Where Dance Fits In

Chapter 29: Freedom Isn't Free

Regan
Today is the day I finally get out of the hospital.
I wake up and mom is reading a magazine next to my bed. "Morning, sweetheart." "Hi mom." I say. "Today is the day!" "I know!" She exclaims excitedly. "Are you happy?"
Happy? Let's see I have a disease in my foot, Kyle probably won't ever be as close to me, and I probably won't ever be able to dance again, but at least I'm getting out of, well, here.
"Beyond." I say. "So where is everyone today?"
"Dad is at home, cleaning, and Conner's there too." She tells me.
"When do you think we can go." I ask. It's about 9:30, and I haven't been outside in days!
"Well," mom starts, "Dr. Leon has to do a couple more tests, but then we should be free to go.
While waiting for the doctor to come in, I check my phone. I've been added to a group text with Conner, Brooklyn, Maeve, and Joe. They're talking about hanging out tonight at Joe's house.
'I'm in.' I reply. Immediately after that, Maeve calls me.
"Omg Reagan I miss you so much!" Maeve says immediately.
"Hey Maeve." I say back. "Miss you too!"
"So when do you get out of the hospital?" She asks. I guess everyone has been out of the loop on my whereabouts and how I'm doing, so I fill her in on everything.
"I'm so sorry." She says when I finish. "I didn't even realize it was this bad, Reag." I can hear her little voice start to squeak and choke up, so I say "Maeve, please don't cry." I finally get her to calm down and ask "So how are things at dance these days?"
She sniffles and begins. "Well, seems like we're all a little lost without you. No one is ever focused anymore and when they are, Miss Laurie is busy on her phone or something. It's so annoying.
"And also," she continues to rant "we get that you and Kyle aren't like a thing anymore but that doesn't mean he needs to exclude himself from our group completely! Like we invited him to go bowling the other day and he said he had to go visit his "mom" or something. I mean, everyone knows his mom moved to New York."
"Wait, WHAT?!" I interrupt. How, of all people, did I not know about this?
"How did you find out?" I ask. "When did it happen?"
"Well," Maeve starts, "Kyle wasn't coming to a lot of classes, and then the one time he did come, Brooklyn overheard him and Miss Laurie talking about it. She even said Kyle's mom took a lot of his things."
"Maeve, I don't think I can make tonight, but don't worry about that stuff." I say. I know exactly where I'm gonna go when I get out of here.
"Well I'll see you later." She says. "Bye." I reply, before finally hanging up.
I noticed something different about Maeve when we talked on the phone. She seemed more confident....and less sensitive.
She usually would talk to Kyle and accept him open arms, or ask him if he's okay. I decided that if she wasn't gonna be herself, then I would have to become the new Maeve and figure out this stuff with Kyle.
Dr. Leon comes in around noon and does a few check ups.
"How are you feeling?" He asks.
That was a good question.
How am I feeling?
"To be honest with you," I start, "I've never been better." It comes off a bit more sarcastic then I'd hoped for but at least he gets the point.
"At least I get to leave, right?"
Dr. Leon gives me a sympathetic look, like he's trying to make something hard to hear sound nice. "Well yes and no. You get to go and live in your house, but you will be on a bit of a house arrest for a while. Your mom and I think it would be a good idea if you just focus on your studies for now."
House arrest? House freaking arrest!? They're basically forming me into a zombie, with a weird disease who can't step outside. "How am I supposed to focus on my studies when I can't even go to school?!" I notice the anger in my voice, and clearly Dr. Leon does too, so I take a few deep breathes.
"We're getting you a private tutor. You'll basically be homeschooled, but hey, school in bed ain't so bad, right?"
I give him a nasty scowl and slump bad into my flimsy pillow.
"Where's my mom?" I ask. "She's packing up all your stuff." He's about to leave but turns to me and says "Reagan, we're doing what's best for you right now. It may not be the ideal life of a 14 year old, but it's better than nothing. Good luck." And with that he turns and walks out.
Mom has packed everything up and has it waiting in the car. Some nurses come to my room and seat me in a black wheel chair. My casted foot sits on the foot rest while I let my good foot slide on the floor.
We reach the car and I am helped in. They also give me a pair of those crutches that clip to your wrist, in case of emergency.
My world has been flipped upside down, multiple times now. I just don't really know what to expect next. But I can only hope for the best.