She buried
Her ears
Into the calm
Of his heartbeat,
And in a matter of seconds:
Fell terrible in love
With the way
Her loneliness fell
Softly and suddenly,
Asleep,
In his chest.
- Christopher Poindexter
"Mom, I don't need a wheelchair," I groan.
"But, honey..."
"Mom."
She listens to me and rolls the wheelchair away with a dramatic sigh.
Even though I've spent less than 24 hours in the hospital, my entire brigade of friends and family has decided I'm an invalid. In addition to Josh and my parents, Chloe, Ellie, and Hina have been in the waiting room since I was admitted and Jordan and Luis showed up some time in the middle of the night as well.
"Rach, you probably shouldn't walk," Josh says.
He has stayed by my side ever since I passed out, and even now he wraps his arm around my waist so I have someone to lean on. A few minutes ago, I finally changed out of that awful hospital gown into a pair of sweats and a hoodie Chloe brought from home. Dr. Ditta cleared me to go home and scheduled a follow-up appointment with a clinical psychologist. For now, I need to rest and relax.
Rest and relax even though my career is currently on the line. Rest and relax even though my boyfriend and I are one fight away from breaking up. Rest and relax even though my parents still don't trust Josh. Rest and relax even though Chloe and I still haven't made up. Just thinking about all the reasons I have to be stressed makes me stressed.
"C'mon, Rach," Josh says, helping me stand up from the hospital bed. "Let's get out of here."
I gratefully let my weight rest against him. I've regained some of my strength, but I still feel weak and new onsets of dizziness and nausea have returned. Luckily, they haven't been as severe, but each wave of faintness reminds me that I'm out of control. As hard as it is to admit it, I need help.
Josh and I follow Mom and Dad out of the narrow hospital room to the waiting room where all of my friends wait for me. Jordan has a handful of balloons while Luis holds the two sleeping toddlers, and Hina, Chloe, and Ellie stand up from their seats and rub at their eyes. It's five in the morning and I know we would all rather be asleep.
Once everyone sees me, they barrage me with hugs and questions and well-wishes in a flurry of words I can't decipher. I nod and try to smile, but I feel the weariness of the past twelve hours resting on my shoulder and Josh squeezes my side encouragingly.
"Are you allowed to have cookies?" Hina asks, showing me a plate of perfectly decorated sugar cookies. "It's Christmas Eve after all."
"Christmas Eve?" I stutter.
How could I forget? Not only did all of my friends and family have to spend their nights in the hospital, but they're giving up their Christmas Eves to be here.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I...I completely forgot what day it is. You guys shouldn't be here! Jord, you guys should be back at Luis's parents with the girls. You didn't have to come here."
Jordan laughs. "Oh, that's nonsense. There's nowhere we'd rather be. Plus, Luis's mom snores so we wouldn't have got much more sleep anyways."
"But...what about Christmas?"
YOU ARE READING
The Definition of Fate
ChickLit"I want you and you want me. Nothing else matters." Four years ago, Rachel Evans was destroyed by the only boy she ever loved. Ever since then, she has tried to rebuild her life, but when her safety net--her boyfriend, job, friends, and family--di...
