Disabled.

Twelve

Unedited - Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes

Twelve

"W-who are you?" Nadia faintly heard Mason's cousin ask. But she was too shocked to reply. Instead, all she could do was watch as his cousin attempted to sit up. And when she did, a loud sound filled the room, pulling Nadia from her shock. She turned around at the sound of the door opening to find a few nurses rushing into the room with a doctor.

"Miss, we'll need you to step aside," one of the nurses told her. She nodded her head and pushed herself away from his cousin's bed, just far enough to see what was going on. She watched as they examined his cousin, asking her multiple questions. 

After a few minutes, she reached down to where her phone was lodged between the cushion of her wheelchair and her arm rest and took out the phone. She quickly unlocked it and dialed Mason's number.

The phone rang three times before he finally answered.

"Hello?" she heard his voice.

"Mason your cousin─"

"Did something happen to her?" he asked immediately, his tone reflecting fear.

"You need to come to the hospital now─"

"Why? What's wrong?" he interrupted again.

"Your cousin, she's awake." 

The phone went silent then, causing Nadia to think that he had hung up until she heard him sigh deeply.

"Are you making this up?" she heard him ask.

"Why would I make it up? It's true, she's really awake! There's a doctor and a few nurses in her room right now," she told him, trying to remain calm. He sighed once again before saying,

"I'll be there in thirty minutes."

* * *

Nadia was sitting close to the nurses station when Mason arrived with his parents in tow. He rushed towards her, out of breath as he asked,

"Where is she now?" 

"In her room," was all she had to tell him before the three walked away from her. Curious to see their reunion, she wheeled herself towards the room and stopped once she was close enough to see through the open doorway.

"Selena!" Mason's mother was the first to speak as she rushed towards his cousin.

"Mom!" 

Nadia was immediately confused when she heard his cousin's words. Were they not cousins but brother and sister?, she wondered as she watched them hug each other. She heard both of them crying out loud as his father joined them in their hug. Mason stayed a few steps away. Nadia pushed herself a little closer as she continued to wonder what was going on. 

When she was almost at the doorway, Mason turned to her and that was when she saw that he had been crying. He quickly wiped away his tears before walking towards her with a small smile.

"Are you okay?" Nadia asked. He nodded his head.

"Thanks for calling me," he said. She smiled slightly.

"You're welcome."

There was a small moment of silence as they both looked into the hospital room and watched the reunion. But as she continued to watch the three of them, she couldn't keep herself from asking Mason about it.

"Why did Selena say 'mom' when she saw your mother?" 

Mason laughed slightly.

"That's because she's not my mom. I live with my aunt and uncle," he clarified. She nodded her head in understanding.

"That makes more sense," she muttered under her breath. But it was loud enough for him to hear because she heard him chuckle beside her. And when she heard that, she couldn't keep herself from smiling as she continued to watch Selena's reunion with her parents. 

Selena's parents stayed with her until her father received a call. Her mother and father both left but Mason insisted on staying for as long as he was allowed to. The three teenagers sat in the hospital room with Nadia staying quiet as she watched Mason interact with his cousin. And from the way that they spoke to each other, Nadia almost forgot that they were cousins and began to think that they were brother and sister instead. 

After talking for a while, Mason turned to Nadia and offered a smile. She smiled back before he spoke.

"I'll be right back," he told the girls before getting up and walking away from them. They both watched his retreating figure until he disappeared before turning to each other and smiling awkwardly.

"So you're Nadia," Selena said after a few moments of silence. She nodded her head.

"How do you know Mason?" 

"We go to the same school," she simply replied. Selena nodded her head before looking away awkwardly. Nadia looked everywhere but at her as the awkwardness continued to grow.

"So what's your story?" Selena asked her after a few minutes of silence. Nadia looked at her, slightly confused.

"What do you mean?" she asked her.

Selena pointed to her, specifically towards her legs and the wheelchair as she said,

"Why are you in a chair?"

Nadia didn't know how to react to that. Although she felt her eyes stinging momentarily, no tears fell. She took in a deep breath to center herself emotionally. And when she was able to talk, the first thing she said was,

"An accident─a car accident."

Selena continued to look at her, non-verbally urging her to explain.

"We were on our way to a party when a car crashed into ours. It wasn't like our car was even moving. We were stopped at a traffic light when the other car hit us. And I guess I was lucky to make it out with a spinal injury that made me paralyzed waist down. But he─he didn't make it..." 

Nadia felt the tears then, when her mind was sent back to the day she learned that Jackson had passed away. She completely forgot that Selena was in the room as she mentally re-lived that day.

"Who is he?" she barely heard Selena ask her. But she wasn't able to answer. Instead, all she could do was sit there in silence as the memories from the day she lost Jackson continued to play over and over in her mind. She felt her intertwined hands tighten as the world disappeared momentarily around her.

It wasn't until the door opened behind her when she was brought back to reality. She looked up at Selena before looking at the door to find Mason standing in the doorway holding a tray with three paper coffee cups. She wiped away a few stray tears as her head hung low.

"I'm sorry but I have to go," she said before taking off her brakes and pushing herself towards the door.

"I got you something to drink," she heard Mason say when she got closer to him. But she shook her head and pushed herself out of the room when he moved to the side. She pushed herself until she was in her own room and it was at that point that she allowed herself to cry as multiple memories with Jackson continued to fill her mind. 

Just when she was starting to accept that her life was no longer what it used to be, and that Jackson was gone for good, the memories which they had shared always seemed to find a way back to haunt her.

Was she ever going to be able to live her life without thinking about Jackson?

---

A/N:

Finally! An update (lol). I'm sorry for the long wait between the last update and this one. You can blame writer's block and a busy school schedule. But even though I'm busy, I'm going to try to continue this story because it's a good break from assignments XD

Thanks for reading this story! And I would love to know your thoughts about how the story is going. And also, what did you think about Selena asking Nadia about her paralysis? Let me know in the comments!

~candysweet101