The Boy Next Door

free from the boot

hey guys! 

are you excited for christmas?! i am!!!! so this chapter is shorter than most of my chapters i normally write, but i promise i'll update later tonight, probably before i go to bed or after dinner~ i just wrote a chapter and realized it was really long, so i decided to cut it in half because it just made more sense...

so yeah. anyway, i'm super close to 500 votes!!! so make sure to vote on this part if you enjoyed it!

x -e

School is incredible, Caleb and I work on the lessons together everyday, and we've gotten even closer. (If that's possible.) We think Hayley and Joey both secretly fancy each other, and it's adorable. Joey sometimes will collect all the dandelions in the yard and give them to her, and she always makes sure her gymnastics are perfect when she's doing them around him. Last week, Hayley had a meet and we all came, and she was really nervous because she didn't want Joey to see her mess up. I've also met some of Annie's friends, who I hadn't gotten to know for some reason. Liv, Katie, and Sydney are all super sweet, and they're all incredibly talented gymnasts. So that brings me to today, September thirtieth. I'm getting my leg x-rayed today to see if I can have the boot taken off.

It feels all better, I've been walking on the boot more and more even though I was instructed not to. So I think I'll get the green flag today, and I couldn't be more excited. Mum and Dad have important work things scheduled today, and wanted to reschedule my appointment so they could come, but I wouldn't let them so Katie's taking me along with Caleb, Annie, and Hayley. They're coming over any second. I'm sitting in the kitchen with Mum. It's a Friday, so Dad and Joey are already at work, and Mums going off right after we leave. I'm just finishing my tea when I hear a knock on the front door. "Come in!" Mum shouts. The door opens and Katie, Caleb, Annie, and Hayley come in.

"Hey Laura!" Says Katie, giving her a big hug.

"Hey Katie, I'm so sad I can't go to the appointment, take pictures okay?"

"Yes, I'll make sure to take a few! Hey Ebony, are you excited to get that big boot off?" Says Katie as Caleb is hugging me hello.

"You bet, Katie. I can't wait!" I say.

"Neither can I," says Caleb. "We should come directly home and take a swim if it's not too cold out."

"Yeah!" Says Hayley, "we should invite Joey too." Everyone laughs.

"Alright, let's get going!" Says Katie. I give Mum a hug and we all pile into the car, Caleb and I in the way back seats. My stomach has butterflies on the way over, Caleb hold my hand. I can tell he can tell I'm anxious to get it off. We pull into the hospital parking lot and then go inside. We check in and then wait in the waiting room for what feels like forever.

"Ebony Shields?" Asks a nurse, finally it's my turn.

"Right here," says Katie as we stand up. Caleb hands me my crutches and helps me walk to the desk.

"Come right this way," the nurse says, smiling at Caleb and I. She leads us down a bitterly familiar hallway and into a room. She tell us Doctor Chellie will be with us soon. The smell of hospital makes my skin crawl. Caleb reads the expression on my face and strokes my hair soothingly. I sit on the examination table and Katie, Caleb, Annie, and Hayley sit on chairs. Katie begins vlogging, you can tell there's excitement in the air. We wait for a few minutes and then the door opens. An icy blond woman, around thirty, walks in smiling.

"Hello! I'm Doctor Chellie! You must be Ebony!" She says to me, shaking my hand.

"Hello, nice to meet you," I say, still uneasy from the presence of the hospital.

"Oh my goodness Ebony, I absolutely love your accent! Are you from England?"

"Uh, yeah," I say.

"I went there for a semester in college! I lived in Essex!"

"Nice, I'm from Brighton."

"Awesome! You must be her Mother and siblings," she says to the LeBlancs.

"Nope, we're just family friends who are taking her."

"Oh, I see. So, you fractured your ankle, right?" She asks me.

"Mhmm..." I say, can she really not tell? I mean, I've got a freaking boot on my foot, you'd think that question would be unnecessary.

"Alrighty! So we're looking to take that right off today, correct?"

"Mhmm..."

"Good. So to begin, I'm gonna remove the boot and you're gonna tell me what hurts okay?"

"Okay," I say. She takes it off and pushes on some parts of my ankle, which doesn't hurt at all.

"Things are looking good, Ebony!" Says Doctor Chellie. I smile and look to Caleb, who's grinning just as much as I am. "Just to be positive we're going to do an x-ray of your ankle to confirm the fracture is completely healed."

"Alright," I say.

"You can choose somebody to come, but only one person because the x-ray room is small." I look to Caleb, who's already standing up. "Okay," says Doctor Chellie, smiling at us, "follow me!" Caleb helps me down from the table and gives me a piggyback ride to the x-ray room. Then he helps me lay down on the table and elevate my foot. "Alright, stay still while I get the picture." Says Doctor Chellie and she walks across the room and presses a button that flashes and then she goes to a computer to look at the results.

"Is it better?" I ask.

"Yes! You can take it off today!" Caleb gives me a big hug and I jump down from the table. My leg feels kinda funny and weak, but Doctor Chellie says it will feel like that for a few days. She says I can walk and swim, but I shouldn't run for a couple weeks or do any other intense physical activity that puts a lot of pressure on it, but other than that I'm all good! I'm so happy tears are in my eyes as I walk out of the hospital. Everyone is so excited for me, but I'm the happiest of all. I'm finally free from that stupid boot.