The Way It Used to Be

58

Author's note:
Here is the long awaited update!  It is not my best. This chapter has been saved as a draft for months... I had to step away from writing to focus on work, and it's tough to jump right back in.
We will wrap up in a few chapters... thank you for sticking around this long!
<3

The days kept rolling in like waves, just as they always did.  I continued therapy, working harder and harder each day. At the beginning of September, I was taking steps with crutches, steadying my weight and balancing as best I could while I hobbled along.

"Easy, easy," my current physical therapist, Tyler, said. "You're gonna overwork yourself. I get the desire to be up and movin', but pace yourself."

"It's more than that," I answered, breathing hard. "This whole process is takin' too damn long."  I groaned and took another step, leaning as much weight as possible on the crutches and all but swinging my legs to keep upright and moving.

"So eager to get back to work?" he asked.

Tyler had only been my therapist for a week, and I had been so impatient and irritated that I wasn't making progress more quickly that I hadn't spent a lot of time telling him about why I wanted this to be over soon.

"He's getting married," Bailey called, waiting on me at the door. She was here right on time to take me back to my room.

"Oh yeah?" Tyler asked, walking closely on front of me, his hands reaching out as he walked backwards, ready and waiting in case I stumbled.

"Yes, sir," I said, and I couldn't help but grin. "As soon as I can walk, she promised to meet me at the end of the aisle."

Tyler grinned, then, "Well, then, I guess we better keep working."

I nodded, exhausted, but motivated. "I can keep going if you can," I added.

"Bailey, we're good for another half hour if you want to come back," he said, turning his head slightly to look at her.

"Thirty minutes," she said sharply. "He's going to overdo it." Tyler nodded, and she turned and left.

"So," he started, "Tell me about this girl."

At the end of September, I could do it. I could take steps without crutches. It wasn't the smoothest walk, and I preferred to have crutches for support. I could do it, though.

"Bailey," I said on a random Thursday when she showed up to pick me up. I took a few steps with Tyler lingering close by, always ready to catch me if I fell. "Go get her."

She grinned and turned on a dime, nearly running, it seemed back to the elevator.

When Bailey walked in with her, I melted all over again, just as I always did when I laid eyes on her. God, she was beautiful. The world spun around her. She was the axis for me.

"Hey, Miss Beau," Tyler called, immediately rushing to the door to meet her and shake her hand. They made small talk while I sat in a wheel chair in the middle of the room, looking defeated, ready to surprise her when she least expected it.

"Colt?" she said, her brow furrowed. "What's wrong?" She walked quickly, immediately ignoring everyone else in the wrong.

"Stop, Beautiful, right there," I said, holding my hand up in a 'stop' gesture.

"The hell I am," she answered, still crossing toward me. "You tell me right now what's wrong."  My stubborn girl. The hell I am. She sounded just like Verne. It was hard not to laugh.

I couldn't keep up the charade for long, and as soon as she reached me, I pulled her down so I could kiss her forehead.

"Now, stand up, and back up until I say stop," I said, grinning while I watched her.

She cocked her head to the side and began taking small steps backward. I motioned for her to stop, and I felt Tyler move closer, ready to take his position. "Let her do it," I said sharply, and he opened his mouth to protest but eventually relented. He resolved to make sure the wheels were locked on the wheelchair before standing back and crossing his arms to watch.

I noticed that Bailey had gathered some of the other nurses, and Anna and Jack were standing on the other side of a glass window that looked in on the therapy room. Everyone was watching... now was the moment.

I braced myself, locking my wrists and hands and pushing upward with both feet on the floor. She had seen me stand already, so she didn't freak out just yet.

Then, I took a step. One single solitary step toward her.

"Colt!" she cried out, her hands flying to her mouth. She reached for me, taking a step forward to hold on me.

"Don't, Beautiful," I said, "I'm okay."

She nodded nervously and watched as I took another step. Then, I took another. Ten steps total, and that brought me right to her. When I got to her, I snaked my arms around her waist.

The room erupted into applause. Jack was banging on the window, his palms flat against the glass while Anna rubbed his back.

I leaned forward and placed a soft kiss to Beau's lips.

She was crying again. It seemed to be something she did a lot these days. She hadn't been herself lately. In the last month, she'd quit eating as much or as often. When she did, she seemed repulsed by everything, and she cried on and off over everything. When I asked about it, she always chalked it up to just nerves and anxiety about me still being in the hospital.

"Write the discharge papers," I called to everyone, my eyes on Beau, as if she was the only one in the room. "I've got somewhere to be."