The Boy From The Basement

Epilogue: Birthday

I laid in my hospital bed and watched the clock tick over each second. It was 11:59pm, only 27 seconds away from midnight. I continued to stare at the clock as each second passed. Now there was only 10 seconds left.
10, 9 ,8...
I pulled the blanket off of myself and leaned towards the edge of my bed.
7, 6, 5
I climbed out of bed and pulled myself into my wheelchair.
4, 3, 2, 1.
I fixed up my wheel chair and wheeled myself to the door of my hospital room. I slowly opened the door and cautiously peaked my head out. I looked both ways to see if any doctor's were here. The coast was clear. I rode down past a few rooms before stopping in front of Trent's. I leaned forward and slowly opened his door. It creaked open and I slowly wheeled myself inside. I shut the door behind me and looked to Trent's bed. He was sleeping soundly on his bed until the sound of the door shutting awoke him. I smiled and raced over to his bed. I put my hands onto the edge of his bed and placed my feet on the ground. I lifted myself onto his bed and fell onto his chest with laughter. He laughed back and hugged me tightly.
"Happy Birthday!" I shouted quietly.
He happily kissed the top of my head and laughed into my short hair. My hair had to be cut again so that the doctor's could fix the wound on my head, but it had grown back slowly after the past 2 months. My hair was styled into a short pixie cut, however it was currently messy because I just woke up.
"Thank you," Trent chirped.
"So how does it feel to be 17?" I asked him jokingly.
He shrugged and looked down at me.
"It feels great, especially since you're here," he responded with a charming tone.
I giggled to his words as he bent his head down to kiss my cheek. He then stopped and took his lips off my cheek and put them onto my lips instead. He kissed me with passion and happiness before taking his lips away with a sigh.
"Just to let you know I have the whole day planned out perfectly," I informed Trent.
"Really?" Trent asked with sarcasm.
I laughed and put my head onto his chest. I yawned and hugged him gently. He rested his head on top of mine and stroked my cheek as I fell back asleep.
The pain medication I was taking to stop the pain in my back made me tired quite often. I would sleep up to 3 times a day, sometimes I only slept once throughout the day. Today, however, I was not going to let a few little naps interfere with what I had planned for Trent's birthday. I was going to surprise Trent with his favourite breakfast, bacon and eggs. Then, unfortunately, I had a catch up appointment with Kate at 10:30. Today marked 8 weeks since my spinal cord surgery. The surgery went perfectly according to Doctor Callingston. I spent 2 and a half weeks resting and at 3 weeks I was able to move my legs. After that, I had weekly catch ups with Kate to try and walk. We would walk along a long hall in the hospital. The hall is made up of glass and at night, we could see the stars lighting up the dark sky. Kate is very nice and fun to talk to. She is married with 2 kids, Jayde and Lucinda. Jayde is in year 6 and has such pretty, long blonde hair and eyes as green as the colour jade. Lucinda is in year 4 and is very tall for her age, Kate told me. Kate is married to a man named Phil. Phil is a very big and muscular man with a bushy moustache. I have never walked to the end of the hall before. I have gotten just over half way and today the goal is to get to the end. After my catch up with Kate, I'm taking Trent to his favourite hospital cafe, Greens Cafe, for lunch. After that, Trent has an appointment with his hospital teacher Kristen River. Trent had been informing me on his progress with Kristen. He had learnt so much from her and he was so excited by the things he was learning, even though it was basic things like learning to read, learning addition and basic math, learning how to write and how to spell. Then I had a huge surprise planned for Trent at dinner time.

I obviously haven't been back to school in weeks. Even if I wanted to go back, I couldn't. Obviously, I have to stay in hospital until the doctor's say that I'm okay. Also, my school principal Mr Woodland, has expelled me from school. Although I had done nothing wrong, he believed my 'participation' in the school shooting was considered a crime and he refused to have me at his school. Kids had also been spreading rumours about me, saying they saw me kill Bethany and Mr Curt, as well as some other people. Obviously none of that was true, yet I was still expelled.
I also had weekly appointments and questionings with a therapist and an investigator. My therapists name was Lucy Widow and she was really nice. She was extremely acceptive and supportive of me and what I had been through. I was so wrong about therapists, they really do care. The investigator came from a police force department. She asked me questions about my experience. She mainly wanted to know about the school shooting, as police believed I had committed a crime. They started to lay off on me, as Trent and I both confessed we were forced into 'participating'. My parents had also been fighting the case and were having to face the officers in court. Luckily, I have my parents, doctor's and many witnesses all behind my back to give evidence, so I know I won't be going to jail. The doctor's were willing to testify that Mike was already suffering prior illness due to age and drugs. They also were willing to testify that my attack on him was a form of self defence. Doctor Callingston was my main supporter, he cared for me so much after he found out the whole story. My parents ended up finding out what had happened to me after 2 weeks. They were also aware that I had pledged my love to Trent. It took them a while to accept this, as they believe that Trent wasn't exactly 'boyfriend material', given he had spent his whole life in a filthy basement. My story had become famous across the news. Trent's case had been closed once he was found after being missing for 17 years.