Broken

Chapter 5: Going Home

Chapter 5: Going Home

Chloe's POV

Finally after six week in the hospital I'm going to get to go home. I still won't be able to walk seeing as my leg is still broken but my ankle and arm are both healed enough that they aren't scared of me getting injured by being moved around a lot. Soon Doctor Smith will be in here to cut off my arm cast and change my boot out for a fancy brace so I can put pressure on it without the chance of hurting it again.

The door opened and in came my dad. "No twins?" I asked.

"Just me today. I left the girls at your grandma's so I could easily get you home and situated."

"Dad I don't need that much help, you could have brought them with us."

The door opened again and in came Doctor Smith with a nurse and a tray full of tools and a portable x-ray machine. "How're you feeling today Chloe?"

"I'm pretty excited. I'm getting my cast and boot off and I get to sleep in my own bed today, if I can get up the stairs with this cast."

"Well first we have to do another x-ray to be sure that it's safe to take the cast and boot off. Then after we look at the x-rays if your bones are healed we'll cut the cast off your arm and replace your boot with a temporary brace. Now let's take some x-rays."

They took multiple x-rays of my arm and ankle and even a few of my leg to monitor how well it's healing with that heavy sheet thing covering the rest of my body. After they took the x-rays they had them printed out or whatever they do to them and hung them on the light board to show us how my bones healed.

"As you can see here your arm is healed but you can't lift anything over 20 pounds because your arm will be weak. Your ankle is also healed but will be weak so you'll need to wear this brace until you regain your strength. You're also going to have to start physical therapy soon so you can regain your strength and mobility." Doctor Smith then switched the x-ray pictures to those of my leg. "And here is the most serious injury you sustained. We have some of the original x-rays and some of your most recent x-rays your leg is clearly healing but not at the rate we would like you're looking at about six more months in the cast at this rate. Is is likely that your healing rate will speed up but if it doesn't you're in for a long time in this cast"

"How can my healing rate be so slow in my leg but so fast in my arm and ankle. That can't be possible can it? It should be the same shouldn't it? I can't go six months in this cast. I need to heal so I can start dancing again, I need to dance again."

"I realise how important dance is to you but you have to understand that you have a lot of work to do before it's safe for you to dance again. First all of your bones need to heal and then you'll have to do physical therapy to strengthen your muscles again as you will be going quite a long time without even walking much less dancing. After all of that you'll have to take it slow you won't be at the same level that you were at before the accident. You'll be out for probably a year and if you try to jump back in before you're given the okay you risk seriously hurting yourself to the point where you'll never be able to dance again for the rest of your life." Dr. Smith explained to me.

"No! That can't happen. I have to dance!"

"Chloe, I'm sorry that's just how it has to happen. If I could change it for you I would. If I could I would fix every patient that comes through here but I can't do that. Now let's get this cast off and if you'd like we can replace the cast on your leg and clean your leg up seeing as after over a month without washing it, it can get pretty gross."

Dr. Smith slowly cut off my arm cast and then the nurse cleaned all the slime and dead skin from my arm. He then sent the nurse to get the materials for recasting my leg and when she came back he started to cut off my leg cast careful not to move my leg around too much. Once he had the cast cut off the nurse whose name I learned to be Mary along with a second nurse who'd come into the room carefully cleaned my leg. During this whole process nobody really talked except to make sure that they weren't hurting me. I didn't really feel like talking after the news I had just received and I think that everybody could see that.

After all the grime had been cleaned off they began the slow process of recasting my leg. First they put a stockinette on the the top of my leg where the cast sits so it doesn't cut my skin not needing one on the bottom seeing as the cast encases my entire foot. Then they wrapped my foot and leg in a cotton padding to cushion it from the hard cast. Once all that was completed they started to wrap a clean blue fiberglass cast around my leg. While the cast was drying my dad went to check me out of the hospital so that I could finally go home.

"Ready to go Chloe?" My dad asked as he came back into the room pushing a wheel chair.

"I am so ready. I just want to go home, sleep in my own bed, use my own shower."

"You know you won't be able to make it up the stairs for a while. The spiral staircase would be impossible and the straight staircase will difficult with one leg. We'll have to set up one of the downstairs guest bedrooms for you for a while."

"Dad, I just want to go home."

"I know sweetie let's go."

With great difficulty and a lot of help, I managed to get out of the tiny hospital bed and into the stupid wheelchair. My dad pushed me out of the familiar room and into the hallway that I've rolled down so many times during this past month, past all the familiar people. I waved goodbye to Mrs. Greenwood, the lady that's in the room next to mine, I've spent countless hours playing cards with her and her grandchildren when I had extra time and nothing to do. I rolled past the reception desk and waved at the nurses that I saw everyday, until now i guess. It seemed like the hallway went on forever as he pushed me through the hallways of the floor that I've become so familiar with.

After what felt like hours but was only minutes we had made it to the elevator, down to the first floor, and out to the suburban.

"First we're going to pick up the twins then we're going home," Dad said. He drove out of the hospital parking lot and on to the familiar roads of Kainesville Florida. The drive to my grandma's house was almost half an hour but I didn't mind.

Once we arrived at my grandma's house on the outskirts of Kainesville, which is five minutes away from my house, the twin terrors came running out the door with Grandma Dani trailing behind.

"Hey sweetie how're you feeling?" Grandma Dani asked when she made it to the car.

"Better than I've felt in a while. I'm finally out of the hospital. I never got to leave before because it was just too difficult to get me anywhere but now I'm out of the hospital and going home. Plus I get to sleep in my own bed, no matter what dad says I'm going to find a way to make it up the stairs."

"Mom can you please help me get them in the car?" My dad shouted, we looked over at him and laughed when we saw him chasing Alex and Gracey through the yard.

"You too have until I count to three to stop running around and get over here or I won't be able to let you stay over again for a long time." Grandma yelled. "ONE!" They stopped running and looked at each other. "TWO!" They turned and started to run towards the car. "THREE!" They both came to a stop right in front of her. "Thank you girls now go sit in your seats and wait for daddy to buckle you in. Was that so hard Nathaniel? Now come hurry up this girl here wants to go home. I love you sweetie I'll see you soon." She kissed me on the cheek, blew kisses at Alex and Gracey, and walked back into her house.

Dad came to the car and buckled the girls into their matching pink seats and then got in the car and started driving home. "We're going to have to stop for gas on the way home."

"Hurry dad I want to go home" I told him as he got out of the car again.

After he finally filled the tank, taking his time, we got back on the road and made our way home. Dad helped me out of the car and then unbuckled the twins as I rolled to the porch. Dad had a ramp set up so I could get up the porch without help. I entered the house and rolled across the hardwood floors of the entryway, past the spiral staircase decorated with twinkly Christmas lights that I refuse to let my dad take down, and through the double doors into the dark living room.

I flipped on the light and almost fell out of my wheelchair as all of my friends and family jumped out from behind the couches, through the doors leading to the dining room to the right, and the office to the left. All of them yelling "Welcome home Chloe!"