Chapter 63

Again, I don't own any of these characters

The next few of weeks went by about as well as could be expected. Maggie had offered to come help take care of Bailey, but her daughter wouldn't allow it. Other phone calls were made to family and friends to update them on to what had happened as well. Dr. Ryan called to check on Bailey and was distraught to hear that Bailey had a broken ankle. She told Bailey not to worry about coming in, and that she was putting her on unofficial paid sick time.

Even with the handicap sticker, getting to classes wasn't easy for Bailey. It still took her quite a while to get to the various buildings. Both she and Cody were grateful that they didn't have any classes back to back. Cody even began making their lunches in the morning so they wouldn't have to deal with crowed cafeterias. Bailey was still able to do her homework, but after that, she spent most of her time on the couch. Cody wanted to call in to work himself, but Bailey wouldn't let him. He finally agreed that he would go in if Jo or Max or Tapeworm would be around to take care of her. And they would sit with Bailey when Cody needed to run to the grocery or do other errands.

Bailey herself was beginning to feel frustrated. She couldn't really do anything herself, and it seemed she was always having to rely on someone else for everything. In the past, she had prided herself on being able to take care of herself. After all, she was the one who had left the comforts of Kettlecorn to go on the adventure of a lifetime on the S.S. Tipton. But the more frustrated she got, the more helpless she felt. And she didn't like that feeling at all.

Initially, she just gave in and let Cody do everything for her. And without realizing it, she found herself being critical of the ways Cody did anything. She didn't like the way he was doing the laundry or cleaning the kitchen or making the bed. But to Cody's credit, he didn't say anything back to her. He just merely did things the way she wanted them done. On a Friday afternoon, it finally reach a boiling point.

Cody had made her lunch and brought it out to her in the living room before he was set to head to work. No one was available to sit with her, but Bailey had smirked that she would be just fine. Bailey picked up the sandwich and immediately rolled her eyes.

"Spicy Mustard? Really?"

Cody paused. "I thought that's what you said you wanted..."

"Well, I meant yellow mustard!"

Cody just nodded and took the sandwich back in the kitchen. He put that sandwich a bag, and he would take it to work himself. He then fixed Bailey a brand new sandwich and brought it back out to her.

"Here you go...Yellow mustard."

"That's better...And where's my lemonade?"

Cody quickly headed back to the kitchen and poured her a glass of lemonade and returned it back to her. "Here you go. Is there anything else you want before I leave?"

Bailey sighed. "No...I'll make do with this...Just...just go already..."

Cody bit his tongue and hung his head. He turned and left. Bailey just shook her head and picked up her laptop. Immediately, she noticed her mother was online. She began to type.

"Hey Mom..."

"Bailey...How are you feeling? How's the ankle?"

"The same...Mom, I feel completely useless."

"Honey, I know this is hard on you, but you have to let yourself heal."

Bailey sighed and typed again. "I know, I just feel like I'm going crazy."

"I can understand that. But one thing I'm sure of is Cody is taking real good care of you..."

"Mom, he's the one who makes me feel the most useless."

"How so?"

"He wants to do every little thing for me!"

It was a few minutes before Maggie responded. "Kind of like you said you were trying to do for him when he broke his wrist?"

"But that was different. He got hurt protecting me in Tokyo. He had nothing to do with me getting hurt!"

"So, you fussed all over him only because you felt guilty?"

"Of course not! I did it because I love him!"

"So? Cody loves you too. If you fussed over him because you loved him, why isn't he allowed to fuss over you for the same reason?"

Bailey just sat there and paused to think.

Maggie continued. "Bailey, remember loving relationships do have their ups and downs. That's why the words 'For better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health' are used in vows."

Bailey paused again. In sickness and in health. Not the first time someone had pointed out those words to her. Bailey had a flashback.

"I'm sick of doing everything while you sit there whining and criticizing..."

"I wouldn't have to criticize you if you did things right..."

Bailey had to pause. Why did that suddenly seem so familiar?

"Look Bailey, the whole point of this assignment was to show you guys that relationships are about compromise...Give and take...For better and for worse...In sickness and in health"

"I should have been a little more sympathetic to Cody..."

"Oh...well...Look Bailey, I have rarely seen a couple as perfectly matched as you and Cody..."

Bailey paused again. She had blown up at Cody when she couldn't take anymore. But her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of another message.

"Bailey, are you there?"

Bailey quickly answered. "Yeah, I'm here. Look, Mom. I need to hobble over to the bathroom. I talk to you later."

"Okay, Honey...Just remember what I said."

"I will, Mom." And with that Bailey signed off.

Bailey leaned back into the pillow and began to think. It had now dawned on her how similar this situation was to their disastrous class marriage project. Only this time, it had been reversed. This time, it was Bailey who had the broken leg. She remembered Cody being whiny throughout the project and how sick of it she had gotten. Finally, she couldn't handle it any longer and let him have it.

But the thought crossed her mind. Was now any different from then? Had Cody thought she was being whiny this time? And suddenly she remembered the last stupid conversation they had had about the sandwich before he left for work. All of a sudden, she was getting a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had snapped at him for no reason. She had been doing that to him a lot lately.

If that wasn't enough to make her feel guilty, she had just blamed Cody to her mother for making her feel useless. And she knew that wasn't true. Cody treated her like a princess...like the most important person in the world. He was constantly telling her that his life was meaningless without her. He didn't make her feel useless...he made her feel special.

And that pit of regret in her stomach began to get bigger and bigger. She knew Cody was just trying to help her. And she wasn't making it easy on him in the least. Why had she done that? She began to search her mind for answers, and she didn't like the ones she found. She knew that being immobile had caused her to get more and more frustrated. And instead of dealing with her frustrations and talking to Cody about them, she had taken it out on him. He didn't deserve that at all.

He had done everything for her. He drove her to class everyday. He carried her backpack for her while she hobbled to class. Every morning, he helped her dress. Every day, he packed her a lunch. Every night, he fixed for dinner whatever she wanted. At bedtime, he always helped her change into her pajamas. And every night in bed, when she was feeling frustrated, he would just hold her in his arms. He wasn't trying to make her feel useless...he was showing her how much he loved her.

All of sudden, Bailey had the incredible urge to call Cody right then and talk to him. She had so many things she wanted to say to him. She wanted to thank him for everything he had done. But most important, she wanted to apologize to him and beg his forgiveness. He had apologized to her then, it was her turn now. Now, if she could only figure out a way to find a bunch of flowers.

To be Continued...

Author's Note: Part 1 will wrap up with Chapter 75. Part 2 will begin right after that.