Against All Odds

Chapter 6

The days following my outburst consisted of pure nothingness, just me rotting in this extremely uncomfortable hospital bed.

But when Dr. Harris and another woman made their way into my room at 9 am, I knew I was in for it.

"Good morning Cameron." She smiled, her honey-blond hair slicked back into a ponytail as she made her way to the foot of my bed.

"Morning." I shifted my gaze over to the short woman beside her. Her short brown hair reached just below her chin as she tucked the stray pieces behind her ears.

"This is Morgan. She's a physical therapist here at Everhurst and she'll be helping us out today." Morgan sent me a small wave as I forced a small smile.

"With what exactly?"

Morgan spoke up this time, "We're going to get you sitting up by yourself, and depending on how much pain you're in, we'll also try and get you into a wheelchair today."

"Depending on how much pain I'm in?" I frowned.

"We've slowly been weaning you off the pain medication you were getting from the surgery so your back might hurt a bit when we get you up. But if the pain is excruciating let me know." Dr. Harris said and I nodded.

"Okay." Morgan made her way over to my side.

"Alright, I'm going to move you over to your side." She turned me over to my right side.

"Take a deep breath and on three I'm going to get you sitting upright, okay?" I nodded.

"One."

"Two..."

"Three." She lifted me up and almost instantly a hot flash of pain shot down my back, causing me to cry out.

"You okay Cameron?" Dr. Harris asked and I bit my lip, giving her a slow nod as Morgan bent down, adjusting my legs for me so that they dangled off the edge of the bed.

"Yeah, it's just my back," I responded just as Mom came in, her face instantly lit up when she saw me sitting up.

"Do you need a break?" I shook my head as Dad followed in behind her, looking equally as surprised as they stood against the wall.

"No, I'm okay." Morgan placed a hand on my abdomen, over the itchy fabric of my hospital gown.

"I'm going to let go and I want you to use your core to keep yourself up, you're doing great Cameron." I felt her hand slowly leave my back as I squeezed my core the hardest I possibly could.

"Look at you!" A huge smile spread across my face as I successfully stayed sitting up, despite having zero feeling from the belly button down.

My gaze quickly shifted to the wheelchair parked in the corner of the room.

"Can I?" Morgan followed my line of vision, glancing at the chair before giving me a nod.
"If you're feeling up to it."

I nodded. "Yeah, I am."

She retrieved the wheelchair as I glanced down at my legs. There's a tube that runs from up my gown down to where it meets up with a clear bag halfway full of yellow liquid.

My cheeks grew hot as I realized exactly what was in that bag, tearing my gaze away from it as she wheeled the wheelchair over to me, pulling it right up beside me.

"Alright, let's get you into this thing." She grabbed me by the waist, lifting me up and over to the chair.

She bent down, adjusting my legs for me as I rested my hands on the wheels.

"You can give it a go if you'd like. Hospital wheelchairs are much bulkier than day-to-day ones, so if it's hard to push right now don't worry, this isn't the chair you'll be taking home with you." I nodded before beginning to slowly push myself over to my parents.

I felt so much smaller in this chair. Even my mom at just 5'2 now towered over me, just like I was a little kid again.

She bent down, planting a kiss on my forehead.

"Glad to finally be out of bed?" Dad asked, looking down at me as I nodded.

"You have no idea." I smiled before spinning the chair to face Morgan.

"Thank you for all the help." She nodded.

"Of course, I'm excited to work with you." She smiled before turning to introduce herself to my parents.

I tuned out their conversation as I wheeled my way over to the small window tucked away from all the machines and medical equipment.

Looking out the window, I peered down at the people weaving their way through all of the local shops and businesses.

It's about mid-April so tourists are finally starting to flood in more consistently. Once Summer hits it'll be fucking insane, just like it is every year.

I wish I was back home in the comfort of my room. My own house. Not in some desolate hospital currently home to about a dozen old people.

I wish I could call Rowan. She always seemed to know exactly what to say to me in every situation.

I wonder what she'd say to me now.

She'd probably tell me to get my shit together in the nicest way possible, true Rowan fashion.
Of course, she'd be right.

I knew the moment we got into the accident that things needed to change.

I needed to change.

And I am trying now, it just sucks that for the first time in years, I won't have her by my side helping me through it.