Fix My Feet When They're Stumblin'

Chapter 55

    Ronnie stretched his arms lazily, surveying their luggage in a neat pile - another day, another hotel room. If there'd been only healthy people in the van, they would've been home already, but they had decided to break the drive up into more manageable chunks for Brandon's sake.

    The sun had set fully outside their window by now, revealing the bright, twinkling lights of the city in dazed and watery moonlight. He turned off his podcast and slipped his headphones from his ears as his phone vibrated on the mattress, lighting up to reveal a short text from Tana: 'Brandon's awake.'

    Ronnie rolled over in bed for a moment, watching Olivia as she slept beside him, studying her face, the tiny wrinkles around her eyes drawing his attention like beacons. Everyone seemed to have aged more than they should have in the last month. Life is so much more stressful now, isn't it? Ronnie touched her cheek softly, then covered his mouth and stifled a laugh as her nose wrinkled in protest.

    Reluctantly, he rolled away from her once more and sat up. Retrieving his crutches from their place against the wall, he rose to his feet on stiff, complaining knees. He swiped the hotel key card from the bedside table and pocketed it, then slowly made his way to the door. Ronnie rested his casted foot lightly on the carpet for balance as he abandoned his right crutch and opened the door carefully.

    Sticking the rubber bottom of his crutch into the open crack of the door, he forced it open all the way and stepped through, then gently pushed it closed again, smiling at the satisfying click of the door. Finally, I'm getting the hang of these damn things. He crossed the hall to a door that stood ajar a few rooms down from his own and peeked inside.

    "Hey, guys," Ronnie said softly, watching the kids as they bustled around the room and into the bathroom in dim light from a single lamp, unpacking various items for their parents. Brandon sat on the bed watching them with an odd, unreadable expression on his face, hugging his knees - Tana, sitting beside him with her hand on his back, looked away from her husband and smiled wearily.

    "Hi, Ronnie," she said, and Ronnie's heart lurched at her obvious anxiety, her overwhelming nervousness. Fuck, she's scared - the last time she left him alone with me, I almost killed him. Her face was covered in a thin sheen of sweat, and her right leg bounced incessantly against the mattress, causing tiny repetitive squeaks of the springs.

     She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then turned back to Brandon. "Honey, Ronnie wanted to know if you wanted to go for a little walk with him - just in the hallway, it won't be far. Right, Ron? You have your phone on you, in case...?"

    Ronnie nodded, patting his cell phone in his pocket and saluting her jokingly. He beamed at Brandon, gesturing vaguely to his own leg. "If you want to, Bran - only if you want to. I need some exercise, and I gotta start somewhere, right? You're gonna have to go slow for me, though."

    Brandon's eyebrows rose as he listened, and his lips quirked slightly in amusement. "I have to...to go s-slow for you?" Ronnie snorted, shrugging at him and grinning again. Damn, he saw right through that.

    "That's right, B - no speeding tickets, okay?"

    Brandon looked back at Tana again, looking her up and down, clearly taking stock of her nerves now, as well. A very peculiar expression took over his face as he looked at his wife. His hand twitched in his lap as though he wanted to touch her and he opened his mouth to speak, then finally he sighed and stood. Behind him, Ronnie saw Tana deflate as he walked away, rubbing her face with a trembling hand.

     Carefully, Brandon made his way toward the door, watching his feet. Ronnie smiled slightly watching him, noticing how much steadier he was on his feet now than when they had arrived, before he had taken a proper nap. Brandon stepped through the door and stopped, waiting as Ronnie waved to Tana and shut the door quietly with his crutch.