Risking it All

16

The next morning, I woke up to my mom handing me a cup of coffee. I stretched and yawned. Holding the cup, I shuddered at the disgusting taste of the bitter coffee. I actually wanted to go home. And apparently, Mom sensed it because she sat down next to me and looked really serious. "Kenzie," she said. I was surprised that she called me that. She hadn't called me me Kenzie since I was twelve. I had told her not to, but that day in the hospital, I liked it. "I already called your dad. He's on his way to bring you home. There's not much that you can do here but worry. And trust me, I'm doing enough of that for the both of us." She smiled and placed her hand on my shoulder. I took a deep breath. "Can I go see him?" I asked. Mom shook her head. "His dad is with him right now," she said. I sighed. "When will he come home?" I asked. Mom pulled me into a hug. "He'll be home soon," she said. I didn't believe her. I couldn't. My phone vibrated in my hand and I realized that it was a text from my dad. He was outside. I hugged Mom goodbye and walked out the hospital door.

Rain fell down on me as I walked out to the humid air. It was only eight in the morning and it was already humid. I sighed and opened the door of my dad's car. He gave me a half smile. I try to smile back, but all what I did was slightly lift my lips up slowly. I tapped the home button on my phone repetitively the whole ride home. It was the only thing I could do to not burst out into tears.
When Dad finally pulls into the ydriveway, I ran out of the car and into the house. I ran to my room, slammed and locked the door, and fell on my bed crying. I cried for what felt like an hour before Dad came in. I remembered he had a key for every door in the house. He walked over and put his hand on me, as if he were comforting me. But I didn't want to be comforted. Okay, maybe I did. I threw myself at my father and bawled my eyes out. He didn't say anything and he didn't have to. When he left, I stared at my phone for hours, as if Nick would somehow magically text me. But I knew that wouldn't happened.
I've spent hours alone before but that day, it felt like a whole year went by. Mom came home and practically forced food down my throat. "You have to eat," she told me, sliding a bowl of tomato soup in front of me. I shook my head. "I'm not hungry," I responded. Mom just shook her head and walked out of the kitchen. I stared down at the bowl of soup and realized I hadn't eaten anything in more than twenty four hours. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how hungry I was. I scarfed down the soup before Mom came back to the kitchen. I said goodnight, brushed my teeth and went to bed.
I slept until 9:30. I didn't normally sleep late though,but I was exhausted. Rolling out of bed, I checked my phone to see no texts from Nick or anyone else. I walked into the kitchen and saw Mom busy at the stove. Noticing my presence, she placed a bowl of blueberry oatmeal in front of me. While I are my breakfast, I went on Twitter and checked my 421 followers. I decided the best thing to do to not die of boredom was to let the world know about Nick through social media. So I tweeted:
Guys, let's take moment to pray for Nick, who was in that terrible car accident last night. While his condition is varying, I've known that he is very hurt and it would mean the world to me if you would remember him. #prayfornick
By lunch time, seventeen people retweeted my message. I felt glad people were spreading the world. I don't think Nick would really care. I mean, I'm only telling the whole world about what happened.
Moping around all day means you put on the worst clothes you could find and don't leave bed all day. When five o'clock came around, there was a knock at my door. "Go away Mom," I called. But the door opened and my mom did not walk in. It want my dad either. There was a slight pause as I saw the movement come into my room. From the corner of my eye, I saw a guy with black shaggy hair and brown eyes come in. He sat in an orange wheelchair. Is it sad that it took me a few moments to realize that it was my boyfriend? "Nick!" I screamed.
I catapulted off my bed and army rolled over to him. He threw his hands over his face, trying to protect himself from my dangerous body of clumsiness. He laughed though as I got up off the ground and threw my arms around him. For a few minutes, all what we did was silently hug. Being with someone had never felt better.
When I finally pulled away, he said, "I don't want this to be awkward." I laughed and say on the edge of my bed. "I never said it was," I replied. He pushed himself towards me. "Good," he said with a smile. We sat there, not talking again. I looked down at him. "So this is how it's going to be from now on?" I asked. Nick didn't answer at first. When he did, he shook his head and said, "I mean, I'm the same person, I just can't walk. I can play guitar and be a total asshole, but I can't be an asshole who walks." That made me laugh, even though I knew I shouldn't have. But Nick laughed too. He then said, "I can also do something else that I could do before." Confused, I asked, "What?"
Nick smiled and rolled over to the speakers I have and plugged his phone in. All of Me by John Legend started to play. He rolled over to me and held his hand up to me, waiting for me to join him, and said, "Dance with me, darling." Stunned, I said, "I don't dance." Nick wasn't taking no for an answer. "Neither do I," he said. "But get over here and dance with me."
I was skeptical, but Nick taught me how to live, how to be myself. Nick taught me how to break the rules. I grabbed his hand and somehow Nick started dancing. How can someone dance in a wheelchair? I have no idea. But Nick was doing it, using the wheels to spin himself around. He pulled me in and leaned back, popping a wheelie with me in his lap. I shrieked with laughter as he danced with me. Because all of me, loves all of you. He pulled me off and stared spinning again. He grabbed my other hand and pulled me in again, but my leg sticking out as I spun around in the air, once again falling into Nick's lap. He danced and didn't care what the world thought and lived like nothing mattered. Because it didn't.
When the song was over, he pulled me in for a kiss and Nick climbed out of his chair, with some help from me, and we got into bed. He started the kissing. It felt like a million raindrops came over me when our lips touched. Like a refreshing wind blew all my troubles away. We kept kissing. I forgot about everything; the accident, the tears, the horrible worried feeling I had before Nick showed up. Because that night, we got real. Nick got out of his chair, and my leg came off. That night, things got real.