Boundless Love

World's End

Levi's POV...

Wow this place really is beautiful! Peaceful  actually, and no one seems to bother with us; which makes it even better.

I can't believe Charlotte brought me here. She manages to surprise me with something new every day; usually I'm too angry at the world to always notice. I've been stuck at rehab for months...of course Charlotte would do something like this for me... one of her many distractions she calls them. This is definitely her best idea of a distraction so far.

I look over to her, she looks so content walking next to me, holding my left hand while my other hand propels my wheel. I almost forget that I'm not actually walking with her, but it almost feels like it. She's not standing in back pushing me, or walking ahead because she thinks I'm too slow, instead she's keeping with my pace gently squeezing my hand to let me know she's with me. She makes me feel somewhat normal. It's astonishing really how such a small act of kindness can make someone else feel better about themself.

The carriage paths are wide and flat, making it easy for us to enjoy. It doesn't feel like we're right outside the city. It's quiet here, we're surrounded by trees, marshes and wildlife. It's incredible!

"Shit!... look over there, there's two deer!" I nudge at Charlotte.

" Look at them, they don't even mind that we're here!" I say with surprise. I've never actually been up close to a deer before, I thought they'd run away as we got closer, but it appears we're no bother to them.

There are so many different birds I've never seen before either. " That one looks kinda like you," I tease Charlotte.

" Hahaha.... well that one looks a lot like you," she laughs back, pointing to a bird who looks like it has a mohawk on top of its head.

I laugh back, " Touché ."

Not much longer and we get to an open grassy area off the path. Charlotte grins from ear to ear then says, " This is a perfect spot to have lunch."

"Wow! This is nice," I admit back. From this spot we have a hella view of Hingham harbor and the Boston skyline. It's almost resembles a painting.

Charlotte places a blanket down on the grass and takes a few containers out of the backpack.

I look at the blanket on the ground. I'm not sure if I like the idea of her trying get me to sit on it. My trunk control isn't the best.

" What are you doing?" I ask her, my voice clearly disappointed.

" We're going to sit here and have lunch while enjoying this beautiful view," she confidently states.

"How are you going to get me back in the chair again after?" I ask, making it known that I'm starting to feel on edge. This is no time to start having a panic attack and ruin the best afternoon I've had in months.

She walks over and stands directly in front of me. Facing me, she bends down, places her hands on my shoulders and tries to convince me that everything will be fine. "We'll figure that part out when it's time," she says with a smirk.

I sit in my chair, frozen for a moment then look around to see if anyone is watching us. "Levi are you okay?" She asks me. When I nod, she goes to my left side, takes my left arm and wraps it around her shoulder then wraps her right arm around the back of my waist, supporting me. I help her by using my right arm and leg to push up from the chair. I'm not wearing my leg braces so trying to stand up is a struggle, but surprisingly we manage and sit down onto the blanket together.

" See that wasn't so bad," she remarks.

" I guess not," I say back.

I sit, leaning on my right arm for support and watch her take out a few sandwiches and drinks, placing them in front of us. I then feel her inching her body closer to me.

Suddenly, a grape hits me square in the forehead, " Earth to Levi!" She giggles. She's holding a bag of grapes in her hand, preparing to throw another one at me.

Without any thought, she puts her right arm around my back, her hand gripping my side so I can sit up straight and use my right hand to eat. I quickly snatch the bag and toss a grape at her but she catches it in her mouth. " Oh, I see how it is now Charlie," I try joking around with her.

" Charlie huh? I though you only referred to me as Charlotte?" She smiles, and I shrug my shoulders and laugh.

We continue bantering back and forth while we eat lunch. For the first time since my accident, I finally feel a bit like myself. Charlotte not even phased that she's had her arm around me the last hour, keeping me from loosing my balance while we sit here laughing about random shit. The sound of her laugh amuses me. She's pretty funny when she's not all stressed out trying to fix me.

I don't remember the last time I laughed like this with Emma. Emma would have never taken me to a place like this, nor let me joke around with her. She usually takes offense to everything.

"This view really is amazing," Charlotte says with all seriousness. "Yes it sure is," I reply.

I really want to tell her that it's her who's amazing.

I can't tell her that though, I don't know what to make of any of this. Does she care about all of her patients like she seems to care about me? Does she pull them out of the darkness and kiss them on the forehead when they're just about to fall apart? Who am I kidding, why would I think she could ever want someone like me. She's surrounded by people like me every day, trying to fix us. I try to remind myself she's just my therapist, but I can't , to me she is so much more.

It's starting to get late she tells me. That's our cue to get back in the chair. Somehow, during our struggle to get me off of the ground, we manage to get me up into the chair without me panicking. Ok, I can handle this I think.

We talk the entire way back that it feel like only seconds pass until we reach the jeep. I admit, my height and her lack of make it difficult to get up into the passenger seat, but we survive and no one was around watching us.

Half way through our journey back to Boston I feel a sharp pain shoot through my left arm and it starts to spasm. I clench my jaw hoping to avert the pain and grasp my left arm with my right to massage it. I look out the window while trying to calmly massage my arm, praying Charlotte doesn't notice. Why the fuck is this happening right now? Is my left side always going to do this? I don't want her worrying about me again after the perfect afternoon we had.

Too late... she reaches over and grabs my left hand, pulling my arm over towards her and resting it on the middle console, then gently laces her her fingers with mine. " Just breathe," she says softly. It doesn't make the spasm go away but her hand holding mine does take my mind off of the pain. I can't help but stare at her and wonder about everything.

" Charlotte, can I ask you something?"

" We're back to Charlotte now... this must be serious," she grins, trying to lighten my mood.

"Do you think it will ever get easier?... I know I will never be the same again, but will it get easier?" I ask her.

She takes a deep breath in before speaking, " It'll get harder before it gets easier, but I promise it will get easier, you just have to make it through the hard stuff first," she peers over at me briefly and squeezes my hand. "You've got this Levi, I know you do."

I want to believe her, I really do. All I do know is that I won't be able to get through any of this without her.