Chapter Ten
Visiting Day
On Saturday, Tori was finally reunited with her friends. They came by after breakfast. Her famous smile returned when she saw them.
"Welcome back, chika!" Andre rumbled with a smile. He kissed her cheek and pulled her into a tight embrace.
"Hey, Girl!" Carly added.
"It's good to see you guys!" Tori declared, as Allison greeted her with a hug.
"Good to see you too, Tori!" Beck rumbled.
"Hi, Tori!" Cat squealed and hugged her friend tight. "I missed you!"
"Missed you too, Kitty!"
Robbie carried a bouquet of balloons when he came into the room. "There's our girl!"
When she saw him, she traded glances with Jade. "Robbie Shapiro! Get over here right now!" she insisted, patting the bed. Robbie approached the bed. She pulled him into a tight embrace, her eyes closed, and kissed his cheek. "Thank you!"
"My pleasure." He released her. "But, it was no big deal, really. I did what needed to be done."
"It was too me."
Robbie squeezed her hand. "Well...you're welcome. It was a no brainer. Besides...I owed you one."
Tori smiled. "Well...I won't ever forget this, Robbie!" she stated and hugged him again. "And I won't ever be able to repay you."
"You don't have to, Tori," he said. "Just get well so you can go back out on stage again and do what you do best."
"Robbie speaks for all of us, Tori," Allison added.
Tori looked at her friends. She didn't want to think where she would be without them. "I think I can make that happen." Damn right I will!
"You better!" Jade stated.
"Can we join this party, too?" Sinjin spoke up.
"Hey, Sinj! Please!" Tori replied.
Sinjin and Marcie swept into the room with Burf and his girlfriend, Chloe. Burf no longer sported his afro, having switched to a more modern look.
"It's so good to see you awake, Tori!" he commented.
"Thanks, Burf."
Freddie and Melanie arrived with Sam, Gibby and Lisa a few minutes later. They all embraced Carly.
"Looks like a regular party in here!" Freddie remarked.
Jade noticed the frown on Tori's face. "What's wrong, babe?"
"Someone's missing."
Robbie knew who that someone was. "Ah...hold on a sec." He had skillfully kept hidden the backpack he stored Rex in. A moment later, he slid his alter ego on his right arm.
Tori's face brightened when she saw him. "Rex! Thank you for bringing him, Robbie" she declared. "I've actually missed him!"
"I've missed you too, Tori," the puppet said.
"C'mere you goofy puppet. I want to give you a hug!"
Robbie brought Rex in closer. Tori hugged him. "Sorry...forgot you don't like being called a puppet."
"You can call me a puppet anytime you want, Tori," Rex replied.
Sam frowned. "Never thought I'd be happy too see that rejected Muppet again"
The group laughed. Tori could only chuckle. "Ow." Gotta stop laughing.
"So...what did the doctors say?" Marcie inquired. "Is everything gonna heal right?"
"Hopefully. My arm should be fine. My right leg, too," Tori replied. "My left leg got the worst of it, but it should heal OK. But, it looks like I'm gonna have a permanent limp."
"How come?" Cat asked.
"When my leg broke, a small fragment shattered," Tori explained. "Doctors couldn't repair it. My left femur bone is now a little shorter than the right one, because of that so I'll have a limp from now on. I also have two steel plates in there to help stabilize the leg, which are permanent."
"You can still perform though, right?"Sinjin asked.
Tori nodded. "Oh yeah. I'm not gonna let a little limp stop me."
"Attagirl!" Beck chimed in.
"Could be worse, huh?" Andre commented.
"Yeah...I feel lucky to be alive," Tori replied. "A permanent limp is a small price to pay for all that."
"You going to have to do physical therapy?" Allison inquired.
Tori nodded and sipped the water Jade had poured her. "Yes."
"How are you feeling otherwise?" Chloe inquired.
"Not bad, I guess. Having pain here and there where my spleen is," Tori said. "And I have to keep this abductor pillow between my legs. Keeps my hips in alignment so my bones heal properly."
"Getting much sleep?" Burf wondered.
"Yeah, They have me on pain medication that zonks me before I go to sleep. The nurses come in about every 2-3 hours to reposition me to prevent bed sores."
"Gross," Cat murmured.
"May we come in?" Lane asked, knocking. Sikowitz was with him.
Tori's trademark smile creased across her face once again when she saw them. "Lane! Erwin! Of course!" She spread her arms in a welcoming gesture.
"That's the best thing I've seen in days!" Sikowitz rumbled. He carried a balloon and flowers with a handwritten note that said simply Welcome back, Tori.
Both men came over to the bed, embraced their former pupil and kissed her cheek before greeting the rest of the group.
"How are you feeling?" Lane inquired. .
Tori wiped her eyes and reached for her water. "Broken," she muttered with a frown. She'd never had a broken bone in her life until now. "But, OK, otherwise."
"You gave us quite the scare there, Kiddo, you know that?" Sikowitz said.
Tori nodded. "Yeah...guess I did." With each visit from someone she cherished, Tori seemed to regain a little more energy and strength. The unbreakable bond she had with these people, helped bring her back. "I'm sorry."
Sikowitz squeezed her hand. "You have nothing to be sorry for, my dear."
"Its the two dumb asses that hit you that should be sorry!" Gibby snorted.
"They'll pay, Gib," Sam assured, hand on his shoulder.
They better. "Yeah they will," Jade stated. They nearly took Tori away from me!
Jade whipped out her cell phone for a group selfie, heir friends crowding around them. Tori mugged for the camera and gave the 'thumbs up' gesture. The list of old friends grew when Tori's musicians joined the group. A few minutes into their visit, Tori and Jade shared their news with them.
"You're gonna have a baby?" Cat squealed. "Yay!"
"Congrats you guys!" Beck rumbled and moved to hug them.
"That's really great news, you two!" Kim exclaimed.
Jessie nudged Luke. "Speaking of news," she began, " we have some of our own."
Tori couldn't help but notice the glow emanating from both Jessie and Luke. She traded glimpses with Jade. "Don't tell me; you're pregnant, too?"
Jessie blushed and shook her head. "No. Engaged..."