Finally Home

9. Samantha

"Hey there, sweet girl," a voice said as I started waking up. It didn't sound like Dad. Definitely not Mom or Josh. I opened my eyes.

"Uncle Brendon?" I asked. He couldn't already be here!

"Hey beautiful," he smiled at me.

"Hey, Sam," Aunt Sarah said from my other side.

"What are you doing here? Did I sleep the whole week?"

They laughed.

"No, sweetheart," Uncle Brendon said. "Your dad said maybe you'd feel a bit less upset if we could come cheer you up earlier than your party on Saturday."

I looked across the room at Dad sitting near the foot of my bed, smiling. Mom was smiling too. Rosie was in her lap, fussing a little.

"Thanks, Dad," I said.

"My pleasure, my sweet girl," he said to me. "I can't make your ankle heal faster but I thought I could make part of the healing process a bit less depressing."

I smiled at that.

"How're you feeling?" Aunt Sarah asked.

I shrugged.

"A little tired still. And kind of like my ankle exploded," I said.

"Do you need more pain stuff?" Dad asked. I shook my head.

"Not right now, I don't think," I said.

A nurse came in and checked my blood sugar and said I could eat something if I was hungry. Which I was. She went and got me a dinner tray and some insulin because my pump had been unhooked.

Uncle Brendon sat on my bed while I ate, chatting with me and joking. It was nice. Rosie climbed up onto my bed too while I was eating.

"SaSa yummy?" She asked, looking at me.

"Want to try some?" I asked her, showing her the possible meatloaf I was eating because I was hungry. It really didn't taste great.

"Okay SaSa!" Rosie said. I gave her a small forkful and she made a face while chewing it. She swallowed and looked at me.

"No good SaSa," she said. Everyone laughed.

"I'll go grab something that tastes better," Uncle Josh said. "Place your orders."

He was going to go to Starbucks so I asked for a sugar free vanilla latte.

A little while later he was back with everyone's coffee and I had finished what I could of my dinner. Having everyone around definitely helped me feel better. I took a chance and looked down at my ankle. It was wrapped in a blue cast.

"I thought you'd like blue," Dad said. I smiled. He knows blue is my favourite colour.

After a while the nurse came in with a shot to help me sleep again and kicked everyone out. Uncle Brendon offered to stay the night but Dad pulled the parental card and stayed. Uncle B and Aunt Sarah promised they'd be back in the morning and went home with Mom and Rosie.

"Sleep well sweetheart," Mom said, kissing me on the head.

"Night, Mom," I said.

Everyone said their goodbyes and then Dad climbed into my bed and turned on the TV.

"Let's find a movie, or maybe there's a game on, and we can watch until you fall asleep."

"Okay," I said, putting my head on his shoulder.

He found an NBA game on and we watched for a while. I lost track of the game as the sleep meds kicked in.  I think I fell asleep on Dad.

In the morning a nurse came in and helped me get out of bed to use the washroom. Dad helped as far as the bathroom then let the nurse help. He handed her sweatpants and a T-shirt so I could get out of the hospital gown.

"The doctor will be in today to check on you and he should be able to give you an idea of when you can go home," she said, helping me back into the wheelchair she'd used to get me to the bathroom.

"Okay," I said.

"PT will also be by with crutches to get you moving about on your own," she smiled at me.

"Cool," I said.

Dad and the nurse helped me back onto my bed. Breakfast came and while I was eating, Mom, Uncle Brendon, Aunt Sarah and Rosie came in.

"It wasn't a dream. You're really here?" I asked Uncle B.

"We really are, cutie pie," he smiled at me and ruffled my hair. "You changed."

"Yeah. The nurse got me up and into the bathroom. She helped me change," I said.

"That's gotta feel better," he said.

"A shower would have felt better, but this is a definite improvement," I smiled, poking at my breakfast.

"Eat SaSa!" Rosie said. "You need be better."

"This is not going to make me better," I said, picking up a glop of oatmeal with my spoon.

"That looks pretty gross," Dad said.

"Eat the eggs," Mom said. "And I'll go get you a sandwich from McDonald's, okay?"

"Okay, thanks, Mom," I smiled at her. She kissed me on the head and put Rosie beside me.

"You foot is blue!" Rosie said, pointing at my cast.

"Yup," I said.

"Is pretty," she said. I laughed. Not how I would have thought to describe it.

The doctor came in while we were all chatting and went over a few things.

"The surgery went well, Samantha. I'm confident you'll be playing basketball by the summer. PT is going to come by and train you on crutches and if that goes well, unless you can think of any reason to stay, you can probably go home this afternoon," he smiled.

I smiled back. I may not be thrilled that I can't play basketball, but I'd much rather be home!

The PT person came by around eleven and showed me how to use the crutches he thought would be best. Since I'd be on them for a while, he brought the kind that go around your arm rather than the underarm kind.

I walked up and down the hallway a couple of times before I got tired. He said things looked good and that I could go rest while the care team put in my recommendation to go home.

I napped while we waited.