Accidental Hero

Chapter 10

The weekend comes, and I guess I'll get a break from the rehab lessons. Breakfast is another batch of soggy toast, greasy sausage, and icky eggs, along with some orange juice and coffee. I brush my teeth and make another attempt at a shower. This time, I'm more careful. No accidents. I put on a clean set of sweats, and plop down in the recliner. I flick on the tv and pretend that I'm interested in the Saturday morning cartoons. I'm really getting bored around here.

I hear someone coming up the hallway who must be wearing gym shoes. Squeak squeak. There's a knock on my door, and I tell whoever it is to come in. The door bursts open. "Would you like a morning paper?" I look toward the sound of her voice. My visitor comes to a screeching halt just inside the door, so fast I swear I smell rubber burning. She must have realized what a dumb thing that was to say to a blind guy. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I suppose not." She sounds very young, and small.

" I could use it to line the birdcage, maybe." She giggles nervously. "Hi, I'm Matt. And you are...?"

"Jenny. I'm a candy striper, a volunteer here at the hospital. They don't let me do much other than bring newspapers or flowers around to the patients, but it's fun to meet people." She hesitates for a moment, then goes on babbling. "What happened to you?"

Subtle, she's not, but she sounds sweet, and at least she's not one of the stuffy old nuns that drop by to see me. I decide to have a little fun with her. "Got in a fight with some dude at school. You should see how HE looks." She gasps. Maybe that's not a good idea to tease her. "Oh, just had a little accident. Got hit by some stuff that fell of a truck."

"Wait...are you the one that saved that man from getting run over by the truck over in the Kitchen? I saw that on the news. They said he was okay, but whoever knocked him out of the way got hurt. It's you? Wow, you're a hero! Wait 'til I tell my friend Krissy about this! Are you going to be all right?"

"Hang on, Jenny, take a breath!" Her words tumble out so fast that the girl sounds like she's going to faint or something.

"Ohmigod! I've never met a celebrity before. This is just so unbelievable. What made you do it? Are they going to give you a medal or something? Can I have your autograph?"

"I'm not so sure you could read it if I wrote it. Besides, I'm no hero. Just did what I thought anybody else would do at the time, you know?" Geez, the girl is going to hyperventilate right here. I try to change the subject. "So, why do they call you a candy striper?"

"Oh, um... they used to wear these nasty little pink and white striped pinafore thingies a long time ago, like a peppermint stick, I guess. Thank god we don't have to wear those dorky outfits any more. We've got pink shirts and white skirts now. But they still call us that."

"How often do you come here?" This was the first time I'd had a visit, that I knew about.

"Once or twice a month, on Saturday. Sometimes more in the summertime if they want me. Most of the time, it's just old men who make stupid jokes and cranky old ladies with broken hips that I see here, but they seem to enjoy getting the papers and stuff. You surprised me, being young and all."

"Yeah, suppose I'm not the regular kind you meet. I'm glad you stopped by, Jenny. I really mean that. I wish you could stay a little longer. I know you must have more papers to deliver. You could leave one here for my dad if you have plenty. He can read it later when he gets here." Now, I'm babbling on.

She drops a paper on the chair. "Maybe I can come back by if I get done early. See ya!" She sounds almost like she's skipping down the hall. I wonder if she's as cute as she sounds. Hope she does come back.

-o-

Dad calls to tell me about the fight. "Son, I wish you could have been there! Your old man's still got it. I had a little problem in the first round with Kid Kincaid, but once I got him figured out, I let him have it good. Got him in the fourth round with a solid left hook."

"That's great, Dad! I know you put on a good show. When's the next fight? I want to be there."

"Slade will have to get me a match booked. Depends on who else is on the contender list. We'll see."

"Yeah, we will, Dad." I almost tell him about Dennis and the helium balloons last night, but I think he might not find it as funny as we did, so I try something else. "You should see all the flowers and stuff people have sent me. There was so much when I got back with Dave from cane practice that I asked if they could take most of it out and give them to other people to enjoy. Honestly, Dad, the smell of the flowers was so strong I thought I'd gag."

"Matty, people were just trying to be nice."

"Sure, I know, Dad. I really do appreciate it, and I had them save the cards so you could read them. Oh, and there's a newspaper here for you to read the next time you come up. Some volunteer brought it up. I don't know if it's the Bugle or not. She didn't say."

"I'll be up there in a little bit to see you, Matty. How's about I come at lunchtime so we can go to the cafeteria?"

"Fine! Come on over and we'll see if they have any more of that lemon pie. I'll tell them that you will be here at lunch so they don't bring me anything."

"Sounds good, son. Be there as soon as I can. Bye now."

"Bye, Dad." Cool. I'll be able to get out of this room for a while. Plus get a choice of what I want to eat for lunch. I find the tv remote and flip through to try out what sort of radio stations they have. Ew, public radio. No thanks. Click. Rap. Pass. Click. Country. Bleh. Click. Geezer rock. Click. Never Gonna Give You Up. Okay, something I've heard before. I'll go with this one.

The speaker on the tv remote is so tinny that it's hard to even listen to it. After a few songs, I turn it off. I think I hear those squeaky shoes coming down the hall again. No, it sounds like TWO pairs of squeaky shoes. A knock on the door.

"Come in." The two pairs of shoes enter my room, along with a nice scent of light perfume.

"Hey, Matt, it's Jenny. And I brought Krissy with me to meet you. I hope that's ok. Krissy, this is Matt. She volunteers here with me. We come over here together. Sometimes my mother drives, sometimes hers does." Rapid fire, just like before.

I hear feet shuffling, and Krissy finally speaks up, "Hello, Matt. Nice to meet you." She must not be looking up, and from the way her voice sounds, I think she's very nervous. If I didn't know better, I'd think I can hear her heart racing like a little bird's. I'm imagining stuff now. Well, imagination's all I've got. I give her a little wave.

"I'm glad to meet you, too, Krissy. Is that with a K or with a C?" I'm trying to come up with some small talk. Never been real good with that. And as best I can figure, she's not either.

"With a K, and a Y. Jenn tells me that you're a hero. What did you do?" I was right. She's not a motor-mouth like Jenny.

"Nothing that most people wouldn't have done. Just kept a man from getting hit by a truck. No big deal. Not really."

Jenny jumps in. "Matt, you're just being modest. Your picture has been in the paper and everything. I guess it was a school picture, because..."

"Because there was none of this?" I gesture at the bandages. "Yeah, I guess it was the yearbook picture."

"Where do you go to school? Or, where did you go to school? Will you get to go back? Will you have to wait until next fall?"

"I go to Brandeis. I hope they'll let me go back. I'm going to have to learn to read braille and get good at my cane travel skills before I do, though, so, yeah, probably next fall I'll be back."

"Wow! Brandeis? That's where Krissy and I go, too! We're in the arts program there. I don't remember seeing you on campus. How did we miss red hair like that on a cute guy like you?" She giggles and I think she's poking Krissy in the ribs. Because I hear a teeny ow. "You must not be on the football team." I can feel the color rising in my cheeks.

"Nah, Dad doesn't let me play sports. I'm in the honors study program for accelerated students. Not into the arts, and it's probably a good thing now, with this." I stupidly point at my eyes again.

"No wonder we haven't noticed you. You probably spend most of your time with your nose in a book." Brutally honest, this Jenny. "We're always on the other end of the campus from the library. So, what did they tell you about your eyes?"

Wow, and nosey, too! "As far as they can tell me, they're toast. Nada, zip, zero. Lights out for good."

Krissy draws in a quick breath. "Oh, that's horrible! I'm so sorry." I think she's going to cry. Please don't. I can't stand that.

I smile in her direction."It's okay. Better than being dead, I'd say. At least the stuff that spilled on me didn't kill me."

Jenny again with the questions. "How are you going to get to classes? How will you take notes? Will someone have to lead you around? Are you going to get one of those dogs?"

"Wow, Jenny, you're the twenty question queen, aren't you? They're teaching me how to navigate with a cane. It's over there in the corner. I don't know yet how I'll take notes. Maybe they'll let me use a tape recorder or something. No, I'm going to go learn the layout of the school during the summer so I won't need help getting to classes. And no, I'm not going to get a dog. We live in a small place. There's no room for a dog. Anything else?" I grin at her. She doesn't mean any harm, and it really is nice to have a little company.

"Um...no...wait! Is that a talking watch? How does it work?"

I knew there would be something else. "Oh! Yeah! I just got this. Miss Jewel...that's one of my instructors here...she gave it to me. You press this right here..." I hold out my arm and press the winding stem. "...and the crystal pops up. The numbers have dots instead, three at twelve o'clock, two at three, six, and nine, and one for all the rest. I can feel what the time is, without letting everyone know I'm checking to see how long it is until the bell rings at school. Sneaky, huh?" I take the watch off and hold it out to one of them. Krissy must be the one that takes it; she speaks up first.

"Cool. Check it out, Jenny."

"Oooh! I like it! Oh, geez, it's almost eleven! You're mom's going to be waiting for us! Here, Matt." She hands it back to me, and her hand lingers on mine just a little bit longer than I expected. I feel myself blushing again. Dammit. One of the curses of being red-headed. "Gotta run! See ya!"

I think Krissy waved at me, then realized it was a mistake. "Bye, Matt. Hope you get to feeling better soon."

"Thanks, bye." They leave without shutting the door. I hear them down the hall, waiting on the elevator.

"You shouldn't have said 'see ya' to him, Jenny. That was rude!"

"Oh, I never thought about that. But you're the one who said 'hope your feeling better.' Maybe we should go apologize. You think?" A nervous giggle, probably from Krissy. They're saved by the elevator bell. Before the door closes, Jenny whispers, "Wonder what he looks like under the bandages? What color eyes do you think he has? Think they look okay, or what?" The door shuts, and I have to wonder myself. About a lot of things.