Emma's POV
"Wake up babe" His sweet voice beckoned as he ran his hand through my hair planting a gentle kiss on my cheek "Get up and greet the day" He giggled covering his toned chest with his t-shirt
"I don't want to greet the day" I groaned covering my head with the blanket blocking out the early morning sunshine
"Em" He probed tickling me lightly "You have to wake up"
"No" I whined kicking my legs angrily doing my best not to laugh Noah tickling me more furiously now attempting to get me to climb out of bed
"Emma! Wake up! You have to wake up!"
Pain. That was the only thing that consumed my mind. I wasn't sure what had happened, I wasn't sure why I was in such terrible pain, all I knew for sure was I woke up in a cold hospital room with nothing but the steady sound of my IV drip to entertain me. "Mom" I groaned my voice hoarse for some unknown reason "Mom" I called again hearing the faint sound of footsteps near the door praying that it was my mother wanting nothing more than to have a familiar face explain what happened to me "Mom!" I whined my voice finally grasping her attention the door instantly swinging opened
"Emily!" She said rushing to my bedside. I knew something was wrong, my mom only ever calling me by my full name under special circumstances "How are you feeling?"
"My chest hurts.." I began making a move to adjust myself on the bed "Mom!" I gasped frantically "Mom why can't I feel my legs! What happened? Why can't I feel my legs! I can't feel my legs!" I spoke rapidly throwing the blanket off of my legs staring down at them terrified by the fact that I had no feeling in them
"Honey" She said slowly taking a seat on the edge of my bed taking my hand in hers "You and Tori were in a car accident" She explained
"Is Tori okay? I interrupted the memory of driving with my younger cousin instantly flooding back to me "She was driving, I remember…did someone run into us?"
"Listen Em, Tori had a seizure while she was driving the doctors think you reached over to try and get your hands on the wheel but before you could do that, the car slammed into a tree. A branch went through your window and penetrated through your chest…"
"If it went through my chest how come I can't feel my legs? Why….why can't I feel my legs!" I begged her to answer my question a stream of tears falling down my face as I waited for her to continue
"The branch missed your heart by a few inches, but it struck your spine" She finished wiping away her own tears as she tightened her grip on my hand doing her best to comfort me as I took in the news
"So..I'm paralyzed?" I asked not truly wanting to hear the answer "I can't…I can't walk?" I said watching as my mom nodded in response to my previous question
"You can Emily, you can walk still you just have to work for it. The doctor's said it's temporary paralysis which can last from a few minutes to a few months.."
"Months!" I blurted out dropping my head into my hands shaking it violently "I can't be stuck in a wheelchair for months! I'm supposed to be leaving for college in nine days! Nine days! How am I supposed to leave if I can't even wiggle my toes?"
"You can't think like this Em, you don't know if you'll get feeling back tomorrow or today. You just have to have faith that everything is gonna be okay"
"Screw faith!" I shouted knocking my head against the headboard "I'm fucking paralyzed!" I screamed gesturing towards my legs
"Don't you speak to me that way!" She demanded getting back onto her feet "I'm going to check on Tori, I expect that you'll calm down when I get back!"
"Maybe when you get back I'll be able to feel my legs again!" I yelled as she disappeared from the room throwing a pillow at the door as it slammed closed
I hated the hospital. I hated the hospital more than anyone I knew, well except for Tori that is. I was still hazy when it came to the events from the accident, maybe my mind knew it was better for me to forget, better for me to push it back and forget it happened. But I couldn't forget, everything around me reminded me of the accident, every day I spent in this hell hole forced me to reflect on that day! It had been five days since the accident, five days since I heard about my problem, five days confined in this prison the only light at the end of the tunnel being that I could leave tomorrow, although it would be in a wheelchair but even that was better than being stuck in here.
"What's up?" I asked having entered Tori's crowded hospital room
"Nothing" Miranda answered returning to her position next to Tori dropping her head onto the brunette's shoulder "Jess just showed up, then you showed up and now were talking about it" Miranda joked linking her fingers with Tori's
"Wow, were boring" I teased maneuvering my wheelchair over towards the bed rolling back and forth on the wheels an action that had become a habit over the few day that I had been confined to the chair
"Really?" Jess laughed from her position at the end of Tori's bed "I think we're pretty interesting, I mean they could make a soap opera out of our lives. They have all the right characters, the teen mother who's fiancée died from cancer, the jock who got in a car accident and can no longer play, the lesbian who fell for her cousins best friend only to have a head injury and forget about her, and the blonde who does all she can to follow her heart" She laughed listing off the characters with her fingers "It'd be a damn good show, I'd watch it" She admitted
"Me….me…to" Tori stuttered a bright smile plastered across her lips "It….sounds…..good to me" She chuckled nuzzling her head into Miranda's side instantly falling asleep
"The meds the doctors have her on make her drowsy" Miranda explained holding Tori as close to her body as she possibly could a familiar glow appearing on Miranda's face as she pressed her lips against Tori's forehead. "Does that happen to you?" She asked her eyes drifting towards me "Is it from the pain meds?"
"I mean, whatever the hell the doctors have me on, don't make me drowsy. I wish, I haven't slept a wink since I got here" I confessed yawning loudly the instant feeling of exhaustion coming over me
"Why don't you talk to your doctor? I'm sure they could give you something for that" Jess suggested
"I'm sure they could, but every time I close my eyes I'm back in that car, I'm back in the passenger seat trying to keep Tori from crashing the car" I admitted a shiver extending over my body as I spoke about the accident "I just want to forget about it, I just want to move passed all of this"
"You can't forget this Em, it's gonna change you" Miranda said careful to use a quiet voice out of fear of waking Tori up "Don't you remember how Tori was after her first accident it scared her, gave her nightmares, she had blackouts…." Miranda was still talking or at least I think she was her lips were moving but I had tuned out her voice, something she said forcing my mind to turn. Nightmares. Blackouts. Both of those things happened to me over the course of my five days here, every single time I tried to sleep once I closed my eyes my mind flashed back to the accident, every time I spoke to my physical therapist about the accident I shut down. It felt like months had passed since the accident, but it was only five days, five days! Five days and I was ready to forget about it, maybe that was the problem. "Are you even listening to me?" Miranda asked snapping her fingers in front of my face
"Sorry, I was thinking about something else" I said rubbing my temple firmly just begging that my headache would subside "I should probably get back to my room, I have to take my meds and plus I have physical therapy in a few minutes" I lied my head overwhelmed by everything I was dealing with. "These taste like horse shit" I muttered quickly swallowing the pills the nurse handed me drowning them with a glass of water
"How do you even know what horse shit tastes like?" Ella laughed from her position in the doorframe cautiously inching inside the room. We hadn't talked much since our parents separated, the last full conversation I had with Ella being during Seth's trial. Things were hard ever since mom and dad had separated, things were tense, uncomfortable and there was nothing we could do about it.
"If I had to guess what horse shit tastes like, I would guess this" I giggled lifting the empty cup that previously held my medication "El, can you pass me a shirt from my bag?" I asked ripping off the red t-shirt from my body having spilled water down the front
"Sure" She said turning to retrieve a clean shirt from my duffle bag "Here you go" She began turning back to face me her eyes falling upon the large stitches across my chest "Does that hurt?" She questioned
"Not anymore" I answered quickly folding my arms over my chest trying to block the view of my stitches suddenly feeling vulnerable in my sports bra "Can I have my shirt?"
"Will that become a scar?" Ella probed
"Probably" I replied reluctantly "Now can I please just have my shirt!" I begged wanting to cover up not wanting to deal with anymore of Ella's questions
"Yeah" She replied finally tearing her eyes away from the stitches tossing the shirt in my direction "I'm glad you're okay"
"Okay?" I laughed smacking the wheel of the chair forcefully "You think this is okay? You think not being able to feel the bottom half of my body is okay?" I shouted angrily my sudden outburst causing Ella to jump back
"It's better than the alternative" She said quietly bouncing nervously on the balls of her feet
"The alternative being dead?" I questioned already knowing the answer Ella sending me a small nod "I'd rather be dead than crippled!" I screamed rolling over to the other side of the room positioning myself near the window staring intently outside thinking of everything and nothing at the same time.
Question (answer in reviews):Do you think Emma will ever move past this setback?