Making Our Mark
Chapter 19: Limits
"Are you sure, Miss Worthington?" the nurse asked for the third time since she entered my room that Saturday.
"I'm sure," I repeated confidently as I slid on my leather jacket. "I'm so thankful for all of the flowers and balloons that I received while here, but I couldn't possibly take them all back to campus with me, let alone keep them all in my dorm. Besides, I'm sure the other patients in the hospital can use a little something to make them smile."
"That's very kind of you," said the nurse, smiling admiringly at the flowers given to me by Johnny. "I'm certain that these will brighten their day."
"But I'd like to keep this one though," I added, pointing to Javier's elaborate floral arrangement, which was still as radiant as the day he gave them to me.
"As you wish," said the nurse, giving me a knowing look. "I assume that one's from the handsome monster who has been staying by your side overnight?"
I felt my smile grow when she referred to Javier. "Yes, it is."
"He seems like a charming, young monster," the nurse remarked with a warm smile. "I can tell from the way he looks at you that he adores you very much."
"Trust me, the feeling is mutual," I told her. "I'm very blessed."
The nurse smiled again and said, "Well, Doctor Cole should be by in a moment. I'll have some hospital volunteers come by afterwards to collect the gifts that you wish to donate to the patients here."
"Thank you, Nurse Monroe," I said gratefully.
"My pleasure," the nurse replied, watching me expectantly. "Do you need anything before I leave?"
Smoothing out my signature dress, I said, "No thank you."
The nurse nodded and exited the room.
Javier, who had opened the door for her, stepped into the room after she left and whistled once his eyes landed on me. "Looking good."
"Feeling good too," I admitted, popping the collar of my leather jacket in a cocky manner. "Almost like myself again."
"I can see that," said Javier, resting his hands behind my neck and pulling me into a kiss.
"And I won't be able to unsee that."
Pulling back from the brief kiss, I turned to see Johnny standing behind Javier with folded arms, shaking his head in disbelief at the two of us smooching in the middle of my hospital room.
"I'm not easily scared, but that will forever scar me," Johnny told me, grimacing.
"Not like your late-night escapades have," I retorted with a tilt of my head.
Javier shot a look of confusion towards me. "You've never spent the night at our house."
"I was talking about those at the Worthington estate," I elaborated, "but nice to know that staying at the RΩR house isn't an option either if I want to get some sleep."
Javier chuckled. "That bad?"
I nodded vehemently. "I have spent many summer nights in the guest room of our house whenever Johnny brings home some floozy."
"One of those floozies happens to be a Python Nu Kappa, you know," said Johnny, giving me a look.
Resting my hands over my ears, I said, "I'd rather not know who it is, thank you."
"Hey, not my fault they follow me home," said Johnny defensively, but the arrogant smirk on his lips told me that he enjoyed them doing just that.
"The more they do, the more I want to move out," I confessed wholeheartedly.
"Speaking of moving," Javier spoke up, "is there anything else that you need us to move to the car?"
"Just the flowers you gave me," I answered, scanning my room still full of flowers, balloons, and gift baskets. Although my plan was to donate most of my gifts to the other patients in the hospital, I kept anything that was personalized, including cards and the engraved cup that came with Terry's tea. I also kept any of the gift baskets that Javier and I rummaged through during our stay. "I can carry that myself."
"Not after surgery," said Johnny firmly. "Jav and I got it."
"It's just a bouquet of flowers, not a crate of beer," I pointed out plainly. "I can carry it."
"You'll carry things again when the doctor says you can," Johnny told me in a tone that hinted to me that I should drop the matter. "Did he say you can leave yet?"
"He checked me over and says I'm good to go," I told him, relenting to avoid another dispute. "He just needs to process my discharge papers first, so I'm waiting on that…very impatiently, I might add."
Johnny chuckled. "Looking forward to getting out of here, huh?"
"You know it," I answered. "Can we grab something to eat on the way back? Hospital food wasn't kind to us."
Javier chuckled. "Sí, now I understand why mi madre complains about it."
"Yeah, thank Goblin for those gift baskets full of fruit," I said. "After living off of apples and bland soup, I could use a proper meal."
"Whatever you want," said Johnny, "but let's see what the doctor says first. You said the hospital has been giving you soup, so maybe there are some things you can't eat yet."
At the mention of the monster himself, the door opened and, sure enough, Doctor Cole joined the three of us in the room. Laying eyes on Johnny, he said, "Ah, good to see you again, Mister Worthington."
"Ditto, Doc," Johnny replied coolly.
"Am I set to go, Doctor Cole?" I asked him eagerly.
"I'm processing your discharge papers now and once I sign them, you'll be free to go," Doctor Cole explained as he seated himself in a chair. "In the meantime, I would like to take this opportunity to go over some instructions that I would recommend you abide by after leaving the hospital."
"Okay," I said slowly, sitting down in the chair across from him. The shadows over my shoulders told me that Javier and Johnny came over to stand by me.
"As you know, based on my final examination, you are healing well from the surgery," Doctor Cole informed me. "Since you had a laparoscopic surgery and not an open appendectomy, your recovery should be much shorter."
"How much shorter?" I asked anxiously.
"If you continue on this path," said Doctor Cole, "you should be back to your normal activities within one to three weeks."
"One to three weeks?" I questioned loudly in horror.
Doctor Cole nodded calmly, unfazed by my sudden outburst. "Some monsters bounce back quickly and some take longer to recover. For all we know, you could be back to your normal routine in a week. Everyone is different, which is why I would like to take this moment to schedule an appointment with you a week from now to check on your progress."
"So what do I do until then?" I asked, dreading what his response might be.
"I want you to take it easy whenever possible," Doctor Cole recommended. "As well as you are healing, there will still be some restrictions on what you can do."
Some restrictions, I quickly learned throughout the week, was the understatement of a century. When Doctor Cole learned that I lived in a single-occupant dorm room, he recommended that I make arrangements to stay with someone during the first week of recovery at least, so immediate help was available if needed. Before I could politely refuse, Johnny offered the use of the guest room at the RΩR house and Javier insisted that I accept. Given that I had very little energy going into the week, I reluctantly agreed.
Although I was recovering well, Doctor Cole still wanted me to take it easy outside of going to classes. Walking was encouraged to avoid blood clots from forming in my legs, so getting to and from the School of Liberal Arts and Monstrosities wasn't an issue. All of my classes were on the main floor, so I didn't have to climb stairs and risk popping one or some of my stitches. However, Doctor Cole didn't want me to carry anything heavier than a ten-pound grocery bag and, in the eyes of Javier, that meant my messenger bag of textbooks and school supplies. He or Johnny, depending on who was available at the time, would accompany me to and from my classes to do what they considered to be heavy lifting. While their gestures were so thoughtful, they also saddened me because I wasn't able to do those things on my own like I normally could.
Teaching my dance classes for the week was out of the question as Doctor Cole considered that strenuous activity and suggested that I wait until my stitches dissolved before doing any kind of dancing. Violet assured me that it would be fine for me to cancel my classes for that week since I had a legitimate reason for doing so, but the very idea horrified me. I ended up making a quick call to my former ballroom dance partner, with whom I still stayed in touch, and he was more than happy to drop by the university to pick up my choreography notes and substitute for me. Even though I was relieved to not have to cancel my classes, my heart ached to be back in the studio to dance.
What was even more frustrating was that none of the RΩRs allowed me to lift a claw while I stayed over at their house. Since most of my energy was used getting to and from classes, supposedly that meant all I was to do at the house was to rest. There was a minimum of one RΩR at the house at any given time to keep an eye on me and be available if I needed something like my daily chocolate claw iced cappuccino from the cafeteria or more pens from the bookstore. Javier forbid me from touching any cooking appliance, let alone stepping foot in the kitchen. Johnny, out of respect for me, didn't bring any girls over to stay the night. Even Chet, who was probably under strict orders from Johnny, was on his best behaviour and didn't make a snarky comment all week. Doing only schoolwork with minimal movement around the house, combined with being escorted everywhere outside the house, was making me feel useless and was gradually driving me crazy.
My frustration must have been written all over my face because the Oozma Kappas noticed it when I met up with them on Thursday for our rescheduled meal together. It ended up being a dinner instead of a lunch since it fit all of our schedules better now that the Perry twins were happily included in the outing.
"Everything okay, Danica?" Don asked, his fatherly concern evident in the tone of his voice.
"Are you in pain?" Squishy piped up in alarm.
"No, I'm fine," I answered honestly. "I actually haven't been in much pain since the weekend, so I'm taking that as a good sign."
"So why do you look like you want to murder your roasted chicken?" Art asked.
I sighed heavily. "I'm just tired of feeling helpless. It sucks not being able to do what I used to do like cook, dance, and teach."
Don nodded sympathetically. "I understand, but you just had surgery. You need to rest as much as you can."
"I know," I replied, "and I have been doing that, especially during the first few days back on campus when I was feeling groggy and drained, and didn't want to move much."
"And now?" Terry asked, raising his cup of tea for a sip.
"Still resting whenever I can, but I can feel my energy slowly coming back," I revealed.
"That's great to hear!" Don exclaimed cheerfully.
"At least you believe me," I snorted lightly.
"Who hasn't?" Squishy asked.
"Pretty much every RΩR in the house," I answered with a hint of bitterness in my response. "Even though I'm feeling better, they still won't let me do anything on my own."
"Like?" Terri prompted for me to continue.
"Well, the other day," I began, toying with a piece of lettuce with my fork, "I was doing some reading in the living room with Chip. I announced that I was going to get some fruit from the kitchen and asked Chip if he wanted any. He immediately jumped off of the armchair, like someone just lit his butt on fire, and insisted that he get it."
"Sounds like he was being helpful," Don commented, sounding unsure as to what the source of my irritation was.
"Too helpful," I corrected. "All of the RΩRs have been like that, even Chet. He hasn't put one of his little crab legs out of line and I seriously think Johnny is the reason behind his temporary good behaviour. As grateful as I am to Johnny for letting me stay at the house while I recover, it's also driving me nuts."
Don nodded again. "You miss the normalcy of your everyday routine, don't you?"
I heaved another sigh. "I do. I know I need to rest, but I'm feeling loads better and I slowly want to ease back into things. I don't need to be confined to a chair or to a bed when I'm not in class like I'm some sort of invalid."
"You sound like you've been in jail," Art remarked, gnawing on a carrot.
"Being in the RΩR house has felt like that lately," I admitted openly, something that I wasn't able to do with any of the RΩRs. "I feel trapped even outside of the house. Whenever I'm on my way to or from class, either Johnny or Javier is with me to carry my things. I can't even go to the library to check out a book without either of them on my tail, literally."
Squishy cast a worried glance around the room before asking me, "They're not here tonight, are they?"
I shook my head, chewing the garlicky crouton that I had popped into my mouth.
"Do they know you're here?" Terry asked, looking me in the eyes.
I shook my head again wordlessly.
"How did you manage to slip away?" Terri asked in awe.
I smirked proudly. "I may not be a Scaring major, but the skills themselves are in my blood."
Art chuckled in amusement. "Nice."
"Besides, what I do is none of their business," I told the group. "I didn't want to tell them and risk one of them stopping me. Not like they can really. The doctor told me to avoid any strenuous activities and I don't think going out to dinner with friends classifies as one."
"There's nothing more relaxing than a nice dinner out with friends," said Don, raising his glass of water in a toast.
"I second that," said Terri, holding out his can of Blort.
There was a soft clink as Terry, Squishy, Art, and I tapped our respective drinks against Don's glass and Terri's can.
"So," said Terry, lowering his cup back to the table rather gracefully, "we missed you during dance class this week, Danica."
"Dmitry's being good to you guys, right?" I asked, picking up my fork again.
"Oh, yeah," Terri assured me. "He's not you, but he knows what he's doing."
"Glad to hear that," I said. "I competed with him as his dance partner for so many years, so I know he's good and he knows what I expect."
"I'm sure it was all in that booklet that you gave him," said Terry jokingly, alluding to my thorough attention to detail.
"I think he was impressed by your lesson plan," Terri mentioned. "He had no trouble following it. Everything he did seemed exactly how you would do it."
"Nice to know that the time, money, and effort going into this degree won't be wasted," I quipped with a laugh.
"Will you be back to teaching next week?" Terri asked before biting into a fry.
"If all goes well at my checkup on Monday afternoon, then yes," I answered.
"Well, don't feel like there's an urgent need for you to return," said Don gently. "The important thing is your health."
"I know and I promise that I won't do anything too active without the doctor giving me the green light," I replied. "Dmitry said he's willing to step in for me for as long as it takes for me to heal properly."
"Think you'll be able to come out to the bonfire next week?" Squishy asked.
"Yeah, it's going to be loads of fun," Art chimed in. "There's good food, great music, and lots of games. It's basically a big party under the stars."
"Sounds fun," I remarked, my thoughts flashing back to a banner promoting the event that I had seen hanging in one of the hallways of the School of Liberal Arts and Monstrosities. "I'd love to come. When is it again?"
"Next Friday at eight in the Upper Quad, just past the School of Science," Terri revealed.
"That's when my advanced dance class ends," I informed them, "so if I'm back to teaching by then, I'll be a little late."
"Join us when you can," Art chirped. "I make some mean s'mores."
"Not scary mean," said Squishy quickly. "He just makes them real good."
For the first time that week, I laughed mirthlessly.
"Where have you been?" Javier questioned, practically throwing himself towards me the moment I stepped foot into the RΩR house that evening.
"Nice to see you too," I said sarcastically as I closed the door behind me.
"Where have you been?" Javier repeated with the same amount of indignation.
"Out to dinner with the Oozmas," I answered, confused as to why he was angry. "What's gotten into you?"
Javier slapped his face with a hand and mumbled, "All this time?"
"Well, I didn't go skydiving or surfing if that's what you were thinking," I said almost accusingly.
Javier groaned and said, "I wasn't thinking good things, I'll tell you that."
Noticing how eerily quiet the house was, I asked, "Where is everybody?"
"Out looking for you," Javier muttered loudly enough for me to hear.
"What?" I said, surprised by his answer. "Why?"
"Well, when you didn't come out after your Intro to Literary Studies class, I thought it had finished early and you were already back at the house," Javier explained. "When I found out I was wrong, I thought something bad happened, so I had the guys split up to find you. I stayed behind just in case you came back to the house."
"Jav, I'm fine," I insisted, doing a quick twirl on the spot. "See?"
Hanging his head dejectedly, Javier said, "You're supposed to be taking it easy."
"Yeah, and eating dinner across the street from campus is taxing," I said with more sarcasm. "It's not I was eating alone. Should something have happened, I'm sure one of the Oozmas would have been able to help."
Javier scoffed. "The day I trust the Oozmas to look after you is the day they win the Scare Games."
I rolled my eyes and said, "I thought you had nothing against them, even after Terry apologized to me."
"I don't," Javier insisted, "but they weren't at the hospital. They didn't hear what the doctor wanted you to do and not do, so I doubt they could be of any help."
"Well, it's not their job to tell me what to do and not do," I reminded him pointedly, "and it's certainly not yours either."
"Can you blame me for wanting to look out for you?" Javier questioned, his voice at a higher octave than usual.
"Of course not," I told him, "but I don't need you hovering over me everywhere I go."
"You're still recovering," Javier reminded me. "Goblin help us if you pop a stitch or something, then at least one of us is around to help."
"Going to the kitchen for a glass of water or working on a film project won't reopen my wound," I explained plainly.
"You can never be too careful," Javier assured me.
"Really, because you sure are doing a hell of good job at it," I said rather bitterly.
Javier narrowed his eyes at me. "What does that mean?"
"It means you're always wanting to do everything for me," I clarified, "and, quite frankly, it's annoying."
"If being annoying means caring, then I'm proud to do it," said Javier boldly.
"There's a fine line between caring for me and following me around like my personal security guard," I told him, feeling myself get irritated with every word that flew out of my mouth.
"I do what I do because I care about you, Danica, and I know how stubborn you can be," said Javier. "You're so independent, you won't ask for help."
"When I need help, I will ask for it," I promised vehemently. "No one knows my body better than me and I'm tired of you thinking otherwise."
"What is it that you want from me then?" Javier yelled, his voice nearly a roar.
Without a moment of hesitation or reflection, I shouted, "What I want is space!"
"Space?" Javier repeated in a roar.
"Yes, space!" I exclaimed passionately. "Goblin, I want space to breathe and to do my own thing without someone having a coronary if I so much as sneeze."
Javier furrowed his eyebrows. "Is that what you really want?"
Without really pondering over the question, I bellowed, "Yes!"
Javier froze for a moment, then, without his angry expression faltering, said in a low voice, "Then so be it."
I watched in silence and sourness as Javier ascended the staircase and disappeared down the hallway. It wasn't until I heard the sound of his door closing when I exhaled roughly and turned on my heels, heading straight for the guest room just off of the kitchen. The desire to put as much room between Javier and me was burning deep within me; however, since night had already fallen over Monstropolis, I figured that a floor and a door separating us would have to do for the time being.
I entered the room that I temporarily called my own and slammed the door behind me, not caring if my actions alerted the entire campus of the caliber of my anger. The room, like most of the house, was full of mahogany furniture: a four-poster bed, two nightstands, a dresser, a desk, and a chair. There was also a bedside lamp, a closet, a private bathroom, and a window overlooking the river that cut through the campus. The only personal touches to the room were my school books, handwritten notes, and gifts given to me while at the hospital.
Collapsing onto the velvety-red bedspread of the massive bed, I scowled at the panel above and reflected on the events that had just transpired. I know that I had my heart set on talking to Javier and Johnny about easing up a bit on their surveillance of me, but this was not exactly how I envisioned the conversation unfolding, with Javier and I on opposite sides of the RΩR house. Ugh, if only they didn't fuss over me so much and make me feel so powerless to do anything…
Turning towards the window, I frowned at the shadow atop the desk because I remembered clearing it earlier that morning before I left the house. I flicked on the bedside lamp, casting a dark glow throughout the room and revealing the shadow to be a stack of books that were unfamiliar to me. I slipped out of the bed and walked over to peruse through the books when I noticed a small note attached to a red rose perched on top of the pile.
Amor mio, I came across these and thought they might come in handy for that literature essay of yours.
Javier
Placing the rose and card onto the desk, I studied each book carefully, their barcode labels telling me that they had all been checked out from the campus library. Just from skimming through each of them, I came across some information that would definitely help me elaborate on some of the points throughout my literature essay.
When my eyes shifted from the book in my hands back to the rose and card, the events from earlier came flooding in again, followed by a moment of realization and then an overwhelming feeling of guilt.
I yelled at Javier.
I yelled at my boyfriend who put his entire life on hold for me.
I was frustrated by the lack of independence that my surgery brought on, desperate for the normalcy that my life suddenly lacked, and annoyed by the RΩRs fretting over me like some fragile porcelain doll, and I took all of these negative emotions out on a monster who wasn't trying to make me feel inadequate by his actions, but was trying to make things easier for me because, despite his reputation of being a RΩR, he cared.
And now I felt like an ungrateful bitch.