We Are Free

Healing

Around 6:00 they all leave. The doctor comes in and checks my stitches. He lifts my gown up and takes my gause off. I look at it. It was red and blue. It was purple to.  He cleans it up and puts new gause on it.
     They have me getting up to use the bathroom. My nurse stays will me so I don't fall. I'm slow but I can walk.  They bring me dinner. Halo comes to visit me the next day. I still have an IV they have taken me off the oxygen mask. She sits down and puts a duffle bag down.
     "What's that?" I ask.
     "A bag for you it has an outfit to go home in, some boxers, socks, deodorant, and shoes. I also put a sweater in here and your winter coat."
     "Okay thanks."
     "Yup, so how you feel?"
     "Pretty good they have me on pain medication."
     "That's good."
     "Yeah where are the kids?"
     "Zac has them. My mom and I have cleaned up the house some."
     "Was there a lot of blood?"
     "Not really but most of it soaked into your shirt."
     "Yeah."
     "I'm surprised he only did that."
     "Me to."
     "Well earlier today we all came up with a plan."
     "What's that?"
     "While I am at work my mom is going to stay with the kids. She is going to pick Emily up and take her to dance. I'm going to stay at your house then when I come home my mom is going to leave and I will take Emily to dance on the weekends."
     "Okay."
     "Zac will help when he can but he also has to work."    
     "Yeah and that's okay he has Zane he doesn't really get sleep. He also has to pay bills and work."
     "Yeah I took the next 3 days off."
     "You didn't-" She gives me a glare.
     "I am shutting up now." It was around noon. We hear a nock Dan walks in. He was holding a vase with flowers and a card.
     "Hey Jace." He says. I smile at him.
     "Hey."
     "How you doing?"
     "Pretty good."
     "That's good it is break so I figured I would come by."
     "Thanks it means a lot."
     "We got you these and a card."
He hands me the card I take it out of the envelope. It was signed by everyone. Even Emily and Andrew signed it. There where little notes in it.
      "Thank you."
     "You are welcome."
     "I don't know how long I will be out though."
     "That's okay you just focus on getting better. Worry about you and what you have to do. You are one of my best employees. You are so hard working and committed. I know that as soon as you get back you will do just fine. So for now focus on what's important. That's you."
     "Thanks." I smile once again.
     "Yup." He leaves to get back. Halo looks at me.
     "You can come cuddle with me."
     "I don't want to hurt you." She says.
     "You won't just lay on my left side." She comes over and lays in the bed with me. I hold her. I play with her hair. Anna brings the kids by later they give me hugs and pictures they have colored. They sit on the end of the bed.
     Emily has just gotten out of practice so she was wearing some flats, a shirt, tights, and leatard. Andrew was just wearing some jeans and a sweater.
    "How was dance?" I ask her.
    "It was good I started crying." She says like it is nothing.
    "Why?"
     "She showed us a move that you put your arm out. When she did it I saw you on the ground at home. I started crying. I told her what happened and she had me sit out for a little bit."
     "That was nice of her."
     "Yeah who is going to take me to the bus."
     "Halo is going to take you to the bus then she is going to go to work Anna will go to are house. She will pick you up and take you to dance. Then you will come home again and after Halo gets home Anna will leave."
     "Oh."
     "Should we tell them?" Halo asks me.
     "I think so does your mom know?"
     "Yeah."
     "Okay guys I have something to tell you."
     "What?" Emily asks me.
     "Halo is going to be moving in." I say.
     "When?"
     "Hopefully here soon she was going to do it the weekend after you go back to school but since I'm hurt we don't know."
     "Oh."
     "When I am feeling better then we could do it."
     "When will that be?"
     "After I get out of the hospital."
     "Okay."
     "I will make Zac help move my dresser." Halo says.
     "Okay."
     "Okay kids lets get out of here. You have to eat and Emily has school tomorrow." Anna says.
    "Will you be okay if I leave?" Halo asks me.
     "Yeah I will be fine." We kiss and they all leave. I look through the bag and find my phone. The officer that was with Emily and Andrew got me a new phone case. The one that was on it had blood on it because Emily touched my hands while they where bloody then touched my phone. It was the same case I had on it just a new one.
    I look through some things. I play some games on it. They bring me some dinner. I eat some and drink some. I watch tv the rest of the day. The next day Halo sends me a video of Emily. She was dressed for school she had her back pack on and she was waiting for the bus.
     She said see you after dance love you Jace. She blows a kiss to the camera and gets on the bus. I text back thanks that means a lot. Durning lunch hour Halo comes by she brings me a shake. She eats her lunch with me when they bring me my lunch.
     She leaves and I sleep for a little bit. About 5:00 Emily and Andrew come in they give me a hug. Emily was in her dance outfit. She was holding a paper bag. It had her name on it.
     "I made you something in art." She says to me.
     "Really."
     "Yeah here." She hands me the bag. I open it and unwrap it. It was a clay bowl. I had all sorts of colors on it and it had her name on the bottom. I give her a hug and put it on the table next to me.
    "I'm sorry I can't take you to the dance."
     "That's okay."
     "Zac did something." Anna says.
     "What did that little shit do now?" I ask.
     "I went to Anna's and he came with us when he left Anna set us up in the spare room. On the bed was a rose. It had a note attached to it. The note said that he was going to take me. I have it with me." She pulls out the rose and note from her bag. The rose was fake and the note said " Lace up your dancing shoes because this January 4th you are going to a dance. Prepare to laugh and prepare to smile because your going with the one and only Zac."
     "Awwww that's so sweet." I say.
     "Yeah he is meeting us at Anna's."
     "Well then you better get going." They start to leave.
     "Oh tell that little shit brick I wanna see him." I say to Anna.
     "Will do." Zac sends me a bunch of photos from the dance and videos. I'm glad she got to go but I wish I could have taken her. The next day Zac comes by with Zane.
     "You are a shit head." I say to him and he tries to contain his laughter.
     "Yes I am."
     "I can't believe you did that.
"Me either but I did."
"Was it fun."
"Oh yeah loads of fun. Anna really knows how to dress her up."
"So does Halo."
"Yeah but she had a good time."
"You really where so sweet to take her she really wanted to go but thought she couldn't. Then she was then I got hurt."
"Well what are you going to do you couldn't control it and she deserved it. Plus I don't do that much with her."
"Did anyone ask questions."
"Some, I just told them that she was my sister. I told them that she didn't have a dad and her other date got hurt. Ava was there."
"Really who took her?"
"Her grandpa."
"That's nice."
"Yeah and Halo is making me help her move some stuff."
"Yeah I know."
"Oh well." I hold Zane he sits on my lap. I had my gown on but not on my upper body I got to warm. He points to my gause.
"I know." He screeches. Then he starts crying. "It's okay I will be okay. It just a boo boo." He stops crying and looks at me.  "It's okay honey."
I put him on my left side he lays on me. I hug him then put him down. Zac takes him back. When Zac leaves I lay back and just think. He may be a pain my my neck but in the end he will always pull through and be a good man. He will always be my brother.
2 weeks later I am released to go home. I still have my stitches for another week. They give me gause and tape. Halo helps me get dressed then the doctor comes in.
"Okay young man no showers for another week. No driving, sex, cooking, cleaning, excessive movement, and plenty of bed rest until those stitches comes out. You can get up to use the bathroom, maybe get yourself a snack but be careful. The pharmacy will have pain medicine for you." The doctor tells me and I nod my head.
He gives me a bunch of instructions and he gives me a folder with all the instructions. Halo ties my shoes. She puts my bag in the car and comes back in.
     I stand up and hold my side. She puts my arm around her neck and we leave I walk slowly out side. I sit on a bench and she gets her car. She pulls it up and helps me in. I buckle up. We go to the pharmacy. We get my medicine.
    We drive home. She is careful not to hit any bumps the best she can. We get home and she helps me inside. She sets me in the chair. I kick my shoes off and she gets my bag she unpacks it and Anna drops the kids off. They give me a hug.
"So when is Zac going to help you.?" I ask her
"Um tomorrow." She says.
"Okay."
"I'm hungry how about you?" She asks us.
"I could eat." I say.
"I'm hungry." Emily announces.
"Me to." Andrew says.
"Okay." She gets up and makes some food.
"You really did good with the house." I say to her.
"Thanks. I have something for you." She tells me.
"What." She hands me the picture that was thrown. It was in a new frame. I smile it's the little things in life. I give her a hug. She puts the photo back. She finishes making food. I we all eat some then she helps me use the bathroom. I sit back down and cover up with a blanket. I go on my phone for a bit. The kids play.
"Um if you want you can take what clothes I have and sheets in my closet and move it to one side for tomorrow." I tell Halo.
"I will do it later." she says while chewing on her thumb nail.
"Okay." I fall sleep the pain medicine I have makes me feel sleepy. I wake up and Halo wasn't there. I text her. She was in our room. She comes out and gets me some water. I watch tv. The next day Zac calls, he comes over.
"Where's Zane?" I ask him.
"He is with my mom."
"Oh okay."
"I am ready." Halo says as she puts a sweater on.
"Um take my truck."
"Okay, will you be fine."
"Yeah, I will be good."
"Okay." We kiss and she leaves.
*2 hours later*
Halo comes back she comes in and opens the door. Flint was laying on my lap.
"Hey babe." She says.
"Hey could I get your help I need to use the bathroom?"
"Yeah." She helps me and I sit back down. She goes outside and comes back in her and Zac were holding her dresser. They bring it into are room. They come back and Halo gets her nightstand. She puts it in are room to. Zac carries in a laundry basket and takes it into my room.
     It had a lamp and some other things in it. Halo and Zac start bringing in boxes. I get up and go to my room I sit on my bed. I help take clothes out of boxes. Halo puts them away. My side starts hurting a lot sitting up so I sit down in the chair again. Halo and Zac come back out a half hour later. They sit down.
"Is it done?" I ask.
"Yup." Halo says.
"I gotta go my mom has to go to work and I have to get Zane." Zac says.
"Okay." He leaves.
"How did your mom react?" I ask her.
"She was good she helped me pack then as soon as I went to leave she started crying." Halo says to me.
"Yeah that's understandable you are her baby and you just moved out."
"Yeah I know I can't blame her but she knows I will go visit."
"Yeah."
"She will be here around 7:00 tomorrow."
"Okay sounds good."
"How did you do?"
"Good but they where down for their naps. They should be getting up here soon, if they are not already up."
"Yeah that's true. We have to clean your stitches."
"I know but that hurts like a bitch." I say crossing my arms.
"I know babe but if we don't it will get infected and then it will hurt ten times more. Then they have to open you back up clean you out then sew you back up and you have to wait another 3 weeks."
"I suppose you are right."
"After we clean your stitches I will wash your hair."
"That does sound nice."
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
"We will do it after dinner."
"Okay." The kids get up and I color with them. Halo makes dinner. She gives me my food and the kids eat. When we are done eating Emily helps with the dishes. When she is done with dishes she gets a kitchen chair, my shampoo, conditioner, a wash cloth, a towel, a cup, gause, and medical tape.
     She helps me to the kitchen. I take my shirt off and she takes my gause off. She takes a warm wet wash cloth and gently washes around my stitches. I grit my teeth and squeeze my shirt. When she finishes I breath.
"You okay?" She asks me.
"Yeah." She puts gause on my stitches. I hold it there while she tapes it down. She takes the other towel and lays it on the lip of the sink I lay my head back and she run the water until it is warm. She wets my hair and grabs my shampoo. She runs her fingers through my hair until it is all soapy.
     She rinses her hands and rinses my hair. She does the same with the conditioner. When she is done I lift my neck up and she puts the towle on my head. She rubs my head until my hair is nearly damp. Then she helps me back to my chair and cleans up. I make her come sit on my left side. We kiss. We keep kissing slowly.
"Okay buddy." She says patting my chest.
"What?"
"You still have to take it easy."
"He said no sex he didn't say I can't kiss and love my girlfriend."
"Okay just don't hurt yourself."
"I won't I promise."
"Okay." We kiss again. She puts her hand on the side of my neck. She moves to my chest I still haven't put my shirt back on. She lays her head on my chest. She lays her hand next to her head.
"I love you so much." I say.
"I love you to." We just lay there and cuddle. The next day Halo gets Emily to the bus and leaves for work. Anna shows up. Andrew was still sleeping.
"What the hell are you watching?" She asks me and I bust out laughing at her. When I finally stop my side hurts and she is looking at me like I am crazy.
"Teen Titans Go." I say to her.
"Why?"
"It is the only decent thing on."
"You have just ran out of things to do hu?"
"Yeah and things to watch."
"Well how about some video games you could play with Andrew."
"Yeah I could do that but I have to wait for him to get up first."
"Yeah here." She hands me a glass of water and my pain medicine. I take it and set my glass on a TV tray that was set up for me.
"Wanna play Skylanders?" I ask her.
"Sure." She gets the bin with the Skylanders in it. She turns the Wii on and grabs two remotes and nunchucks. She hands me a set and I change the input to the wii. We play Skylanders for an hour.
Andrew gets up and Anna gets him some toast. I hand over my remote and they play for a while I fall asleep due to the medicine. When I wake up I use the bathroom and Anna makes lunch. After lunch Andrew lays down for a nap.
     Flint lays on my left side. My side starts hurting so Anna gets me some more medicine. 2:30 Anna leaves to get Emily. I fall asleep again. When I wake up Anna was gone she had to take Emily to dance.
     Andrew sits on my lap for a little bit. He is careful not to hurt me. He watches cartoons. They get back around 5:00 not long after Halo walks through the door.
"Honey I'm home!" She announces.
"Halo." Emily says.
"Hi princess."
"Hey babe." I say.
"I have news." She says as she hangs her coat on the hooks.
"What?"
"ET got ahold of your story they want to interview you."
"Really."
"Yeah they got ahold of Dan and he told me."
"Well that's great what do they want to talk about?"
"Just how you deal with being 17 and taking on all you do being so young."
"Well that's amazing."
"They just need your approval then Nancy O'dell is going to come to the house to interview you."
"That's awesome. I will do it."
"Okay." Emily comes to me Halo leaves to make the phone call. She was in regular clothes and she had a paper in her hand. I take it, it was a form for her first dance recital. It was the day after I get my stitches out.
"Can you make it?" She asks me.
"I don't know honey I can try."
"Okay."
"I will do everything I can and try as hard as I can okay honey."
"Okay." I give her a hug and she puts the paper on the fridge. Anna takes off and Halo starts dinner.
"So?" I ask her.
"They will be here this Saturday at noon."
"Will they be done before 4?"
"Oh yeah they want to do me to but since I'm working they could only do it Saturday."
"Okay Emily has a recital Sunday at 2:00. Your mom is going."
"I will be there most definitely."
"Yeah and I texted Zac."
"Okay will you go?"
"It's hard to say I can barley get up and go to the bathroom. It is early in the week yet and my stitches will be out before Sunday."
"Yeah so we just have to play it by ear."
"Yup." She finishes dinner and we eat. I use the bathroom and change my clothes. Halo helps me. I sit back down and she gives the kids a fruit pop. They are a mix of whole fruit that is cut up and carbonated water. She makes them. All week the cycle continues.
     Saturday comes and the interviewer comes Emily sits on one knee Andrew on the other Halo next to me. Flint decides he wants to be in the camera to and sits on Emily. He just goes to sleep though. They set up and Halo puts her hair up into a pony tail. She was wearing some jeans and a nice blouse.
     Andrew was wearing some jeans and a button up dress shirt. I was wearing some jeans and a red button up shirt. Emily was wearing a skirt and a nice shirt her hair was in a bun. We all get settled.
"So Jace by looking at you you look like an all American family but really you are something much more. You are a 17 year old young man that has a girlfriend. You raise your two siblings that are 3 and 6 years of age. How do you do it?" She asks me.
"I have a really good support system behind me. I have good people around me and I have a reason to keep going. If I need help I know I have it." I say.
"You make it look easy though how do you do it?"
"It's just routine I'm so use to doing it and so into it that it just comes naturally. I know what I have to do and I do it. I know I have to get dinner on the table and make sure they have baths so I do it."
"Now many want to know how did you get to where you are now?"
"Um my mom and I where in a car crash. A drunk hit out car I walked away with cuts and bruises and a broken wrist. She died a upon impact. My dad had been an alchoholic. When he met my mom he got clean but cheated on her multiple times.
      When she died he started drinking again. That left me to drop out of school get a job and take care of the house. When my dad was drunk he was abusive and very aggressive. He would abuse me physically, mentally, emotionally, and verbally. He would yell at my siblings and push them.
     I had to get out I couldn't let them grow up like that. I took them to work with me because I had no one to watch them until recently."
"Halo you are his girlfriend and you work at the same place he does what was it like when he came to work in the morning?" She asks her.
"He would come to work with scratches and bruises all over his body. Hand prints and finger prints on his throat. The second one bruise went away another was there. He would come to work in tears barley able to keep it together.
He was in hell and I couldn't stand to see him like that." She says.
"Some would look at you and say you have nothing what to you say to that?" She asks me.
"I have everything."
"Well said." Flint gets up and puts his nose to the camera. Emily grabs him.
"You have a kitty." She says.
"Yes we do." Emily says with a smile.
"Isn't he the cutest." Flint leaves us and we continue.
"Do you find it hard or easy to be in the position you are in?"
"It is both hard and easy it just depends on the day." I say.
"If you could would you go back and change what happened?"
"Yes and no. I would change how my mom died and see to it that she doesn't die. On the other hand I wouldn't because it has made me so much stronger and a better person. Everyday I become a better person because of what happened." We finish the interview and they leave. When we are done I have some down time. When it is 3:30 we leave. We go to the doctor Halo checks me in and I sit down.
"Jason." The nurse calls me. I get up and we go back I lay in the table the doctor comes in.
"Okay I'm going to have you remove your shirt." The doctor says to me. I take my shirt off and he cleans my stitches which hurt. He start taking my stitches out. That part hurt a lot. I breath slowly and try to think about something else before I know it he is done.
"Okay you can move around more but still no driving, sex, going to work, and fast exsessive movements. Be careful and when it starts hurting sit down." He covers it up and we leave he wants to see me again in 2 weeks. Anna takes the kids for the night. She wanted to to give me and Halo some time and she was going to meet us at the recital.
     It's not like Halo and I can really do anything because I could still tear open my incision. She took them any way. We watch the news around 6. My dad apears on tv. Halo and I are sitting on the couch. It says that he is in jail for life plus 10 years. Halo and I start clapping. That's good news we will never worry about him again.
The next day my side is tender and sore. It is red and bruised. I can walk more but my side starts hurting soon. The recital is at 2 and I decide I am not going to miss it. 1:00 I get dressed. Halo helps me with my pants and shoes.
      We leave and stop at the flower shop I get her a bouquet of flowers. We go to the concert and sit down I set next to Zac and I take Zane. The lights go out and the concert starts. The kids come onto the stage Emily sees me and a huge smile lights up on her face she waves to me and I wave back.
     They dance their little dances. When they are done we go back stage she sees me and runs up to me. She is careful though knowing my side is still sore.
"You made it?" She says.
"I wouldn't miss it."
"Did you like it?"
"I loved it these are for you my lady."
She takes the flowers and gives me another hug. Her coach comes up to me.
"It is so nice to see you again Jace." She says.
"Thank you."
"I'm glad to see you are up and about and feeling better how's it going?" She asks me.
     "Stitches came out yesterday it is still tender and sore. I have a hard time bending over and moving around for a long period of time."
     "Well I am glad you are doing better."
     "Thanks." Zane starts crying in his car seat. Zac attends to him and we all leave. I take the kids home with me. We get home and Emily changes out of her ballet clothes and we relax.
     Halo sits next to me and the kids play. The next 2 weeks go by each day I get stronger and better at bending over and doing more over long periods of time I still haven't gone back to work. I miss it and can't wait till I can.
     Valentine's Day is coming up and I wanna do something special for Halo. Emily is having a party at school and I have to get her cards. She is in charge of getting drinks for the class so I have to get that to. Today I have a doctor appointment though.
     This one will determine if I am good to go or not and I am really nervous. I hope he says I can go back to work and back to normal. We get to the doctors office and checked in they call me back and I sit down. The doctor comes in.
     "Okay I am going to have you take your shirt off and lay down." I do what I am told and he checks my scar. "Okay looks good I am giving you a clean bill of health you can return to work and all your normal routines you are all healed." He says.
    "Okay sounds good." I say with a smile. We leave and decide to go out for dinner. We get to the restaurant and sit down we order and wait.
     "So I bet you are excited." Halo says to me.
     "Yes I get to go to work tomorrow."
     "Yup you ready?"
     "Of course I am."
     "I am excited to."
     "Yeah I could have guessed that."
     "We have to call my mom."
     "Yeah let's do it." Halo pulls her phone out and calls Anna.
     "Hello." She says.
     "Hey mom Jace and I have some good news." Halo says.
     "What?" She asks.
     "I am healed." I say.
     "That's great honey I am so happy for you." She says.
     "He is going back to work tomaorw so everything is going back to normal after a long month and a half."
     "Well that's great I will see you in the morning."
    "Yup."
We hang up and our food comes.
     "Are you taking me to the bus tomorrow?" Emily asks me.
     "Yes I am."
     "Yay!"
     "Valentines day is next Tuesday." I say to Halo.
    "We have off until Thursday."
     "Yeah so what are we going to do?"
     "I don't know yet."
     "You know as well as I do that your mom is going to take the kids."
    "She has to work."
    "Really."
    "Yeah so we have Zac."
     "Damn."
     "Hell he will most likely use them as chick bait."
     "Probably but oh well." We finish and go home. I give the kids a bath and get them to bed I sit down next to Halo.
We kiss for a little bit.
    "You know now that you are all healed we should do something we haven't done in a long time." She hints.
    "I like the way you think but if we stay up all night we won't get up tomorrow. I know how this works."
     "We will go to bed after."
    "Fuck it." She laughs a little we start kissing again.
*Morning*
I wake up to Halo's alarm go off she gets up a little earlier then I do. I fall back asleep for a little longer before my alarm goes off. I get up and get ready. I make sure Emily gets up and ready I pack what needs to be packed.
     Halo grabs her lunch box and gets her coat on she runs outside to warm up the car. I get Emily to the bus and I get Andrew in the car. We go to Anna's I run Andrew and his bag inside and Halo and I go to work.
    I walk in and clock in and clip my badge. As soon as I walk into the garage everyone surrounds me. I give them a hug and they ask questions. I answer them. Dan comes out and gives me a hug.
     "Good to have you back slick." Dan says to me.
    "Good to be back." I say with a smile.
     "I need to see you in my office though." I follow him to his office. I sit down and so does he.
     "I have been thinking it is time for me to get a fresh start. Leave the state and seek out new things. I want to promote you. I want you to be the boss.
    You can think about it see if you wanna do it. You can still work on cars if you want. I know it's a big decision to make. You will make more money then you do now.
      I chose you because you are my hardest working employee. I have to send you home when you are sick and I can always count on you to get the job done. So think about it and get back with me."
    "Okay I will."
    "Good man." I get up and get back to work. I work all day feeling happy inside. At lunch I whisper in Halo's ear that we need to talk when we get home. She shakes her head yes and we continue. After work we get him and when the kids are in bed we sit down to talk.
    "So what do you need to talk about?" She asks me.
    "Dan offered me a promotion to be the boss. He is leaving and wants me to take over. The pay is tramenduas and it's a huge step up. I will still be able to work on cars if I wanna but I have to make sure everything else is done first."
    "That's good it sounds like a good opportunity."
    "It is I'm still doing what I love and we don't have to really do anything it's at the same place and everything."
    "I think you should take it it could open a door of opportunity for you."
    "Yeah it could."
    "What are you thinking?"
    "I think I am going to take it."
    "Okay, sleep on it and see what you think tomorrow it has been a long day."
     "Yeah I agree." We go to bed and I think I am going to take the job. I go to sleep the next day at work I have made my decision. I walk into Dan's office.
    "I have made my decision." I say, he looks up at me.
    "Okay." He says folding his hands.
Im nervous my heart is beating fast. This could be big.