Starting Over

Chapter Three ; Smells like death

The next few days were jam packed with my surgery to repair my spine, tests, scans and X-Rays. They discovered that not only did I have a spinal injury, but I had broken my left foot in the accident. They had taken me downstairs and had a cast put on before they prepped me for my move. Tomorrow morning, they would be moving me from the hospital to a rehabilitation facility. That would be where I would start working on basics like getting in and out of the wheelchair and seeing what all I was able to handle.  If I was being honest, I didn’t even care. My chances of keeping my scholarship were done along with all my dreams. My whole life had been built around soccer and now I had nothing. That night I was restless, all I could think about was how that one night ruined my life. It ruined everything.

I sat in my bed, staring down at my cast, I would try so hard to move my leg but like always nothing would happen. I would try to distract myself with TV but it didn’t work. My phone had been destroyed in the accident and my parents were working on getting me a new one. I hope they get me one soon because I’m not sure how much longer I can stand watching these reruns all day long. On top of all that I hadn’t had a single visitor. I wonder if anyone even noticed I wasn’t at school. It was so easy to get caught up in my thoughts which just seemed to make things worse. All I wanted was to get out of here and go home but it didn’t look like that was going to happen any time soon.

Thankfully, I was pulled from all my thoughts by a knock on the door. A second later one of the nurses came in with a wheelchair and some paperwork. “Good morning!” She chirped as she parked the chair beside my bed and sat the clipboard in my lap. “I need you to sign these discharge papers since you’re 18. Once you sign these we can get you dressed and packed up for the Rehabilitation clinic.” She was so happy it made my head hurt, how someone could work in a place like this and be so happy was beyond me. I scribbled my name out across the bottom of the chart and handed it back to her. “Are my parents coming to take me?” I asked, sitting up and reaching for my shirt that was folded on the bedside table. “No, they are already there getting your room set up. The rehab sent a van which will be easier with the chair anyways. Now, let’s get you dressed and ready to go.”

After a good 15 minutes she had managed to help me get dressed and into the wheelchair. This was it, I was finally getting out of this hell hole. I knew I shouldn’t be so hard on them, they had tried their best to take care of me, but I didn’t want to be there. I wasn’t really thrilled about the rehab but at least I could do something other than stare at the TV.

The ride to the center didn’t take as long as I thought it was, as the driver lowered my chair to the ground and unhooked me I was greeted by Kade and my parents. “Hey brother, how are you?” He asked, engulfing me in a tight hug. I hated to admit it, but it was nice to have a friend here, even if I didn’t want him to see me like this. “Ah, man I’m better now.” Before we could say anything else my mom stepped between us. “Okay boys let’s get Cole inside to his room and then we will leave you two for some guy time.” She grinned, giving us both a kiss on the cheek.

As they wheeled me down the hall I couldn’t ignore the smell in the building, I swear it was a mix of hospital and funeral home. Perfect, I thought to myself as they guided me into the small room. It wasn’t too bad, basic bed, small sofa and a mini fridge. “Well kiddo, this is it. We hooked your XBOX up so you and your friends would have something to do in your down time. We are going to order a pizza for you guys. Sound okay, Cole?” I nodded, still taking in my surroundings some. “Tomorrow around noon we will be meeting with the physical therapist and see what the plan is. Oh, I can’t forget to give you this.” My mom smiled brightly as she handed me my new phone. “Thanks Mom…Dad…” My head hung a little as reality hit me. I couldn’t walk, and I was stuck in a place that smelled kind of like death. “Alright, bye kids.” Mom gave us both a hug and headed out of the room, closing the door behind them.

I turned my focus to Kade who hadn’t said much at all since we got there. The look on his face wasn’t much comfort either. “So… why are you so quiet?” I finally asked as I flipped the phone my parents had given me and waited for it to boot up. “I-I’m not being quiet…” He tried to shrug it off and sound nonchalant but Kade was a terrible liar and his facial expressions always gave him away. He frowned and sat down on the couch, his face resting in his hands. “I should have been there with you. I could have kept you from leaving or been there with you when it happened.” I let out a loud obnoxious laugh on accident when I heard what he had said. “Yeah so you could be in a wheelchair with me? Yeah, no thanks, at least one of us still gets to live the dream.” I tried my best to sound cheerful but the pain in my chest seemed to multiply when I thought about everyone else getting to move on. My life is over, but I should at least be happy for my best friend.

Quickly, I tried changing the subject. “So, does anyone know what happened to me?” I asked, thinking about how I had zero visitors the past week and a half. “Dude, yeah! Everyone knows! They are doing some kind of fundraiser for you and shit.” I nodded a little to myself as I looked down at my new phone that was now dinging repeatedly with notifications. “Do they know about the chair?” I cleared my throat, as I looked at some of the messages. “Nah, I don’t think anyone knows the extent. Your mom and dad asked for privacy at this time, so far I’ve been the only one with an invite.” He grinned childishly at me. I shook my head at him and laughed, “Only you would be excited about that.”

We fell back into our usual banter and he began to fill me in with what I had missed since the accident. I started reading over some of the texts that were popping up every few seconds.

Katie:

OMG! I heard what happened!!!! I hope you are okay and I hope to see your handsome face soon!

Trace:

Man, I am so sorry.

Please forgive me.

I feel terrible.

Please text me.

Cole, I don’t know what to do if you don’t forgive me.

I quickly reply to Katie.

Come visit soon. I need some good company 😉

I debated on texting Trace back but there was still a hint of anger deep in my stomach and I just couldn’t bring myself to text him. I knew it wasn’t his fault, he wasn’t driving plus he wasn’t the car that t-boned us, but I couldn’t help but be angry. Trying to forget about it for a while, I tossed my phone to the side and Kade and I decided to battle it out on the XBOX.