Chapter 4

“Ready, honey?” Bob asked quietly.

“No,” I answered in a whisper. My right-hand fingers were tapping against the armrest of my wheelchair restlessly, and I kept moving my ankle making sure it wasn’t just a dream that I was able to do that again.

After a few days of doing physical therapy, I woke up able to move my toes. When that happened, my throat got all choked up and I started sobbing happy tears. My left hand continued in the cast and my left foot wasn’t able to move or feel anything. Maybe never would be.

“Do you think you’re going to win?” I asked, looking at Bob who was sitting on the seat next to me, my grandma from my dad’s side sitting a few chairs away. I had never talked to her often. She never liked me or my siblings much either. I couldn’t understand why she wanted me and Olive to stay with her. I definitely didn’t want to go with her. Even now, she had only given me a quick hug and said she was sorry. That was it.

“I hope so,” Bob answered quietly and turned his head to peek at me. “Do you?”

I breathed out shakily. “I hope so, too,” I mumbled quietly. Grandma had a blood relationship with us while Bob had a teenage kid, a car, and a lot of experience that hadn’t expired 20 years ago. It could’ve gone one of two ways.

#

When Bob pushed my chair into the hospital room, both of the boys’ heads turned to look at us with exciting faces. “So?” Kyle asked in a hushed tone, my little sister sleeping in the crib next to my hospital bed, an oxygen mask added. I frowned at the last fact, but knowing she had problems with the breathing after the accident, I didn’t question it.

“Come on, tell us. Bob?” Evan asked.

“Yeah, I guess you’re gonna have to drive even longer now to see your sisters,” the man grinned. At that, both of the guys’ faces lit up, making me giggle as they abandoned the cards they had been playing with, and hurried to me, leaning down and hugging me tightly, together.

“Ow,” I murmured with a smile, which made them both let go immediately. No one wanted to hurt me, so instead, I managed to push my chair to the machine next to my bed and got myself the nasal cannula. It made the oxygen catching easier, and I was used to it already. It was okay.

“So,” Kyle started, sitting down on the edge of my bed. “When are we going home?”

“The other council will be in three days,” Bob said. “But we’ll never know how that goes. I’m pretty sure it will be longer than just one day. The police are going to be questioned, too.”

I nodded a little, as did the boys. Bob was the best person to ask these things from; he was a sheriff himself. “And Lizzie?” I turned to look at him, rolling the wheels all by myself—my hands had gotten stronger over the days. “Do you want your old furniture? Or are you going to keep it in there for the new people?”

“Uh… I don’t really care. If you have an extra bed in Collarpie, it’s fine too.”

The man rolled his eyes. “I’m asking you if you want to get new furniture for your room or are we going to keep the old one.”

I sighed. “I really don’t care. If you have a guest room—”

“Lizzie, you’re gonna be living with us. You won’t just get a guest room, it’ll be yours,” Kyle said softly. “Dad would never let you just sleep in an empty room.”

“I mean if you have money for it…” I asked carefully.

Bob nodded with a smile. “We’ll get you a new one.” I gave him a small thankful smile and looked at my sister sleeping. She was so tiny and adorable. It still fucked with my mind how she was an orphan now. I was, too. How stupid and idiotic was that?

“Lizzie?” Evan asked, using the nickname Kyle had given me. I turned my head to look at him, making the wheelchair turn a bit automatically. He was staring at my feet in shock as were Bob and Kyle. I frowned, looking down at it as well. No fucking way. I was tapping my right foot against the wheelchair, nice rock music blasting somewhere near us in the hospital. I hadn’t even realized I could move more than my toes. Fuck. Now I was afraid to stop.

“Take me there, okay?” I asked, panicking. “Before it stops. Fuck.”

My brother laughed at me, still in shock, but quickly came to me as I pulled the oxygen out and let him push me into the elevator in the hall.

#

In three weeks, the whole court process was over. The man went to jail for a longer time than he should’ve gone before, everybody got a fair amount of money, and even my car knowing skills became helpful in the process. Evan had had to go back to college in New York a few days ago, which left me and Olive with the Wenom men. Luckily, the two guys were the best ones I had ever met, and Bob remembered surprisingly much about me when I was a child. It just made everything so much easier.

The five of us skipped Thanksgiving this year since it was a hurtful topic for me and my brother, and instead got a whole lot of takeout and watched movies in our hospital room. It was funny and even though the morning before I cried a huge number of hurtful tears, it wasn’t as bad as I had thought.

My physical therapy was being treated heavily right now since I actually showed signs of getting better. I was able to move my right leg now, still with difficulties, but it was a big step. My ankle was perfectly fine as were my toes, but the knee movement was very hard to learn. But, because with my left one, I was only able to move my toes up and down and I felt a strong pain every time I did it, I couldn’t try the walking machines just yet. The cast around my arm was taken away, which was positive (and also a little sad, because I missed the part of Kyle’s drawings one them).

Today was the 10th of December and we were going home—to Collarpie. Kyle let me sit in the front while he was on the backseat with my little sister who he was trying to entertain, making her giggle all the time. I wished I was able to do it too. In reality, I was gripping the handle, sitting back in the seat, and keeping my eyes right forward, on the road. Bob was making it as easy as possible, driving safe and at a normal speed. Whenever some cars passed us, I was at unease. He could notice it.

“Hey, Lizzie?” Kyle asked, leaning towards, his head resting against the side of my seat.

“Yeah?” I asked with a shaky voice.

His hand reached out, rubbing my shoulder gently. “You want to sit in the back?”

“No,” I said far too fast and breathed out after that, squeezing my eyes together. “No,” I said again, a bit more relaxed.

I knew it wasn’t making sense since my sister died on the first seat and I stayed alive in the back, but I felt more in control in the front where I could see everything. “You want a break, hon?” Bob asked as we passed a sign that said there’ll be a fast food place and a gas station in 500 meters.

“Yes please,” I whispered, calming down a little thanks to Kyle’s hand that was drawing circles against my purple hoodie.

Bob pulled over in a minute, and the two got out, at first helping me into the chair (lifting me there as always), and then he picked Olive up from her seat. I was jealous of all the people who were able to walk. I hoped I could do that soon, too. I had been training my arms for a while now, lifting small weights to make them stronger, etc., which was why I could at least now move the wheelchair myself. It wasn’t as hard after a few weeks of practicing.

We went into the fast-food place and Kyle’s face lit up immediately when he saw the long list of burgers. I smiled at his excitement and we all ordered food before Bob took Olive to the restrooms to change her. Kyle took that time to make sure I was fine. “You okay?” he asked softly.

“I’ll be better once I get my coke,” I mentioned, making him smile big as we both stared towards the counter where one of the waitresses was placing ice into the glasses, bottles of soda next to them.

“Are you feeling okay, I meant,” he said, forcing me to look at him again. “It’s all a lot; I can’t even imagine moving away from home.”

I shrugged. “I’m just gonna miss my friends at my club, but it’s not like I could do biathlon without legs anyway… I feel like I prefer getting away from it for a while than just having to watch them do it every day while I’m unable to even walk.”

Kyle sighed, but we both smiled at the waitress once she brought our drinks. When she left, his deep bluish-green eyes were on me again, staring as I took a few sips from the cold coke with a smile. “You know you have a really good attitude about all of this,” he said quietly. “I would be screaming my head off all the time if that had happened to me…”

“And that’s exactly why I’m smarter than you,” I smiled, making him smirk, the smile not reaching his eyes. “If I’d scream, it’d hurt more, and it wouldn’t help.”

“Still… I’d be dead already.”

I gulped at that, not about to confess I had thought about that. “What did you order?” I asked, changing the topic. Fortunately, he got it and didn’t start questioning me about it.

After all of us had eaten—Kyle the most as always—we got back into the car. I was more relaxed this time but still kept gripping the handle of the door just in case. Only about 1.5 hours more. Kyle kept me entertained, making me sing for them and singing himself, too. He had a great voice while mine was a disaster. Which didn’t mean I held anything back. Let’s just say the two guys got to laugh. A lot.

#

“Welcome home, girls.”