Late that afternoon, after Garrett dropped by, Jason suggested we go for a drive. I looked at him to see if he was joking. He was not joking.
I looked at him with severe skepticism. "Jason, I'm not really the best companion for hiking right now," I said, laughing.
"No, it's nothing like that. C'mon. It'll be fun. I want to bring your meds with us, though, in case we're out later than I think we will be."
"Um. Ok. I guess, sure," I said, the opposite of sure. Leaving my house was the absolute last thing I wanted to do.
I went to pee before we leave, and Jason had to help me put on my shoe(s). Shoe. Jason had to help me put on my shoe. God, I hated this. I HATE being helpless, and having to rely on people for everything. People need help all the time, I get that, I need help sometimes too, but having to have someone help you do .THING. was the absolute worst to me.
Jason and I took the elevator, so I'd have my crutches with us, and I waited on the sidewalk while he went to grab his car so I wouldn't have to walk far to get in. I don't know what I expected Jason to drive, but a chromatic blue '67 Chevy Impala was not it.
"I think I need help reacting to something," I said when he came to fetch me.
"What? My car? Not what you expected?" He asked, smiling.
"I…don't know what I expected. I never really thought about you driving a car, honestly."
"How did you think I got here, Tiny Terror?"
"…Magic." Jason just raised one of his eyebrows at me, and shook his head.
"May I, my lady?" He asked, right before he picked me up. He'd already put my crutches in the trunk. He gently put me in the front seat and I sat confused for a minute before realizing this car was built before shoulder/lap seatbelts were a thing. It was just a lapbelt.
"Your car is even older than mine, but you give me shit about how old my car is!" I cried when he got behind the steering wheel.
"Yeah, but mine's vintage," he said, sounding absurdly proud of it.
"This is a really nice car," I agreed. "You've – I assume it's you – done great maintenance on it."
Jason gave me skeptical side-eye. "You know cars?"
"A little. My dad and Mike worked on our cars together – that was their 'thing'. But I've been listening to Car Talk on NPR since I was a baby. I mean, I know enough to know what a lovingly maintained car looks like, Jase."
"Fair."
"Where are we gooooiiiinnnng?" I asked, going out of my mind with curiosity. He was taking us out of the city, so I wasn't sure where we could be going. There wasn't much out this way, other than cities farther away.
"You'll find out soon – we're not far."
There wasn't much this way. Except for Wayne Manor.