On the Edge

Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

 

Emily’s P.O.V.

 

Waking up in the mornings are always the most boring part of my day. I only trust one nurse, in this whole hospital, Nurse Jamie. She understands  me, because her son is paralyzed from the waist down, just like me. In fact, me and her son, Jason, are really really close. Anyway, Nurse Jamie doesn’t come in to work until around 8:30 AM. I am usually up around 7:00. So that’s one and a half hours of nothingness, not even going to the bathroom.

Finally, at exactly 8:42 AM, Nurse Jamie arrives. I complain that she has been late the past week. She helps me to the bathroom and then into my wheelchair. I keep yelling at her to stop jabbing me in the ribs with her elbow. “I still have feeling above my hips!” I shout.

Since we are so close, she yells back and calls me a brat. If I were her, I would be thankful that I am so tiny, because I have seen some paralyzed kids that probably aren’t the easiest to lift. When she leaves to go check on another patient I get dressed. Unlike most of the people around here, I try to look nice. I pull on an emerald green top from Forever 21 with a leather jacket. Nurse Jamie already helped me put my jeans on. Do you know what the best part about not being able to walk is? To not have to worry about shoes giving me blisters, so I wear very high black heels. I throw my long, dark hair into a french braid. I swiftly put on some mascara and I am out the door.

I wheel out of my room to meet Bailee in the cafeteria to get breakfast.

As I turn the corner I see her sitting on a bench with Dr. Santiago and that girl from last night. The one that looks identical to her. They both are chattering away like crazy people, with an intense look in their blue eyes. I stare at them, not sure how to feel. Happy? Relieved? Curious? Jealous? I don’t know.

“Hey!” I hear from down the hall.

“Jason!” I reply, making sure that Bailee and her look alike don’t hear me.

I start to go towards him and we bump into each other the middle of the hallway. He leans in for a hug but I stop him.

“Did you see that girl who looks like Bailee, what is her story?”

“My mom told me that she and Bailee were conjoined twins that were separated.”

“Oh, then I should probably leave her alone for the day so she and her twin can catch up with each other,” I say still having mixed feelings.

For most of the day I sit in my room reading magazines until Jason comes in. His short brown hair is ruffled in a cute, messy way.

“Want to go on an adventure?” He asks with a smirk.

“Sure,” I reply smiling at him.

Hands linked, we both roll a couple blocks over to my old high school. I am now tutored at the hospital since I can’t go to school while I am apart of some important doctors’ experiment. Through the gym doors we go. Breath in. Breath out. I gaze at all of the familiar faces.

“EMILY!!!” screams Lindsey, who has greasy, black hair and wide hips. She shoots me a crooked smile. I try to smile back, I fail. I never really liked her anyway.

“Hey, guys!” I yell back, trying to sound enthusiastic, even this place is where my many nightmares take place. After a half hour, my emotions are all over the place and my tears are threatening to spill. I come up with a lame excuse to have to go back to the hospital. Jason knows me so well that he follows along.

“It’s okay.” He whispers on our way back to the hospital, trying to sympathetic.

“It’s just that I will never be able to cheer again, or even walk the halls at school.”

I’ve lost it. I am sobbing into my hands until Jason holds me.

“ Just think,” Jason states, “If this didn’t happen to you you would have never met Bailee or me.”

He has a point there.

We get back at the hospital and go to Jason’s room. He lifts me up like I am a child going to see Santa Claus and puts me on his lap. I lay my head on his shoulder, relieved. We sit like that for what feels like hours just talking until a nurse comes and forces me to go back to my room.

That night, I start thinking about Bailee and her twin. I realize that all the reactions I had for seeing Bailee’s twin the first time were unnecessary. I am happy for Bailee.