The first thing I noticed, the next time I was able to visit Artie, was that sitting on the edge of his nose was a new pair of black rectangular glasses. The second thing, and probably the biggest shocker of the two, was that in his hands was a pair of thick needles with a train of periwinkle yarn hanging from them.
"You're...knitting?" I questioned.
"Mom got sick of me complaining about how bored I was...so she taught me how. "He said placing his work on the side table.
"Oh good." I said taking a seat in the chair across from the bed. "Now you can save your family money by making your own sweater vests."
He laughed sarcastically, placing his hands in his lap. I definitely picked fun at his wardrobe more then I should have at times, but it was all out of love.
"Can I get a proper greeting now?" He asked holding out his arms straight out towards me.
"Yeah." I laughed shaking a strand of hair out of my face.
I pushed up on the chair with my hands to aid myself in standing up. After taking a few steps towards the bed, I gently placed myself on the edge of the bed. Soon I was pulled into his torso by the long veiny arms that held me.
"Hello." I said resting my chin on the upper part of his chest.
"Hi." He said with a big grin as he pointed his face down to look at me.
I contemplated stretching my neck up to quickly kiss him, but still wasn't sure where we stood, so I didn't. Instead, after he released me, I rolled on to my back and laid across his lap.
"Comfortable?" He asked raising an eyebrow.
"Very." I said with a slight nod.
Actually, comfortable was a bit of a stretch. Artie's legs were quite bony, and while probably not the best thing for my back, I was too lazy to get up plus I enjoyed the bonding. I did get more comfortable though once I put my feet up on the chair next to the bed. My eyes traveled around the room until a black book-looking object, which sat on the table, caught my attention.
"Hey Art, what's that?" I asked using my elbows to sit up.
"It's our family scrapbook." He said sliding it off the table and letting it plop next to him. "Mom kinda had the same idea that you did…bringing in old photos and such to make me feel better."
"That was nice of her." I said.
"Here…I wanna show it to you." He said placing the book in his lap and patting the empty space next to him.
I fully sat myself up, and scooted down to the end of the bed Artie was at. He undid the snap on the side of the book and opened it to the first page. He then placed it in the middle so I could see just as well as he could.
After going through multiple pages of Artie growing up, he suddenly stopped and hesitated going on to the next page. I watched a muscle twitch in his cheek as he looked down. It didn't take me long to figure out what was chronologically next.
"Tina, I'm gonna be honest with you." He started with a gulp.
"I've accepted that I'm never going to walk again, and that I'm stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of my life, but it's still…kind of hard to…" He started.
"We can skip it, Artie." I said placing my hand on his shoulder.
"No, I-I want to share it with you." He said looking at me straight in the eyes.
"Okay." I softy said.
Using one of his un-bandaged fingers, Artie reached over me, and slowly turned the page. Surrounded by hospital themed stickers that you could find at any craft store, were pictures of Artie that were marked with the date they were taken. A quoted sentence in the middle of the page also caught my eye: "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." -Martin Luther King, Jr.
"I spent the first day of autumn laid out on an operating table for eight and a half hours as they tried to undo the damage." He said placing his good hand on the page closest to him. I subconsciously nodded along to what he said.
"I have the scars to prove it." He said grabbing the loose collar of his gown and pulling it down, exposing his shoulder and upper back. Down the direct center, at his spine, was scar tissue that seemed to go on forever. Even eight years later, you could tell how carefully the wound was sewn up.
Usually Artie was very reserved about things associated with his paralysis. The only time I had ever seen him open up to someone about it was after rehearsing with the wheelchairs. Even then, I had to ease him into it. At the same time though, I liked that he felt able to approach me with the subject.
"Tee, I'm getting a tad chilly. Could you maybe grab the blanket over there for me?" He asked nodding across the room to where he was referring.
"Sure thing." I said swinging my legs over the side of the bed.
After a short stretch, I made my way across the room. Neatly folded over the chair in front of the bed, was a peach colored blanket. I draped the thick fuzzy blanket over my arm, trying to somewhat keep it's perfectly even folding job. The scrapbook was back on the table when I returned.
"Too much life story for one day?" I chuckled walking back over with both arms covered in blanket.
"Just getting a little tired." He said letting his head fall back onto the thin white pillow beneath it.
I smiled at his actions and sat on the edge of the bed before spreading out the blanket over the length of his long and slender body.
"Thank you." He said bringing his arms out from under the fuzzy mass.
"You're very welcome." I said using both hands to carefully slide off his glasses. Being sure not to smudge the perfectly clean lenses, I folded them up and placed them atop the Abrams Family Scrapbook. This caused a small closed mouthed smile to appear on his face.
Because I knew he wouldn't mind, and probably wanted me there anyways, I returned to the space next to him. As usual, I draped the tube that led to his IV over my waist so I wouldn't hurt him.
"Sorry that I'm so tired all the time." He said turning his head to the left.
"Don't be." I said wrapping my arms around the one attached to the IV.
"You're in the hospital, you shouldn't be apologizing for anything."
"If you say so." He said shrugging.
I rolled my eyes and gave his arm a gentle squeeze. Honestly, I didn't mind him tired as long as it ended up like this. Once I noticed that his eyes were closed, I did the same hoping to possibly catch up on my missed sleep for the week.
A/N: It's not genius, it's not long, and more of a filler then anything - but I felt the need to post something. This was kind of a last minute idea, so I apologize. The next chapter, I've had planned for a while. By the way, the inspiration for the first part came from my boyfriend...he knows how to knit. Enjoy! :)
