Drive-by

chapter 8

A week later

"Ready to go home, Ms. Bonasera?" The doctor asked as he walked over to her holding the discharge papers.

"I guess."

"I'm sure you'll do fine. You're a strong person and it looks like you have a lot of support." He said with a smile,handing her the papers. She signed them and gave them back. " You are coming back for therapy right?"

"Yes."

"Good luck, you really work at it; you'll be up and outta that chair. " He said,then walked out shutting the door behind him.

A few minutes later, a nurse came in. "Guess this is goodbye." She said as she lowered the bed down, then moved the wheelchair as close as she could and put the breaks on. She smiled as she pulled the sheets off, then carefully helped Stella sit up and place her feet on the floor. " We're gonna count to three, then carefully transfer to the chair, ready?"

Umm, I-I guess so."

"I won't let you fall, promise. One, two, three." With that, she carefully lifted Stella to her feet, turned and then slowly set her in the wheelchair. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"No."

She took the breaks off,then walked around the chair and wheeled her out of the room and over to the elevator with Mac following behind them. " You happy to be going home?" The nurse asked, as they took the elevator down to the first floor.

" I'm not going home."

"You're not?" She asked,looking very confused.

Mac looked over at the nurse." She's gonna stay with me for a while,my apartment's bigger and then I can take her to therapy."

"I think that's nice. You should probably have someone with you at first, anyway. If you need assistance with anything, it'll be nice to have someone around."

" I'm not a baby!" Just then, the elevator stopped and the doors opened. The nurse pushed her out, then headed over to the front doors. "It's the black one, over there." Mac said, pointing.

"Okay" The nurse replied as she headed over to it. When they reached it, she put the brakes on then walked around the chair, and gave Stella a hug. "It was nice meeting the both of you. I hope things work out for you."

"Nice meeting you,too." They hugged for a while, then slowly pulled apart. She turned towards Mac, shook his hand, then walked away.

Mac bent down, carefully picked Stella up, and gently set her down in the front seat of his truck. Then he buckled her in and shut the door. "No one said you were a baby, I'm just trying to help you." Mac said, as they drove to his apartment.

"Everyone wants to help!"

"We all care a lot about you, so yes we wanna help."

Stella sighed and looked out the window. This was gonna be a big adjustment for her. She didn't feel like the strong, independent woman she was before this happened. She felt dependent, and she didn't like it. A while later, they reached Mac's apartment building. He parked, got the wheelchair out of the back and put the brakes on. Next, he opened Stella's door, and then reached over to unbuckle the seat belt. " I can do it myself." Stella replied,pushing the button. "Okay." Mac said as he carefully picked her up and set her in her wheelchair. He was about to push her in, when she grabbed the wheels and did it herself. He walked over to the front door and held it open for her. "Thank you."

" You're welcome", he said following her to the elevator. They got in and headed up to the third floor. When the elevator stopped, they got off and headed for Mac's apartment. He unlocked the door and let her in. " Hungry?" He asked, shutting and locking the door.

Stella wheeled herself into the kitchen and Mac followed. "You're gonna have to cook for us." She said then turned and headed over to the fridge. "You want some help?" Mac asked.

"No, I got it." She reached up for the water pitcher. "It's kind of heavy"

"I got it!" She backed up, and suddenly the pitcher fell from her hand and shattered. Mac quickly pulled her backwards away from the broken glass, carefully cleaned it up and threw it away. Then he walked over to Stella, knelt down and took her hands in his "You okay?"

"I can't do anything!"

"That's not true, Stell. I know you're frustrated,and feel like you can't; but you can do whatever you want."

"Like what?"

He got up walked around her chair, and wheeled her over to the counter, " Grab two slices of bread, and some cheese from the fridge."

"What are we doing?"

"You're going to make a sandwich for yourself, and some tomato soup."

She looked at him, then wheeled herself over to the fridge, got a slice of cheese, then headed over to the stove, put the sandwich in the pan, and turned the burner on. " See,you can do things." Mac said, handing her the spatula.

"Well, this is easy."

"But you're doing it all yourself."

Stella flipped it over,and a few moments later it was done. Mac handed her a plate. "Thank you." She said, placing her sandwich on it.

"You're welcome, now how about some soup?" Mac asked, placing her plate on the counter,and handing her a pot. Stella put it on the burner, poured the soup in,and a while later, it was done. Mac handed her a bowl, she poured some in, then put the rest in a container to save and shut off the stove.

"What are you gonna eat?"

"Maybe I'll have a sandwich and soup also." He said as he carried her soup over to the table and carefully set it down. Then went back, poured a glass of milk, and brought that over along with her sandwich and a spoon. "Enjoy your lunch."

"Thank you." She said with a smile as she picked up her sandwich and began to eat it.

He headed back over to the stove, made himself a sandwich and carried it over to the table, then he got some soup, and milk, made his way over to the table and sat down with Stella.

"Your smiling." Mac said,smiling back at her.

"It's a good lunch."

"You're happy you made it yourself,right?"

"It wasn't hard."

"I'll take that as a yes."