went to the ER because I screwed up my knee again and they suggested surgery. Can you come approve it?" "Yeah sure. I'll be there in about 25 minutes." The doctor comes back in. "Is she approving it?" I nod. "I'm going to start an IV now then."

I must visibly tense because Kyra holds my hand. "Do you have a fear of needles?" "Not a fear. They just make me really uncomfortable." She nods still holding my hand. The doctor comes back once more and I see the needle. My heart rate increases sharply and I begin shaking.

"Rachel, calm down. Breathe." She gives me a light kiss on my forehead and it completely distracts me. "Keep your eyes closed." She hugs me a little. I feel the alcohol wipe. It is followed by the sharp poke of the IV. "Your vein collapsed. I'm going to try and start one in your hand instead."

She leaves to get another IV needle and I hide next to Kyra. I keep my eyes closed. I hear the doctor come back in and I feel the alcohol wipe on my hand this time. I feel the sharp prick of the IV and she doesn't take it out again this time. "Alright, it's in." I open my eyes again and then she tapes it to my hand.

She attaches a fluid bag to my IV. "I'm going to leave. I'll have your mom sent to my office when she arrives. I'll let her back here if she wants to come back here but unless you specifically want her to come in, she doesn't have to." I shrug. "It doesn't matter that much to me."

She nods and leaves. "Are you okay?" I look at her. "I feel like shit but physically I feel fine. Please make sure Reggie knows it's not his fault though. I don't want him to be the subject of the next Puyallup PD Twitter post." "I will. I'll video call him later." "I'll let you go. Your mom is probably wondering where you are. I'm sending you all the waivers tonight and I'll turn mine in as well tonight."

She nods. "Can we take a picture together first?" I nod. A nurse comes in and checks my vitals. "Can you take a quick picture of us?" She nods and I hand her my phone. She takes the picture and I send it to Kyra. "Bye." She leaves. I post the picture on Instagram. "Today didn't go exactly as planned. Fueled By Ramen wants to sign our band and we're going on tour with All Time Low later this year. As a result of screwing around, I ended up damaging my knee and I need surgery tomorrow morning. I'll probably be off social media for the most part tomorrow and possibly longer. I love you all!"

I text Reggie. "I'm fine. It's not your fault at all. I'm going to be on crutches for a little bit but it was going to happen eventually, okay? Please don't blame yourself." "Are you sure?" "I'm sure. Please don't hurt yourself." "It's a little too late for that." I call him. "Please show me." He shows his arm in the camera. There is a row of red lines, thankfully, none of them are too deep.

"Please clean them. I don't want them to get infected while I can't help you." "Speaking of, where are you?" "Doctor's. It's mostly against my will but I guess if it's going to prevent my knee from being bad again it will be worth it." "What are they doing for treatment?" "Surgery tomorrow morning. It sucks but I've probably needed it for a long time."

"I'm-" "Don't finish that." He nods. "Kyra's calling me. I'll talk to you tomorrow." "Okay, bye." Alex texts me. "Any updates on your knee?" "I went to the ER. Torn ACL, MCL, PCL, and a damaged meniscus. I have surgery tomorrow morning and was admitted to the hospital overnight tonight because I'm extremely dehydrated."

The doctor comes back in. "Your mom went home. I want to talk to you about something. Your health records in March show you to be 155 pounds and now you are 85. That's 70 pounds in three months. I am extremely concerned about it. When was the last time you ate and what was it?" "Half an apple about a month ago." She looks completely shocked.

"Your mom told us we can do any treatment we think fitting while you are here. She told me that when you have the medical clearance to leave to call her. After surgery tomorrow, you will have a certain amount you have to eat. If you don't eat that much or you throw it up, we will need to give you a nasogastric tube. Do you know what it is?" I nod.

"It is extremely uncomfortable to put in and still kind of uncomfortable when it is in." I nod once again getting nervous. "We're keeping you in here until you can eat normal amounts on your own and you have a BMI that's safe." "Can you at least let me go by the time September comes for sure? I'll be on tour with my band." She nods and leaves my room.