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Chapter 11

"Dad, shouldn't you be at home resting?" Lorelai asked.

"Emily told me about the accident." Richard said, glancing over at Luke who was stood next to Lorelai awkwardly.

"It was an accident." Lorelai said quickly seeing his look.

Richard held up his hand. "I'm not here to blame anyone. I just wanted to see my granddaughter." He assured them. He looked over at Luke. "I know my wife may have said some things but after hearing snippets about you, I believe you wouldn't do anything deliberately to hurt any of my family. I believe it was an accident."

Luke just nodded. "Thank you."

Richard looked over at Hannah. "I know everyone's probably asking you this but how are you?"

Hannah gave him a small smile. "I'm ok, thanks. You didn't need to come. Didn't the doctor say you needed rest?" She said.

"You're more important." He said. "I brought you some books incase you had got bored." He said handing her a bag.

"Thanks Grandpa." She smiled. "Oh um this is Tristan and our friend Lane." Hannah introduced them.

"Nice to meet you." Richard smiled. "I can see you've got company but I can come and see you again if you want?"

Hannah nodded. "Come anytime."

Richard nodded and gave her a smile. "Stay positive. This is a really great hospital."

Hannah nodded.

"Goodbye Hannah."

"Bye Grandpa." Hannah smiled and watched him leave. She glanced at her mom and shared a smile with her.

The next day was Hannah's first physio session with Sarah. Hannah had reassured her mom that she would be fine by herself so Lorelai had promised to come back after it. Sarah had brought a wheelchair in with her. "This is going to be yours. Today we're just going to work with getting you in and out of it and letting you get used to moving around in it." She said.

Hannah just nodded.

"If you want to stop at any point or it's getting too much for you, just tell me and we'll take a break." She said kindly.

Hannah took a deep breath. "Ok. How am I going to get in it though?"

"Well you need to try and maneuver yourself to the edge of the bed." Sarah said. "It's essential that you keep up your core body strength as well or you'll get weak."

Hannah nodded and sat herself up, knowing this was going to be harder than she thought. She started to push herself to the side of the bed so that her legs were dangling over.

"That's it, you're doing it!" Sarah encouraged.

Hannah got to the edge and gave her a small smile.

"Well done." Sarah smiled.

"Now what? There's no way I'll be able to get into the wheelchair by myself." Hannah said worried.

"I'll help you and when you're at home, you can ask your family to help at the beginning. Soon you'll get the hang of getting into it though. It'll get easier."

Hannah nodded. Sarah went up to her and helped lift her down into the chair. Once she was in it, Hannah felt so small. She suddenly had a whole new view on her life. She realised how lucky she had been before the accident. She had taken being able to walk for granted but now she was never going to do that. She listened to Sarah as she went through how to move around in it. It was so much more complicated than she thought and it was starting to overwhelm her. It got worse when she couldn't get the hang of it.

"It takes some time." Sarah reassured her. "You just need practice."

"I don't need practice! I just need to be able to walk again!" Hannah snapped.

"I know this is hard for you." Sarah said sympathetically.

"How? How do you know that? You've never been in this situation before! You tell me everything will be ok but right now I feel useless. I can't even move around in this thing." Hannah shouted.

Just then the door opened and Luke came in. "Oh. Sorry. I didn't realise you were still having a session."

"No it's ok." Sarah said. "I think we will finish early today. It's been a bit overwhelming."

Luke glanced at Hannah who wasn't looking at either of them.

"I'm Sarah by the way." Sarah said.

"Oh. Sorry, I'm Luke. Hannah's mom's partner." He said.

"Nice to meet you." She said.

"Can you just get me back onto the bed please? I don't want to be in this chair." Hannah grunted.

Luke glanced at Sarah and then went and helped her get Hannah back onto the bed.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Hannah. I know this is all overwhelming but I'm here to help." Sarah said.

"Sorry." Hannah said quietly.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Sarah smiled and left the room.

Luke didn't really know what to say. He could see Hannah was upset. "It will get easier." He tried to reassure her.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Hannah exclaimed. "It won't get easier! It will never get easier! I will be like this forever!"

"You won't. The doctor said you can make a full recovery." Luke said softly.

Hannah snorted. "I can't use the stupid wheelchair! How am I going to move around if I can't even use it? This is stupid! I wish I'd died in that accident. Anything would be better than this!" She said not being able to stop the tears falling from her face. "I can't do this. I thought I could but I can't! It's too much! It's just too much!"

"Hey, come here." He said going over to her and sitting on the edge of her bed and pulling her into a hug. He let her sob into her chest for a while. "You don't really wish you'd died." He said softly. "You've got so much to live for. Your mom, Rory, Tristan, your friends. They all love you and want you here." He said. "Do you think my parents had wanted to die? They were ill, yeh, but not one moment passed that they didn't want to live their lives to the full."

Hannah sniffed and pulled away slowly. "I'm sorry. I didn't think." She said ashamed.

"It's fine." Luke said softly. "I know this seems overwhelming at the moment but it will get better." He said.

"How?" Hannah asked.

"With help. Sarah knows what she's doing. You will get through this. I know you can." He said.

Hannah sniffed and wiped her eyes. "I just...I just want to be like I was before..."

"You will be. And we'll do anything to help you get there. We all believe in you." Luke said.

Hannah gave him a watery smile. "Can we not tell mom about my breakdown?"

"You know you can talk to her though right?" Luke said. "She's here to help you as well."

"I know. I just...I don't want her to get upset. Please? Just this once." Hannah asked.

"Ok but promise me if you feel like this again, you talk to one of us." He said.

Hannah nodded. "I'm sorry I broke down like that."

"You don't need to be sorry." Luke said. "It's understandable."

Hannah gave him a small smile. "You'll make a great dad one day." She said quietly.

Luke was stunned.

Hannah shrugged. "How are you this good at calming people down? Does the town know about this softer Luke?"

"Hey, you tell them and I'll let Babette and Patty visit!" He warned.

Hannah giggled. "Your secret's safe with me."

Luke smirked. "Good. So...you're ok?"

Hannah nodded. "Yeh I think I just needed to let it out. Thanks Luke." She said.

"No problem." He smiled.

"I think I'll name her Bertha." Hannah said.

"Who?" Luke asked.

"My wheelchair." Hannah smiled.

"Bertha?" Luke raised his eyebrows.

Hannah shrugged. "Feels like a Bertha."

Luke chuckled. "Then Bertha it is."

Hannah smiled. What they didn't know was that Lorelai had been standing outside the door for Hannah's whole breakdown and then their conversation. She knew there and then that there was no one else she'd rather be with than Luke and she vowed she would make sure Hannah would get all the support she needs.

Hope you liked it! Please keep the reviews coming to let me know what you think! Thanks! :)