Paraplegic (COMPLETED)

Chapter 32

The whole way home I felt like I was riding on a cloud, trying to mentally relive each second of tonight. For the first time in a long while, I felt normal, and yet, different. A different normal.

I lay in my bed, tossing and turning, trying to shut down my excited brain, but to no avail; images of the dance and that perfect hour continuously flash through my mind. So I shove my body off the bed and onto my wheelchair, accepting the fact that I'm not going to fall asleep anytime soon, and that I might as well visit The Bluff.

You be my eyes. And I'll be your legs.

My lips spread into a smile as Calix's words float through my mind.

"Tell me! Tell me everything!" Aurora's excited voice fills The Bluff.

"I don't even know where to begin."

"Start! Start anywhere. Blurt it out. But first; tell me it was magical." She plops down on the grass, facing me, her eyes wide.

"Yes. It was magical. So very magical."

I proceed to tell her about the night's events. She squeals with excitement when I tell her about how Calix got on stage and asked me to a dance, then she sighs with happiness when I tell her about how I balanced on the top of his toes as he waddled us around the ballroom floor. It wasn't the most normal way to dance, but we aren't exactly the most normal of people either.

"Look at you, Bestie, moving on through life like a pro." She drums her fingers on my knees.

I glance down at my wheels. "It's weird. Some days I don't mind being paralyzed, like I don't even notice it, and then there are days where I get so depressed that I'm not sure if I can make it through the day."

"You made it through this day," Aurora points out.

"Yeah. But today was easier than most. Today was . . . magical. Tomorrow, I'm forced to go back to reality, back to facing the fact that I'm still a prisoner to this chair."

"It could be worse."

Those words cause me to think of Kalyope. Guilt rises inside of me when I realize that I've neglected her. Finding a heart hasn't proven to be as simplistic as I had initially hoped. I have one final idea, one last shot to accomplish the task that I set out to do—the task of saving her life.

But time is running out.

* * *

After physical therapy with Desiree, mother always comes to take me home, but today I had asked her if we could stop by the hospital on the way. I could tell she was surprised that I would ever want to visit that place again. Fortunately, she didn't deny my request.

She pulls the van up to the hospital's front curb and I tell her that I won't be long. After moving through the entrance, I follow the series of hallways leading to the P.I.C.U. The brooding aura that I felt when Calix first brought me here returns. I can't shake loose of it. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised; hospitals aren't exactly known for their cheery aura.

Up ahead, I see the red and white P.I.C.U sign on the wall. A female nurse marches in my direction with her attention buried in a clipboard full of papers. She looks up; her steel eyes pass over me as she moves by. I shiver after she's gone. There was a frigid sensation in her gaze, one that makes me believe that bad things have just taken place, like she's off to deliver the sad news of a passing family member.

Kalyope!

I press harder against my push rims, spinning my wheels faster in the direction of her hospital room. I'm terrified of what I will find—or not find. Is she alive? Am I too late? A knot swells in the pit of my stomach. I hear the unmistakable sound of the erratic beeping moments before I enter her room. She's still alive!