"Good morning Brookeee!" Whippet sings as I begin to wake. He seems unfazed as I pull my shoulder and knee back into place. "Okay, plan of action today is that we're going to see Chap in about two hours and then you can come home and sleep."
"Sounds good." I force a smile as my knee moves out again.
"What can you do about that?" Whip asks cautiously before grinning, "Is it time to saw it off!?" I laugh, "Seriously though what do you need?"
"Brace should be in cupboard. Just bring the basket." He nods and goes to the cupboard as I try to pull myself up. He comes back with the basket, looking confused.
"There's a lot of stuff.." I nod, "You want some help?"
"Yeah.. Sorry."
"There's no need to apologise. So what's next?" He helps me to pull myself up further.
"Can you put the brace on? Sorry.."
"Yeah of course I can. Right knee?" I nod. "Don't you think I'm better than Chap?" He grins as I hand him the right brace. I sit back as he carefully straps my knee. "Is that okay?"
"Yeah, that's great. Thank you. When are we seeing Chap?"
"Soon. Are you okay to walk though?"
"Of course. Seriously, stop worrying. I want my hyper Whip back." He grins.
"That we can do! Although I am gonna feed you first." He laughs as he goes to get food. I drag myself out of bed, pulling on a new t shirt with difficulty. This is why it's a good idea to sleep in leggings, so it looks like you got changed but doesn't waste energy. I stumble through to the living room as Whip watches with concern.
"Are you sure you're okay? You look pretty dead."
"Thanks for the confidence boost." He smiles slightly but still looks serious. "As I keep telling you, this is my normal. I'm not going to stay inside wrapped up in bed for the whole of my life. Not now, not ever. And especially not when Chap isn't even here with me. There is no way I am leaving him alone in that dreadful place just because everyone thinks I'm breakable. I will survive whatever this life throws at me and I will fight it because otherwise I would be gone and I know you probably don't want that. Let me decide what I can do, I've spent long enough fighting for myself. I don't need carers, I need friends and supportive people who understand my limits but push me within them. If you guys keep telling me I shouldn't be doing things, I have to go because I need to keep fighting it. If I don't keep fighting I will fall and I don't want all the work I've put in to getting this far to be for nothing." Whip immediately steps forwards and hugs me as I practically fall into him. He walks me to the chair before speaking.
"As much as I like to see you doing such an emblazoned speech, it's quite clearly exhausting for you. I understand. We all understand. We just care about you and it's a new thing for us, we'll get better at helping or whatever. In the meantime, you can eat and then we can go to see Chap. See what he says about how we've been looking after you." I nod slowly as he pushes a plate towards me. I eat quickly, wanting to see Chap as soon as possible. I take a few of the 'as needed' meds with my daily ones, just in case my knee gives me any more trouble. I don't want them to know I'm in pain. "Okay, do you want to go sit in the car so you can sleep for a bit before we get there? I'll be out in a few minutes, I'll just wash these up and stuff." I nod and step outside. I don't have a 'car-sized' drive apparently so Whip parked on the road. I think he just prefers to show it off by leaving it there.
As I walk down the path I see a group of people arguing. I walk around them and move towards the car but before I know it, I'm on the floor pain shooting through my leg. I don't know what happened but everyone seems to have disappeared. I check all the joints, but everything seems to be in place as I drag myself back to my feet, using a tree for support. Climbing into the car, I make a conscious decision not to tell Whip what happened, he doesn't need to worry anymore. He comes out soon after. "So, I just called the Hospital. They're expecting us and apparently they have a surprise for you."
"Is that good then?" I ask, fighting against the stabbing pains in my legs as I feel tears spring to my eyes. I turn away from him carefully.
"I think it must be good. Surprises are always good right?" He tries to be diplomatic but he can't hide the grin that spreads across his face. Does this mean that Chap is getting better? I lay back, trying to ignore the pain which seems different to any pain I usually have.
"Are you okay?" Whip asks cautiously.
"Yeah, just looking forward to seeing him. Disney?" He laughs and plays the CD for me. The songs, and Whip's singing, manage to make me fall asleep.
