To love you | Malum

Ch. 35 - Walking Boot + The Cliff

Michael + Ch. 35 - Walking Boot + The Cliff

Today was the appointment – the, because I was finally going to get out of this dammed thing. This wheelchair. I'd have Calum by my side, Ashley around with Lux in her arms, and my dad in the car, waiting as he falls asleep to the sound of his favorite song while reading a magazine about marriage. I was excited, to say the least. I knew that this meant good things were to come for me, that I'd finally be able to love Calum the way I always envisioned it. I wouldn't be restricted anymore — I'd be happy. Truly, honestly happy.

I sat outside of the training room with my left hand on the wheel, and my right hand entwined with Calum's. We sat like that for a while, pretending that there were other ways of existing that we didn't know about, and it was nice. Or, at least it was, until Aurelia came out and called me in, her smile full of sympathy, yet excitement. "Michael, you're up."

Calum stood up, then went behind me and began to push my wheelchair. He didn't want me doing all of the work, when really, there wasn't much work to do at all. He closed the door behind us once we reached the actual room itself, then he sat down in the corner where he couldn't interrupt my training, though I wouldn't have minded it much at all.

Aurelia sighed, then took a deep breath as she clicked her pen against the clipboard. "How are you today, Michael?"

I looked over at Calum, and I wasn't sure why, but I did. He made me lose my train of thought. All I could think about was running up and kissing him. All I could think about was being able to sit next to him without being restricted by wheels and bars. All I could think about was Calum and — the question. "Sorry, I'm fine. Excited to. . you know, get out of this thing. It's been way too long."

Aurelia nodded, her smile dropping to the floor. "I've spoken with your doctor. He says your Rheumatoid Arthritis has gotten better. Must mean you're taking your medication seriously."

I laughed slightly, though I knew this wasn't entirely funny. In fact, it wasn't at all. "I can't afford medication. My dad could hardly afford this wheelchair. Hell, we can't afford anything anymore now that we have a baby to raise and –"

"I get it, Michael." Aurelia wrote something down on the pages attached to her clipboard, then she set it down on the table near where Calum was sitting. "Today, we're just going to shorten your session to more simple exercises with rubber bands. Kind of like what we used during our first couple of sessions. Sound good?"

I sighed, then I looked over at Calum again. I didn't miss the way he stared at the walls, creating patterns out of the dots and the lines. I didn't miss the way he was breathing, how his chest fell, then rose, then fell again, or the way he smiled when he noticed I was looking at him, and how his dimple popped out as his lips curved from the corners of his cheeks. He was beautiful – nothing like I'd ever seen before, and that's why I loved him so much. "Yeah, Aurelia, that sounds great."

The rubber band exercises were simple, and less painful than they were when we first started out. Calum sat back in the corner watching, his eyes glued to my movements and how quickly they'd change in a matter of seconds. I noticed this, but didn't say anything, mainly because my mind was blank. It was after a while, around half an hour, when Aurelia had me stop, then told me to sit down in the chair which she put behind me.

"I want you to try to stand, Michael." Aurelia held her hand out for me to grab, but I didn't know how to pull myself up without putting weight on my foot, even if that's what she wanted me to do. "If you can't stand, you can't wear the walking boot, and I can tell how much that wheelchair bothers you. So please, try for me, or. . try for your boyfriend over there. He's counting on you."