Changing My Ways For You

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Austin’s POV

As hard as I tried and as stupid as I felt, I couldn’t wipe the huge grin from my face. The doctors words kept replaying in my head, “Austin, I am happy to tell you that you’re surgery was successful.”

When he had told me, I was so relieved I felt as if I could jump out of bed and do a happy dance. Of course, I wouldn’t be able to do that for a long time. I would have to go through extensive physical therapy before I would be anywhere near walking again.

No matter what I would have to do, though, I would do it if it meant walking again.

My parents and Anna had been in and out all day. Now, Anna was at school and my parents were at work. They were all coming back later to celebrate.

There was a knock on the door and before I could speak, Noland walked in, followed by a few other guys from the football team.

“Hey, guys,” I welcomed them, with a smile, of course.

“Sup Austin,” Brady, a jumpy sophomore from the team, said.

“How was the big game?” I asked, trying not to let them see how much I hated missing so much of the season.

“It was good. We won,” Noland answered, giving me a vague answer that I was grateful for.

“Yeah, Austin, you should’ve been there!” Brady exclaimed, oblivious to the way my smile faltered. “We totally dominated out there. Noland was amazing, he’s really taken to the job of captain and--ow!”

Another senior from the team, Jack, smacked Brady on the chest. I shot him a thankful smile when Brady wasn’t looking.

“What the hell was that for?” Brady asked, blatantly missing the hint.

“Hey now,” Noland jutted in. “No swearing in front of the cripple!”

“Hey!” I protested. “I may be cripple, but I’m still me! Speaking of my crippleness, guess what?” I asked them excitedly.

“What?” Brady asked. I opened my mouth to give them the news, but Noland jumped in.

“Wait, wait, I got this one,” Noland said, crossing his arms thoughtfully. “Let me think...you hooked up with a hot nurse!”

“No,” I told him with a laugh.

“Okay, okay, I got this one,” Jack said, stroking his imaginary beard. “Got it!” He clapped his hands for emphasis. “You’re pregnant!”

“What?” I asked, laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. “No! What I was trying to tell you idiots was that the surgery worked and I’m gonna walk again!”

“Woah,” Noland said, a hint of a smile on his face. “Seriously?”

“Yes!” I confirmed excitedly. “I mean, I have to go through a shitload of physical therapy, but still. I’m not paralyzed.”

“Austin, that’s great!” Noland said, and Jack and Brady offered similar congratulations.

“I know!” I said, fully aware of the ridiculous smile on my face.

The three of them were standing around my bed, now, and we were just talking. It was nice. It was normal. I missed it, to be honest. Everything has been crazy and confusing, and now, with the three of them, it was like old times.

Jack was telling his ‘fail’ story of a few nights ago when he was trying to talk to this girl, and we all laughed til we cried. God, I haven’t laughed this hard since...well, since Grace.

As soon as I thought her name, I regretted it. I had been trying so hard not to think of her; it just made everything so confusing. I had made a pact with myself to take it day by day, and work on getting better before I crossed the Grace-bridge. Before I worked on getting her back.

Noland seemed to notice the sudden change in atmosphere.

“Hey, Jack, why don’t you take Brady down to the cafe and get him a drink?” Noland said, sending Jack silent signals that he wanted to talk to me.

“But I’m not thirsty,” Brady protested obliviously.

“Yes, you are,” Jack said pushing Brady to the door. I laughed half-heartedly as I watched them go.

“So,” Noland said, pulling over a chair. “How’ve you been?”

“You mean besides the whole possibly paralyzed thing? Fine,” I answered, even though I knew he could see through even my most believable lies.

“Okay,” Noland said apprehensively. “Let me clarify. I mean how have you really been?”

“I’ve been better,” I said, knowing there was no way out of the inevitable.

“Obviously,” Noland rolled his eyes. “But, I mean, what about Grace? Your mom told me about how Grace made the call after the accident.”

“I don’t really know,” I told him honestly, because I didn’t know. “I haven’t really thought about her much, to tell the truth. I mean, I’ve been trying not to. I want to focus on getting better first.”

“That’s stupid,” Noland stated bluntly.

“You’re stupid,” I shot back, defensive.

“Austin, Grace is a mess.”

“How do you know?” I asked, not wanting to think of her as a ‘mess’.

“Um, I go to school with her,” he stated dumbly. “And I know she had a big fight with her mom after the night of the, er, accident.”

“How-?”

“I overheard her and Emma talking about it. Grace was pretty hung up about it,” Noland told me matter-of-factly.

“I know,” I said, dropping my face into my hands. “I know. I just don’t know what to do about it. Last time I talked to her, she really wanted nothing to do with me. Or at least that’s the message she was trying to send.”

“Do you miss her?” Noland asked, his question taking me off guard.

“What?”

“Do you miss her?” Noland repeated, watching me carefully.

“Yeah,” I answered after a few beats of silence. “Yeah, I do. A lot.”

“Well,” Noland said, standing up. “I would suggest doing something about it.”

I watched as Noland walked silently to the door, and I couldn’t help the anger I felt towards him. I had been doing fine not thinking about her, putting her off until later, then he just comes waltzing in, stirring up all those feelings I had been trying so hard not to feel.

Just as Noland reached the door, he stopped and turned back to me with his hand on the knob.

“Oh, and Austin? She misses you, too.”

Before I could ask more questions, let alone comprehend what he said, Noland was gone. And that left me wondering.

Did she really miss me? Could it really not be over?

***Hey guys:) First of all, I apologize for the late upload, I was planning to get a lot of writing done over winter break, but my dad's computer crashed and had to use mine for work, so I didn't have a computer to write on. But here's the next chapter! It's a little short, but it's about to get good...I hope lol:)

Second of all, I want to thank each and every one of you reading, voting, and commenting for this story. It's the first I've ever written (and put up for others to read) and I coudln't be more thankful for your support:) I've reached over 4,000 reads, which still just blows my mind. So thank you guys!:)

Anyway, enjoy!***