Thank you for your reviews. I am so sorry for the lack of updates - but I was in the hospital (apparently if an ear infection gets bad enough, it can get into your bone... I have never felt pain like that in my life, let me just tell you) for a while and then have been dealing with problems associated with the ear infection, but if all goes well, I should have my life back to normal by this weekend. Being in the hospital gave me unfortunate but good insight on some particular aspects of this story. Anyway, thank you all for your patience, and for those who also read TIOOM, I will be updating that as soon as I have the ability to write. :)
Let me know what you think. Enjoy!
Ally left that afternoon and as much as he hoped that one smile would lead to a breakthrough in her hard and rude exterior, it was short lived. A nurse finally noticed they were outside, and when she demanded answers, Ally flat out said she advised against him doing this and made him out to be a child. Once inside, she was rude as ever, unless Cassidy and Jake were around. Still, they made it through the afternoon with only minor jabs and the majority spent ignoring each other. Ally went back to whatever seemed so interesting about his room, and he stared out the window and wished for his world to grow back to the size it was only weeks previous.
When she left, he felt relieved but also alone. The unfriendly nurse who often replaced Nurse Wendy on several afternoons came in and demanded certain tests from him, and he tried not to cringe when she jabbed a needle into his arm without warning. She left, and Austin patiently waited for his family to show up as the sky started to cast pinks and yellows through it's universe. After all, they were bringing Piper with them! And he'd missed her so, so much.
Soon five pm faded into six, and he wondered if maybe they forgot about him.
But, then his mother showed up, alone.
She had take out in her hands, his favorite local burger joint, and he rejoiced for little victories.
"Piper?" he questioned after a mouthful of burger, earning a proper glare from his mother—he was glad that some things didn't change.
"She got stuck at church, sweetheart," she told him, ruffling his hair while she fixed his pillows and made herself busy.
He sighed, starting to wonder if she didn't want to see him. "Am I doing something wrong?" he asked after a moment.
His mother sighed heavily, sitting beside him. "I think she's scared, sweetie."
"Why?"
His mother glanced briefly at his lower body and just smiled sadly. "It takes time."
"Tell her I miss her?" he pleaded, closing his eyes so he could picture her happy face. "That I'm still me. And that I really, really …" he trailed off, not sure what to say. "Just tell her I've been asking about her. Maybe she can answer my texts." He hated saying the same thing every day, and getting the same result. He decided to try for his other counterpart. "And what about Dez?"
His mother's eyes darkened and that alarmed him. "I don't think you should be seeing Dez."
"Why is that?"
She grew to look bitter. "Because I don't think he's paid for the sins in which he's inflicted upon others."
"What?"
His mother's calm, sweet exterior returned and she pretended she never heard his question. "Well," she stated brightly. "Tomorrow is another day, and I think it's going to be a busy one. I know I wasn't here long tonight, but I will come back tomorrow afternoon. Sleep well, Austin. I'm sure you have a lot to do."
From the Ground Up
"I didn't see anything we could use to clip decorations from," Ally stated as she and Trish walked down the aisles of Party City with Cassidy, armed with a credit card, and overeager friends. Better yet, she had no idea what she was looking for, but the other two girls (who had become fast friends) had other ideas.
"We need to make it look like Miami," Cassidy had exclaimed when Ally admitted that Austin seemed to miss the outdoors, and real life. "We grab beach stuff! Just things to make it seem more like home."
"We don't know what home looks like," she reminded.
Trish rolled her eyes, "We know you're not creative. It's okay. Let us do the work."
Ally pouted as the two girls cackled beside her, only one half knowing how much of a struggle her 'friendship' with Austin had turned out to be thus far. After his demand the other day to not kill each other practically, she had thought she could survive the summer. Still thinking about the word empathy when he was around, it was harder than she thought not to just tell him to go away.
"How about this?" Cassidy held up a giant inflatable beach ball and grinned.
Trish nodded, "Oh yeah!"
By the time they left, Ally had placed nearly one hundred dollars on her credit card, and the girls were each carrying a bag filled to the brim. They had stopped before this at another store in hopes to find decent DVDs, and even considered bringing in some things that made a room a home. Ally picked up a few things upon the request of her friends, but stopped when she saw a bright yellow lava lamp in the corner of a department store and couldn't help but think it screamed the blond guy she just met.
They didn't say a word about it, but it ended up in the cart.
When they got back to her house, the party of girls were exhausted, an retreated to the pool with iced teas and pool floats.
"I think we've succeeded in the first part of the task," Cassidy grinned. "I think he's going to love it."
"You are going to head in while he's in physical therapy tomorrow, right?" Trish worried. "It'll only be as nice as the surprise."
"Yes," she mumbled begrudgingly. Austin was set with early appointments for the majority of the week, meaning if they wanted to decorate his room, it needed to be done before her volunteer schedule started. "You both are still helping me, right?"
"Yes," Trish agreed, while Cassidy gave her a thumbs up.
Ally looked up at the sky, the same one that had been pouring rain only hours ago. From where she sat on her pool raft, she wondered if Austin was watching too.
The next morning, the girls who had slept over, woke Ally with giant grins and the same overeager attitude from the day before. She dragged herself out of bed, wondering just how close a cup of coffee was, while they chatted with so much excitement she couldn't understand. A part of her didn't even want to decorate his room after the rant he'd pulled two days before. They were on route to the rehab facility within the hour, and she tuned their quick happiness out of her head while she drove.
At the facility, she was relieved to see Austin was already out of his room and out of sight. The girls got to work, casting the beach balls and other beach related items in appropriate places, while Ally worked on setting up a small bookshelf with DVDs on them that everyone swore would be the best part yet. They'd tapped out with just under five dozen DVDs, with suggestions from it seemed just about every person she knew. It was fun to discover that everyone really did have a different favorite movie.
Finally, the last part of the plan was put into action. Cassidy apparently made great virgin daiquiris and with the permission of the facility staff was conquering up the best she could offer. By the time they were told Austin was on his way back up, everything was set and the girls barreled into the bathroom, and somehow, even Ally couldn't contain her excitement.
Austin wheeled himself back into the room seconds later, and she heard him mutter something under his breath. It wasn't quite recognizable, and with the girls hiding in a dark bathroom, she knew they had to reveal more than just their work. With a flick of a light switch, she gave way to their location and Austin whirled around with a look of pure amazement and appreciation on his face.
"What is this?"
Ally came forward first, trying to be as nice and empathic as she could.
"Home," Cassidy said before she could answer, grinning ear to ear. "Well, it's not home," she muttered, giving him a slightly less happy smile. "But we wanted to make your room brighter. It's hard enough going through this kind of thing, but with a room like that, you're practically going to go insane."
He seemed so taken back by the action that he couldn't form words.
Then, before anyone could say anything further, a young blonde girl walked into the room.
From the Ground Up
Austin was so taken back by the gesture of decorating his room that he couldn't find the words he wanted to say. He was close—thank you would have to do until he found better ones, but then the girls lost their attention from him and glanced at the doorway. More shock filled his senses as Piper stood before him, looking as if she might jet out given any sort of chance.
A smile spread quickly across his features and something almost clicked seeing her.
"Pip," he murmured. "Hey."
Ally and the others stepped forward then, sensing they should probably leave, though he noticed that Ally hovered, if only for a second. Then, in a blur of body spray and lots of hair, the three were gone. Piper hadn't moved from the doorway, still hadn't said anything. She was staring at his leg, or lack thereof, with a look of mild horror on her face.
"Piper?"
She glanced up at him and her eyes welled with tears. Before he knew it, she was full on sobbing before him, covering her mouth with her hands to stop the heaving that her chest was doing. Still, she didn't move any closer to him. Actually, when he inched forward with the chair, she backed up.
"Piper?" he asked more desperately, knowing how bad his 'good' leg looked. "It's worse than it looks. I swear. Hey, can you look at me? Stop crying. It's okay."
He felt weird comforting her when it should be the other way around, but she looked so freaked out that he'd do anything to stop the terrible noises escaping her lips. She trembled in the frame of the doorway, somehow managing to make it back there. Austin was desperate for this visit to work out, for her to understand that he loved her and that he was still Austin—he was still Austin, wasn't he?
Piper stopped full on sobbing and reduced herself to blubbering silently. "Oh God," she whispered. "Oh God."
He never heard her say God. She was one of those who said gosh. She often even corrected him when he slipped up, or worse. Something inside of him cracked at this and he realized in those seconds, nothing he said would comfort her. Austin Moon was no longer the guy she once knew. Austin Moon wasn't even the guy he once knew.
He wanted something to change in those seconds.
"I'm still me," he said in an act of final desperation, hope that maybe it wasn't about to end the way he thought it might—but then she stumbled backward a final time and ran out, leaving him dumbfounded and hurt in the middle of the hospital room. It was silent for a few seconds, the only sound of the air conditioner running and casual conversation coming from down the hall.
He didn't move until he was sure she was out of earshot and then punched the wheelchair as hard as he could, a small yelp of both pain and anguish showing the verbal signs of what he'd secretly been thinking for weeks on end. Piper couldn't handle what happened—she didn't want to know or deal with someone like what he had become.
Then, another shadow filled the doorway, and he hoped for a second he was wrong, and was even more mortified to see Ally standing there, a genuine look of concern on her face.
He wanted to tell her to go away, or something even worse as he felt the tears prick at his eyes.
Instead, he just stared back at her.
With nothing better, or worthwhile to say, she gave him a sad smile, "I told you it was pretty disgusting to look at."
Oddly, it made him feel better.
She didn't say anything when she walked into the room after that, just sat in that corner chair and stared out the window. Austin had so much he wanted to say—maybe not to her, but to someone, anyone to get out what Piper's runaway had just done to him. Instead, he just shimmied over to the bed, locked the wheels into place, and climbed inside.
Then, he looked at all the decorations, admiring how stupid yet perfect they were.
That's when he saw the lava lamp at his beside, shooting up balls of molten whatever from the bottom, to the top, and back again. It moved slowly, but with rhythm and he was enthralled by it. After a second, he said without thought, "Yellow is my favorite color."
There was a silence.
"I liked it," she said simply, and the silence returned.
Austin watched the lava lamp for some time, before his eyes grew heavy and he fell asleep.
