Joshua took a deep breath, a deep and dark one as he watched Jennifer. She helped him up, holding his weight as she helped him walk towards a little area with railings. He struggled, clutching onto the railing with a death grip but she insisted on trying, doing it one-handed. He rolled his eyes, taking a slow step but not really thinking much of it; it felt like he hadn't walked in weeks, months even. Reality was it was about a month, a little over since he walked properly, since he'd had his independence.
"You're doing well" she commented as he took a shaky step.
"Sure, if I'm months old and taking my first steps" he snapped.
"Just take it easy, I'm sure you'll get it. If you have a goal in mind, it might help you. Most of my patients have goals in mind"
"I don't know but I'll think of something" he replied as he tried to pick up speed, walk at a normal pace.
"Slow down or you'll hurt yourself. It's not a race, you take your time recovering because recovering does take time, you badly broke your leg and I'm afraid it will not simply just become second nature"
They stopped for lunch, another pasta dish but he didn't mind, they weren't too bad. She slowly ate her chicken burger as he sat on a chair, eating his own food.
"Do you have a goal for me?" he asked, trying to find some inspiration.
"I can't set personal goals and patients are more than targets on some tick list"
He just smiled at gently, forgetting for a few moments but she didn't seem to care about his face... about the scars. She got up, leaving her food on the side as her soft hands touched his leg. He braced himself as she outstretched it slowly. He gasped from the sharp pain before she slowly bent it back. She just smiled at him apologetically but it didn't seem to be about his face... the pain she'd made him feel but not the face, not his face.
"Are you ok, Mr Reid?" she asked gently as he shook his head.
"Sorry I was away with the fairies. Sarah thinks that you're... not helping me"
"I can understand, loved ones often want results extremely quickly but I'm afraid that doesn't always happen, you'll have to be patient with me but I will do what I can to get you back on your feet again but it would help, really help if I have your permission to access your medical records. If I know what's happened, I can know how I can help you walk"
"I'll mention it to my doctor" he promised as she shadowed him. He got into the chair on his own, frightened of being stuck in it but he couldn't help but feel stronger in her presence, the beautiful woman who didn't seem to notice his scars even though it sat on his face, clear as day. He was scared of losing everything but around her... all those fears silenced themselves.
"Thank you" she replied as he was wheeled out of the room.
Sarah sat by his bed, asleep with a blanket draped on her and Charlotte sat there, drawing something for him. He smiled at her awkwardly as he got back into bed. Charlotte just looked up, smiling back a little before continuing her drawing. She never spoke, not when she was colouring in, not when she was drawing one of her many pretty pictures of something. She loved painting and drawing but what he was drawing, struck him like a bolt of lightning. He looked at it, her in his arms like he'd done that night... a thank you note.
"That's pretty, Char" Joshua commented, trying to hide the scar to stop her screaming, being frightened of what she saw.
His mother could barely look and his little sister was so young and didn't need to see the scars that covered her big brother. He wanted to hide them from view, pretend they weren't there but in reality, they were there and people were going to look, comment and there was nothing he could do about it, he was going to get all the looks and the comments from people and he'd have the parents ushering their children away but that was his life now, that was to be his life once he got out of the hospital but before then, he had the police wanting to talk to him. The doctors had kept them away as much as possible, while he was still healing they had to but he was no longer healing anymore or at least his face wasn't healing anymore.
The nurse smiled as she brought over a jacket potato covered in tuna, literally covered in tuna. He smiled, slowly tucking into it. The nurses listened, listened to what he liked, what he didn't like. He slowly took bites, watching the door just in case someone saw his disgusting eating habits but no one came through, at least not until he'd eaten about half of it.
Nurse Knight briefly glanced over, smiling a little. He wanted to get up, so desperately, to walk to her and say thank you but reality set back in as his leg bent painfully. She walked over to him, smiling a little, a little but very brightly as she asked jokingly "are you trying to get out of here?"
"No, not at all but I do need to get back to work at some point" he replied, smiling briefly at her.
"I understand, you'll get there, I'm sure" she replied softly.
Sarah glared out of disgust. "Doesn't that woman have anything else to do, any other patients to look after? She's always coming over, always checking on you. Does she think you've got an eating disorder or something? Just look at her, her hair perfect. Are you sure she's a physiotherapist and not something... disgusting?" she asked as she shot over to Charlotte.
"Sarah, that's enough" he snapped. He touched Charlotte's hand and whispered "can you go and chase that nurse; I bet she'll get you a juice or something"
"Ok" Charlotte replied, annoyed but Nurse Knight must've heard because she stopped at the door, offering her hand to Charlotte, smiling back at Joshua before taking her.
"What is it, babe? I am allowed my opinion and you're not getting better, she's barely helping you"
"I have been in this hospital bed for over two months, I think she's helping considering she's at least teaching me to accept my life" he replied as he gripped the bed, sitting up on his own without help and without as much pain. "This... isn't going to be easy but I'm not a toy you can take pictures with. What I want... what I would like, Sarah... is for you to be my wife" he whispered as he grabbed the ring box from his pocket.
"Are you... asking me?" she asked, shocked as she looked at him. "I don't know... babe, I don't know... this is... all strange"
"Yes... I'm asking you" he replied as he opened the box. "Sarah Tanner, will you marry me?"
"Oh... of course I will!" she practically shouted, hugging him. She smiled awkwardly as he kissed her but only too happy when he slipped the ring on her finger. She held his hand, smiling a little as his family visited. She excitedly showed off her ring before hugging Joshua but there was something... something strange about her, maybe it was her smile... faked, like for the cameras or for a show.
YOU ARE READING
Hope
Romantik(The cover was done by Luna357) Joshua, a builder with a girlfriend finds his life turned upside down when a fire in his home, shared with his little sister and his mother, ravages and burns the house. Realising his little sister's still trapped i...
