A Summer To Remember

Running Into Walls

Jade left not long after Jake did. Her mom showed up and caused a scene in the waiting room. The nurses wouldn't let her back to see me, apparently per mom's request. She wasn't happy about that in the slightest.

Jade begrudgingly went with her, her eyes cast down as she hugged me and said goodbye to mom. I knew it'd be a long car ride home with her mother.

The nurse informed us, once things settled into a peaceful silence, that I'd be able to leave early the next morning. I was taken off the IV and oxygen and able to relax. Well... as much as I could in a hospital with Jade on my mind.

Mom was busying herself with cleaning up the room when I woke up the next morning. She folded an outfit for me to wear home out of the bag Jake packed for me. Her forehead was creased and I could tell she was deep in thought.

I pushed myself into a sitting position and ran a hand through my hair. "What are you doing?"

"We're leaving soon. I wanted to have your stuff ready to go when we leave."

"Mom." She didn't look up, continuing to mess with various items in the room. Items that she didn't need to worry with, honestly. "Mom."

Finally, she looked up at me. Her eyes were red and puffy. "Dylan-"

"Are you okay?"

She nodded and I could tell she was itching to get back to busying herself.

Her nod was unconvincing but I dropped it. I didn't want to get into anything heavy with her at the hospital. Not when we had to check out and drive home.

I reached behind me and pulled the string of the gown loose, letting it fall to my waist. Then I grabbed the outfit mom had neatly folded, almost hating to unravel it to wear it. I pulled a thick sweatshirt over my head and pushed my arms through the sleeves. I was a bit glad the sleeves were longer and could hide the fact that I only had one hand.

Then I pulled my wheelchair close to the bed and lifted myself into it, getting better at using it than I had several weeks before. I grabbed the folded shorts and set them in my lap so I could wheel myself to the bathroom to finish getting changed.

When I opened the door and came out, mom was looking at her phone. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, her legs stretched out in front of her. Her hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail with strands hanging at the sides of her face.

"I'm ready when you are."

She lifted her head and I saw her eyes glance at my wheelchair. "You don't want your prosthetics?"

I shook my head. "This is a little easier. I'm still kind of tired."

Her lips twitched like she was going to smile but she held it back, refusing to let herself be happy. And I couldn't understand why.

She gathered up all my things and followed me out of the room. Jake was sitting in the waiting room, slouched in the chair with his phone in his hands. He looked like he could fall asleep at any minute.

I raised my eyebrows as I stopped my wheelchair in front of him. "You look like shit."

"I had to get up at four to get here on time."

"You poor thing." I said, rolling my eyes.

He lifted his eyes to meet mine. "A thank you would be nice."

I rested my elbows on the armrests at my sides. "I'll make it up to you by getting mom to get us pizza for dinner."

He smiled. "I'm sure Mel would be more excited about that than me."

"Anything's better than mom's cooking."

"I heard that." Mom mumbled from the nurses' desk where she was signing paperwork.

I pulled my phone from the duffle bag hanging off my wheelchair and frowned when I saw Jade hadn't texted me at all. I wasn't sure if I expected her to but I at least wanted some reassurance that everything was okay.

Jake glanced at my phone, probably picking up what I was thinking. But he said nothing.

I cleared my throat and pulled a piece of fuzz from my sweatshirt. "Thanks for picking Jade up the other day."

He nodded. "She needed to know you were okay."

"Do you think we're moving things too fast?"

"Your situation is different than most. She has issues and you... well..." He nodded at me, most likely referring to the fact that I was missing two and a half limbs. "It's different than me and Cassie."

"Cassie's not... like everyone else."

"She knows how to not run into walls so I'd say she's just fine."

I wanted to kick him but that was impossible due to my lack of said legs. "That was, like, one time."

He rolled his eyes and sat up as mom approached us. "Try about ten."