Nina Cox Must Date (Girl Power Series)

Chapter 13 - Anniversary

Taylor has offered to cook for me as a peace offering. Luckily for me, the camping date with Kent came to an end quickly. The next morning he made me breakfast, brought me home and gave me another kiss on my forehead. We have continued to message each other, but in the same way that I do with my brother. Just a hello and a quick catch up of anything interesting going on in our lives.

In the meantime, I have been ignoring Taylor's calls and messages. Until I realized that I missed him a lot. I felt happy hearing his voice. He invited me to his apartment to watch a movie and eat whatever he makes. I don't mind. The man can cook.

My phone starts ringing as I'm feeding the kitties before leaving. I take a quick glance at the screen and see that it's Lisa.

"Hey, can I call you from the car? I'm on my way out," I say.

"Okay," Lisa says and I hear a sniffle.

"What's going on?"

"He is cheating on me," she says and starts crying.

"Cheating? That bastard!" I say as I sit in my van. "Did he tell you?"

"No, of course not. He used my laptop and forgot to sign out of his email. An email thread with the subject 'To make you remember Ibiza' caught my attention. The emails were filled with photos of him and another woman. They were kissing, but I also found some naked ones,"

"Where are you?" I ask, feeling worried.

"In my apartment. I'm making a bag to spend the weekend at mom and dad,"

"Do they know?"

"Not yet. I just found out. I need to sort my head first. I don't want to come across as hysterical when I tell him that he can shove the fucking ring up his ass!"

She does sound hysterical right now, and even though I'm sorry for her, the last part made me smile.

"Wait, give me a second," Lisa says.

I use the time to set up the hands free system and start driving to Taylor's place. I hear Lisa laughing as a maniac in the distance. I wonder what she is up to.

"Fuck it! This is over! I'm not going to mourn him anymore," she says.

Now I'm feeling worried.

"What did you do?"

"He left one of his cameras and his favorite pair of sneakers here and I just threw them down the trash chute. Today is trash pick up day,"

I know that she is grinning even though I can't see her.

"How are the dates going?" she asks.

"Terrible, but I wasn't expecting anything different,"

"I'm so sorry Nina. I'm always giving you a hard time about men. I'm the worst example. Can't even manage for my fiance to keep his dick in his pants," she says and starts crying again.

"Do you want me to come over?"

"No, I will be fine. It just needs to get out my system. A good cry and a few more of his properties destroyed and I'll be over it,"

I find her approach a bit weird but if it helps her then okay. I make her promise to call me if she needs to talk as I park next to Taylor's building.

As I walk to his apartment, I hear a thump noise and then a crash. Oh man! I hope that something delicious is not wasted.

"Are you destroying your kitchen?" I say as I open the door with the key he gave me.

My heart starts racing as I see his wheelchair tumbled on the side.

"TAYLOR? Oh God, are you okay?"

Taylor is laying on the floor and has a big cut on his forehead. He looks around confused as the blood trickles down. I turn the chair and put it on the brakes, then I move to Taylor and try to lift him.

"Fuck off Nina!" he says, pushing me away.

"What? Why? I only want to help you back on the chair,"

"I don't need any help!" he yells and gets on the chair by himself. It seems like a lot of effort.

"You need stitches. Do you want to drive yourself to the hospital or am I allowed to do it?" I say rising my voice.

I turn off the stove as he thinks what he wants to do. A bag of flour lay on the floor and Taylor's clothes are dusted with it.

"Take me to the hospital... please," he says.

I give him a kitchen towel that he holds to his bloody forehead.

We drive to the hospital. I then find out what happened when he tells the doctor. He needed flour and his cleaner placed it on a higher shelf. He tried to get the bag but forgot to put the brakes on the chair. It slid back and he hit his forehead on the edge of the kitchen counter. It resulted in four stitches.

After a stop at the pharmacy for some painkillers, I bring Taylor home. I hesitate by the door.

"Please, come in Nina,"

I enter the apartment, but it feels awkward. Taylor looks at the mess in his kitchen. So to see he was beginning to cook and nothing got spoiled. I grab his vacuum cleaner and start cleaning the floor. As I turn around, I see that Taylor is crying.

"Are you in pain? Do you want a pill?" I ask, feeling worried.

"I'm so sorry Nina. I'm the shittiest friend," he says between sobs. "You are always there for me. You only want the best for me. I feel so frustrated,"

"What is going on?" I say, kneeling in front of him.

"I lied. I told you that it wasn't a big deal but it is. I had hopes that I would feel my legs again. I miss my old life,"

I hold his hands. He is breathing hard.

"If you break a bone, it heals and you forget about it. I can't. Every fucking day I wake up and see this thing," he says, punching the sides of the chair. "A daily reminder that I will never be able to surf, ride my skateboard or go skiing with my family.

The anniversary was yesterday. I hate talking about it because it brings all the pain of my new reality. That day started so awesome and I had the best time at the beach with my friends. I surfed for hours and I felt so happy and free.

I got in my car and headed home. The car that crashed on mine appeared out of nowhere and I didn't have time to react. I don't know what happened because I got knocked out immediately. The driver had triple the amount of alcohol allowed in his blood and it was only four in the afternoon.

When I woke up, my parents and my brother were in the room. My mom asked me if I had pain to call a nurse and I told her that it wasn't necessary. That whatever medicine the doctors used was good because I couldn't feel my legs. They exchanged panicked looks and I freaked out.

When I found that the man died, I must admit that I felt happy. It is an awful thing to say but he took away my freedom. I didn't deserve this. I was a good kid,"

I can only imagine how he feels. His world as he knew it destroyed due to the negligence of another person. I sit on his lap and hug him. He cries hard on my chest. I feel his pain in my heart and cry with him.