Chapter 19 – Learning to Walk

When I arrived home, I found the door was unlocked. I crept inside, and I found mum sitting on the couch, still in her nightgown. She was looking at what looked suspiciously like a photograph. I put down my handbag and walked over to her.

"What are you looking at?" I asked, trying to stay calm. Mum kept her eyes fixed on the photo, but she smiled at me.

"Come and see this photo," she said, still not looking at me. I sat down beside her, and I found that the photo she was looking at was one that I recognized as being a few years old. It had been taken on the summer of four years back, and it featured our family. All of us, Mum, Dad, Max and I.

"This was the last time we were all together," said mum. She put her arm around me… this was weird. I looked back at the photo. There I was, looking posy and trying to hog the spotlight. I had forgotten that I used to that. Max was looking totally carefree, this was obviously before he found out that he was psychic. There was mum, looking smiley, one arm around Max. And there was dad, looking hardy, his arm around mum. This reminded me about something…

"Mum," I asked, looking at her, "Where's dad? Is he still at the gym?"

"No," said mum, with a sigh, "Just after you left, he was started to count up all of the gym battle defeats he had taken and he felt that there were too many. Your father is exploring Hoenn, training,"

"Oh," I said, looking back at the photo, "So who's the gym leader now?"

"One of your dad's friends for now, but one day, you or your brother will take over, as the permanent gym leader," said mum. I shook my head,

"I don't really want to be a gym leader though… it's just not the right job for me," I said, with a sigh of my own.

"I'm not angry at you for saying that," said mum, tightening her arm around me, "It'll just go to Max, I'm sure he'll want the job,"

"He will want to, the only problem is that he will never use normal Pokemon in battle and Hoenn already has a psychic gym," I said with a smirk. Mum laughed,

"Max is just like your father, so determined to do whatever he wants. Did you know, that before your father took over, Petalburg city had the flying gym, only your father had a fear of heights. The gym is allowed to have a change, don't worry. They're even starting to look the same, if Max cuts his hair, then maybe they will. I think he even inherited those psycho powers from your dad,"

"What?" I said, astounded, "Dad's a psychic?!?"

"No, he wasn't," said mum, laughing a bit, "It's just that dad always used to say that he felt like his grandmother – your great grandmother – could read minds, and that she seemed to know everything, she also seemed to be able to cook everything so quickly, as though she could cut things without a knife. That was before psychic powers were studied and completely discovered though, so everybody just thought she was strange. Now dad just says that he was hallucinating back then but I'm starting to think that his grandmother was a psychic though, explaining how our little Maxie ended up like he is,"

"Mum," I said, smiling at the photograph in her hands, "Do you think we will all be together again? As a family,"

"I'm sure we will one day," said mum, smiling back at me.

As the week passed, things seemed to steadily get better. Drew was slowly getting over his injuries, and slowly, he was getting his strength back. Mum returned home and then came back, ready to stay with us for a while. My sixteenth birthday was drawing nearer and the truth about my pregnancy was really sinking in now. I often found myself just rubbing my stomach, I really couldn't believe that I was going to become a mother.

Exactly a week before my birthday, I found myself in the hospital with Drew. He could sit up now, but he was still very weak. Mum, Ash and Casey had all gone out to buy things for my birthday. There I was, sitting with Drew. This was when the nurse walked in. I hadn't actually talked to any of Drew's nurses before, but they all seemed pretty nice.

"Hello Mr. Adams," said the nurse as she entered the room, "How're you feeling today?"

"A bit better than yesterday," said Drew with a little smile. Drew had vomited once the previous day, but he had gotten quite comfortable with sitting up.

"Oh," said the nurse, then noticing me, "This must be your girlfriend?" she added. Drew nodded, the nurse smiled at me.

"I'm glad that you're here," the nurse continued, "I'm Hannah. Anyway, I thought that if one of Drew here's friends could come in today, he could go around for a little walk with them, it's been a week since his injury, and maybe it's the right time to get him back on his feet,"

"Walk?" said Drew, sounding weakly surprised, "I don't think I can walk,"

"Your girlfriend is going to go with you, and don't worry… you'll be fine, you're a very brave young lad," said Hannah, smiling at Drew. She really did seem to be nice, "If you get sore, or can't walk for whatever reason, don't worry. I'm going to stay here and change your bed sheets, so don't worry,"

"But how far will I have to walk," said Drew, he looked panicky, "I don't even think I can stand up,"

"Drew," I said, looking at him, "I'm coming with you. I'll hold your hand, don't worry,"

"You have a girlfriend just as sweet as you," said Hannah, smiling at me, "You only need to walk as far as you can manage. If you can't walk, then you don't have to, we're just going to try getting you to walk the hospital corridor,"

"Okay," said Drew, looking slightly defeated, "I'll try, but I don't think…"

"You'll be fine," I said, moving closer to the bed.

"Good," said Hannah, "Now Drew, can you take your girlfriends hand, and just try to push yourself up. It will hurt a bit I understand, but just try,"

I reached out and grabbed one of Drew's hands. It was still bandaged, but not as heavily as it had been. I could feel how soft and tender his hand was beneath the bandages. Drew tightened his grip on my hand and bit his lip. With that he sat up slowly, and tried to push up his body. He gave a little scream, but still managed. I smiled at him.

"See, how was it?" I asked, looking into his face. He shrugged.

"I don't know… it was okay, but my chest hurts. I just can't walk," he said, sounding teary. I pulled him slightly closer and put my free arm around him, being careful not to touch the areas which were causing him pain.

"It'll be okay," I whispered, he looked up. There were tears in his eyes, "I'll be right here beside you, okay,"

"You're doing really well," said Hannah, "Now, can you just take a few steps. One at a time… easy does it,"

Drew's grip on my hand got tighter. He slowly lifted one leg, and took his first step since his injury. I made to clap, but I didn't want to let go. He looked slightly relieved.

"See," I said, laughing slightly, "You're fine… let's go for a walk through the corridor,"

"You're coming too, right?" said Drew. I nodded.

"Of course, I'm not going to leave you," I said. He gripped my hand even tighter, now it was almost painful, but I knew that it didn't come close to the pain that Drew was experiencing, I really was proud of him. He continued to take small steps, hesitating before each one and then looking relieved once he had put his foot down. He wouldn't let go of my hand though, perhaps he was scared of falling. When we reached the door, I led him out into the hallway. We had gone about two third of the way up, when Drew's free hand just clutched at his chest, and his breathing became heavy.

"I can't go any further," he said looking at me and shaking his head, "It's just too painful,"

"You're doing well so far," I said, bending slightly forward and kissing him on the cheek, "I think you can go to the end of the corridor at least, I know you've got it in you,"

Drew turned his head, and took a few more steps, still clutching at his chest. That was when his legs gave way, and collapsed. I caught him around the hip with my free hand, and I bent down, lowering him to the floor. He obviously couldn't go very much further, but I was still proud of him.

"I'm such a loser," said Drew, there really were tears flowing from his eyes now, "I can't even walk… I don't think I ever will be able to,"

"We'll try again tomorrow," I whispered, smiling at him, "Don't worry, you will be okay in a few days. You got really far for your first try… and also, just remember that whether you can walk or not, I'll love you all the same,"

"Really?" said Drew, he raised his hand to wipe his face, "I love you so much May… thank-you,"

"None of this is your fault," I muttered, "I'll carry you back,"

"No way," said Drew, shaking his head, "You're already carrying my baby, and I already feel like I'm a burden to you,"

"I'm not going to leave you here and going to run back and getting Hannah. I'm not just going to leave you, even for a second,"

"But May, no girl carries her boyfriend. Not even for a second," said Drew desperately.

"Then I'm not a girl," I said, reaching down and heaving him up. For his age, Drew was pretty small in stature. Only a little taller than me, he was rather thin. He wasn't as heavy as I had expected either.

"You're so much like my mother," said Drew, giving in, "She was the last person to carry me,"

"Shhhh," I whispered, walking slowly back to Drew's ward. When I arrived, I found that Hannah had just finished changing the bed sheets and was marking something on Drew's status sheet. When she noticed me carrying Drew, she looked a little surprised but then she smiled.

"You are both really sweet," she said, beckoning me to Drew's bed, "How far did you get?"

"Almost to the end of the corridor," I said, resting Drew in his bed. Hannah once again looked surprised.

"Wow, you really are a very brave boy," she said to Drew. I looked down to find that he had closed his eyes and was supposedly asleep. Hannah noticed too.

"I think he's exhausted, fifteen is too young for all of this, not to mention how he has a rather small body for his age," she said, "How long have you two known each other for?"

"Since we were both twelve," I said, letting go of Drew's hand, "Time really flies… now we're expecting our first child,"

Hannah's eyes darted to stomach.

"I'm not showing yet," I said with a little laugh, "I only became pregnant a little while ago, about a week before Drew got hurt… it seemed to raise his spirits when I told him,"

"Wow," said Hannah, nodding, "Well, good luck with your pregnancy,"

"Thanks," I said with a smile.

--

I set off home with that. I didn't want to disturb Drew, Hannah was probably right, Drew was exhausted. He was well on the way to recovery though.

When I arrived home, I found that everyone was already there. Ash and Casey were playing chess and I could smell chicken from the other room, which meant that mum was cooking.

"Checkmate!" said Casey triumphantly as I walked in, "Ash, seriously, did you get to the Pokemon league on strategy? Because you suck at chess, no offence, but this is the fourth time I've beaten you in a row!"

"What does chess have to do with strategy?" said Ash, looking revolted, "Chess is just a stupid game. Ugh, can we do something else?"

"Hi May!" said Casey, ignoring Ash's comment as she noticed me, "How's Drew?"

"He's Good," I said, sitting down to watch their game, "He's really tired now, see, we went on a walk,"

"Can he walk now?" said mum, who had just entered the room, "I thought he was still too weak…"

"This was the first time, we got pretty far but I was holding his hand and everything. He collapsed half way through though, and I had to carry him back,"

"Oh, you carried him back? Wow, that must have made him happy," said mum.

"What do you mean?" I asked, slightly confused.

"May, from the moment I met Drew, I could tell that he was very lonely… the way he used to criticize you like that, I think he was only trying to help, but he's been having trouble socializing. I think it's because of his parents dying, also, I don't think he ever was all that healthy,"

"What?" I said, a little surprised, "Never really was healthy?"

"Yes. He's always looked a bit sick to me. Also if you check his statistics on the chart, you'll find that he's pretty underweight, maybe he was like that when he was born, he did say something about his mother having complications with reproduction,"

"Maybe you're right, perhaps he was born premature or something," I said, sighing. Drew really was extremely unfortunate. Then something struck me. "Mum! Will that effect my pregnancy? If Drew's mum wasn't very adapt to it… will I be okay?"

"How your pregnancy goes has nothing to do with the father, it has more to do with how your mother went through it,"

"But-" I stuttered, "Mum, you said that you didn't cope very well either,"

"I was pretty fine with you, to be honest it was Max who was complicated," said mum with a smirk, "But I've worked out a reason behind that. Apparently being pregnant with psychics is meant to be three times harder than to be pregnant with someone who's not,"

"How'd you know that?" said Ash, who had been listening in. Mum laughed.

"I figured that I'd better get to know my own son,"

So peace had been restored between my family. Mum wasn't angry at me, or Max. I visited Drew in hospital for every day of the following week. Slowly, he began to walk faster and faster, and a few days later, he was almost back to normal. Occasionally cringing and sometimes a little weak and exhausted, Drew was generally getting better, for which I was glad. My birthday was steadily getting closer, and I knew that - despite everything that had happened - it could still be a sweet sixteen.