Waves

CHAPTER 043

(}--|One Week Later|--{)

NORA

It was about a day and a half that Nora stayed in the hospital. She didn't care, she was just ready to leave. Her throat felt strange as she laid in her bed, thinking for days on end.

What was stranger, was not being able to use her voice. She felt almost trapped when she thought about what she wanted to say and then remembered that she couldn't say it. Mostly, she just texted people, or used a whiteboard, but it was still hard.

Thankfully, her friends were supportive of her. She didn't know how many hours she spent talking to Keitan, Xander, and Adam alone, but it was a lot. Apparently, there had been a big fight at the school between the guys and Olivia. Olivia was mad about all of the attention that Nora was getting, and the boys were upset that she was being such a drama queen.

Finally, though, after a week and a half of being stuck at home and babied by Mouse And Company, she was ready to go back to school. She couldn't go back to cheer practice yet, or rejoin the swim team, but she would at least be able to hang out with her friends more in person and take her classes in person. She didn't want to fall behind in her work, since it was important for her to maintain good grades for her to be able to keep her foreign exchange license.

Everyone knew the reason that Nora hadn't been in school. Mouse had posted several little blurbs and photos of her over the past week on any social media he had, letting people know that she was alright and hopeful to get back to normal things soon. Nora was grateful for that, since she shouldn't have to explain anything to anyone who was wondering.

"Are you ready for school, Nora?"

Nora nodded with a smile as she grabbed her backpack from the ground. Her throat was sore, but she didn't mind it really. She'd gotten used to it over the last week. She was itching to speak out though, and get rid of the heaviness that clung to her chest, the fear that she may never speak again.

She forced back the emotions and nodded at Mouse, waving goodbye as she stepped out the front door. He had offered to drive her to school, but she insisted on walking. She wanted to get a good breath of fresh air without her foreign exchange host hovering behind her, ready to wrap her in bubble wrap the moment she sneezed a little too violently for her safety.

That was why she was going to go to school so early. She was supposed to stay home another week and continue to do her work there, but she was so ready to be free from Mouse's worry that she couldn't physically wait another day.

"Bye!" She heard Mouse's faint call after her as the door shut, but she couldn't exactly respond, and since she'd already waved, she decided to not go back in. He'd just find an excuse to keep her there and make her stay at home again.

Nora's phone buzzed twice. She checked it and found a text from Talia and a text from Xander. Both were asking her how she was doing and if she was actually going to go to public school that day. Nora replied that she was well and yes, she was going to public school.

She felt excitement course through her veins. Already having been out of school for two and a half weeks was hard, but coming back was really going to be fun. She missed her friends.

The route to school seemed to take forever as Nora walked it. She knew, in reality, she'd actually gone a little faster than she usually did, but being away from her friends for so long had meant that every extra minute she spent walking to them felt like an hour.

But finally, she found herself standing in front of the brick building that she called her school. Much to her amusement, Xander, Keitan, and Adam were all standing by the door waiting.

When she'd had her surgery, all three of them had come by at least once separately, and had come twice together. It wasn't like she hadn't seen them. But lying in a hospital bed silently was different than at least going to class together.

"HEY NORA!" Adam yelled as she broke into a slight trot, grinning at them all, "YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE WHAT HAS HAPPENED THESE PAST TWO WEEKS!!"