"See, it wasn't that bad." Ella tapped him on the shoulder. The pain was still there but Ezra placed the temporary heating pad the nurse had given him on his stomach. There was slight relief so he was able to become a little more comfortable, at least enough to talk.
"Thank you, Ella." She kissed his forehead before helping him into the front seat. "Is Aria still out?"
"Byron probably held her up, don't worry sweetie." Ella rubbed his arm in that supporting mom way. They pulled into the pharmacy that was five seconds down the road and picked up Ezra's prescription. "I'll be right back." He sat in the car absentmindedly vigorously moving his leg and shaking the hand that was holding the heating pad up to his lower stomach. Ezra stayed like that until Ella was walking back to the car and he unlocked the door for her.
"How much was it?" He started to grab his wallet out of his back pocket.
"Yeah, ok like I'm going to let you pay. Ezra you're practically my son, I can pay for a prescription." Ella began to drive off.
Ezra took a deep breath and decided to get something off of his chest. "Do you think we can make it?"
"You and Aria?" She continued driving down the main street lined with small businesses.
"Yeah, I mean after all I've done. I feel like we are ok right now because she feels bad for me. Once I'm out of the wheelchair and fully recovered, I don't know what to expect. What I did was more than unacceptable and I realize that now, but I don't want to work so hard at something that she doesn't want." Tears began to pool in his rich brown eyes. "I don't want to lose her." His voice cracked, he sniffed a little bit and covered his eyes to shadow the inevitable tears.
She held his hand and pulled into the Cheesecake Factory parking lot. She took out her phone and dialed a number, "Hey Byron, is Aria there?" Ella pulled into a parking spot and shut the car off. "Can you do me a huge favor and keep her at your house for dinner? She's going to say no, but just call me and ask if it's ok. Don't tell her I called." Ezra stared at her with disbelief. "Great thanks, bye."
"What was that?" His eyes were wide with innocence.
"We are going home to talk. You need some time away from each other anyway." Ella smiled and started the car. They stayed mostly quiet the rest of the ride home.
"Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean what if she finds out?" She laughed at his genuine concern.
"Ezra, calm down okay? You need to get this stuff off your chest or else you are going to just explode in front of Aria. And I know you don't want to do that." They pulled into the driveway and Ella wheeled him into her quaint house. She finished heating up the pasta and they sat on the couch to eat it. "So, what were you saying before about you and Aria?"
He twirled his pasta around the silver fork. "I don't know what to say. I mean we are totally fine now but I don't know if it's just an illusion. When I'm back to normal, will she still be like this or will the reality of what I did hit her hard? What I did was awful and I will regret it for the rest of my life whether we are together or not." Ezra pressed his lips together and swallowed hard, his eyes began to fill up again. "I want to be with her for the rest of my life... I love her."
"I know that I'm not the key person to be giving relationship advice right now, but I'm going to try anyway." She took a deep breath in. "Ezra, you love her so much and I have never doubted your love or questioned her safety when she was with you. I've known Aria her whole life and Byron and myself have raised her to have an independent mind, as you have seen. From my experience with love, it also has an independent mind. Sometimes things will go how you expect them to go but other times it won't work like that. Sometimes you will be thrown a curveball but as long as you keep working at it together and you show her how much she means to you then you will be fine." She hugged him tight. "And as Aria's mom, I am beyond happy that she is with you because you will fight for her like this."
"When you love someone, it's worth fighting for no matter what the odds." Ezra smiled his crooked boyish smile and the light came back to his eyes for the first time since he came home.
