Ain't No Mountain High Enough

"I Will Survive"

Dinner was intense that night.

Ms. Harlow had talked to Arjun, but I still didn't really know what the deal was. But geez, who would want to bring it up when they risked receiving Arjun's death glare? He ate his spaghetti in complete silence, the bruise on his face larger than it was before.

Ms. Harlow still seemed upset, but less so than before. She never could stay angry for long. I should be taking notes on her anger management abilities, right?

"So," she said halfway through dinner. The silence was becoming unbearable for all of us. "Randall, are you ready for your appointment tomorrow?"

In all the strangeness of Arjun's angry rampage, I had almost forgotten that I was going to see the therapist tomorrow. My stomach twisted, and I suddenly didn't feel like eating anymore. "Kind of," I said. "I...don't really know what to say to her..."

"You can take your time," Ms. Harlow said. "She won't rush you. I've been to a few therapy sessions myself before."

"What were they like?" I asked. I sat back in my wheelchair and pushed my plate back.

"You talk to them," she said, giving me a look. "You open up. And they listen. Like we should have been doing."

"Mom," Arjun grumbled.

I sighed and said, "Please stop blaming yourselves. Nothing that happened was your fault." I started to wheel away from the table. "I'm going to get some rest." I wasn't tired, but I didn't feel like doing anything besides laying around worrying. It's what I did with most of my time, anyway.

They didn't stop me as I got to my room, but I could hear their hushed voices. Arjun's angry tone drifted all the way to my room, but I couldn't make out exactly what he was saying. It made me a little more curious about what had happened to him today, but by now my brain was becoming consumed with the appointment I had the next morning. I had been putting this off and dreading it for months, and even now I wanted to just call and cancel. My stomach was in knots. But really, what did I have to be worried about? It wasn't like she would hurt me if I said something wrong. At least, I hoped she wouldn't.

I didn't actually get to bed until later, when Arjun helped me into bed. I eventually dozed off to sleep, and I'm pretty sure there was a time warp that made it five minutes later when the sun came up. I woke up thinking that it surely couldn't be morning, but sure enough, I only had two hours to prepare for my appointment. Couldn't time give me a break and let me sleep?!

I grabbed my phone from beside me on the bed and found I had a text from Veronica.

Her: Good morning! Good luck with the therapist today :) Keto says good luck, too

My nerves settled a bit as I read the text, and I smiled. They were thinking of me. That gave me some courage. I quickly texted back.

Me: Thank you :)

I shut off my phone after going through my morning rituals of checking the news for new video game information (I mean, is there EVER going to be a new Metal Gear game?). There was nothing good enough to take my mind off of the appointment, which was a bummer. To make myself feel better, I promised myself that one I got home I could play through Phantom Pain...again. Well, the game was my happy place, anyway. Maybe I could even get Ms. Harlow into it? It was always fun to have a fellow fan nearby.

Arjun came for me a bit later with a grim look on his face. Whatever had happened to him, he was still angry about it. He kept the annoyance out of his voice quite well, I thought. "Ready for today?" he asked, his expression never changing.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess." I rubbed my hands over my face. "Which means that I'm not ready."

Arjun pressed his mouth into a thin line. "Well, it's for the best," he murmured.

He helped me into my wheelchair, then I took to getting myself ready. I brushed my hair and made sure it wasn't sticking up all crazy, brushed my teeth, then put on my favorite Metal Gear sweater (Metal Gear was going to be my comfort for the day, I guessed.). Once I was looking pretty good, Ms. Harlow came out of the kitchen with a honey bun still in the package.

"Did you eat something yet?" she said, holding out the honey bun.

My stomach twisted further at the sight of it. I loved honey buns, but I was pretty sure I'd throw up or something if I ate anything. I gave her a smile as I said, "Sorry, but I'm not very hungry."

She frowned and shook her head, then put the honey bun in my hands. "Oh, at least take it, all right?"

How could I argue with her? I shoved it in my small backpack that I hung on the back of my chair, sighing. "To make you happy," I said. "I can't promise anything, though!"

"We're going to head out," Arjun announced as he entered the foyer. "So bye." The cold tone of his voice made me raise my eyebrows.

Ms. Harlow gave him a Look that made him back down. "Drive safely."

"I always do," Arjun said, his tone a lot gentler now. Had whatever happened made him angry with his mother, too?

After we all said our goodbyes and we were in the car, Arjun turned on the radio to a much louder volume than I knew he liked, and he didn't say a word for the whole trip.

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Listen to Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive"!

Peace✌️~ A.J.