A FEW WEEKS LATER
"Don't try to rush it ok? Just try and take it slow. A few steps at a time" A voice said to Gregory. Who was standing up with the help of some support bars. That voice was Gregory's physical therapist. Michael was standing by Gregory. Telling him that he could do it. Gregory took a deep breath and slowly began walking. Gently letting go of the bars. The therapist looked down at Gregory's legs, which were slowly moving. Michael was doing the same and a smile appeared on his face.
"That's it, Gregory! Keep going" The therapist smiled, looking back at Gregory. Gregory moved his legs a bit more. However, the pain got a little too much and his knees ended up buckling. Which caused him to fall forwards. Luckily the therapist caught him in time.
"Woah! I got you!" He said as Michael helped him get Gregory back into the chair.
"Well, that's a lot more steps than last week. We're making so much progress" The therapist said, looking at Gregory. Who looked up at him a few seconds letter.
"Yep three more steps than yesterday" Gregory sighed.
"Hey. At least we're getting close to you being able to walk properly again" Michael smiled, kneeling down in front of Gregory.
"It doesn't feel like that though" Gregory told him, sighing again. Michael didn't really know what else to say to make him feel better about the current situation.
LATER, DRIVING HOME
"When can I return to school?" Gregory asked, looking at Michael.
"Until you're fully healed I guess" Michael shrugged a little.
"Why do I have to wait that long?" Gregory asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.
"I just thought I was taking a precaution. Mostly because of what happened to you. I wanted to make sure no one was waiting to hurt you again or anything" Michael answered.
"I've got some friends at school that can protect me" Gregory told him. Michael sighed a little. He didn't want Gregory returning to school. At least until he was able to walk properly. But from the look on Gregory's face and the way he asked the question, Michael knew he couldn't keep Gregory away from school forever.
"You happy to go back next week?" Michael asked.
"Yeah. Yeah I'm happy to" Gregory smiled. Michael nodded.
When they finally arrived home, Michael helped Gregory out of the van and onto the front porch. As soon as he unlocked and opened the door, Gregory wheeled himself straight inside and right down to his room, leaving Michael feeling a bit concerned for Gregory.
"Hello Michael. How was Gregory's physical therapy?" Freddy asked in his usual tone as he looked at Michael.
"Almost abysmal, Freddy" Michael sighed.
"Oh" Freddy replied. Michael then walked back over to the van to grab his and Gregory's stuff.
Once he had done that, he locked the van and walked into the house, closing the door behind him. As he made his way to the kitchen to make a drink for himself, he heard a slight high-pitched squeal in his head. Which was accompanied by a searing headache. He rubbed his fingers against his temples.
After a while, the headache and the noise dissipated. He sighed a little. Annoyed by this. This was the second time that a pain like this had happened. And he still wasn't sure why it was happening. There was a little part of him telling him it was something bad.
"Are you ok, Michael?" Freddy asked. Michael, looking like he had been in some kind of trance, flinched a little, startled by Freddy suddenly speaking to him.
"Y-Yeah I'm ok. Just a little worn down, Freddy" Michael told him, not wanting to worry him with the truth. Michael then went back to what he had planned to do. Which was making himself a drink.
After making said drink, he walked over to the sofa and sat down. He turned on the TV and began watching whatever was on there.
The next thing Michael knew, Gregory was sitting in front of him with a worried expression on his face and saying Michael's name. An effort to try and wake him up.
"Gregory? What's wrong?" Michael asked, sitting up after realising he had slouched down on the sofa.
"I've been trying to wake you up for the past half an hour. You were unconscious" Gregory told him. A confused look appeared on Michael's face. He couldn't have passed out. All he did was sit down on the sofa and turn on the TV, he couldn't remember nodding off or anything.
"I must've blacked out or something" Michael said, sitting up a little more as he hunched forward, resting his head in his hands. But as he did that, he noticed the contents of his drink, spilt on the carpet.
"Shit" Michael cursed as he quickly got up. Only for Gregory to stop him.
"Just sit back down ok. You just woke up from being unresponsive" Gregory told him. Michael sighed. He wanted to go and get the stuff to clean up the remains of his drink but all he'd get from that is a lecture from Gregory about how he should be resting instead of choosing to fix it.
"I'll go and get the stuff to clean it up" Gregory then said, wheeling off to the laundry to grab the cleaning stuff. Michael sighed, sitting back comfortably on the sofa. He felt awful for Gregory doing it. Gregory came back five minutes later with the cleaning things and began cleaning up the mess the best he could.
"I feel bad for you doing it" Michael said, looking at Gregory.
"Don't" Gregory said, shaking his head.
"You don't need to feel bad. It's better that you're sitting down than trying to do this" Gregory told him.
"But you're in a wheelchair" Michael sighed.
"Michael! Stop alright!" Gregory abruptly said, looking at him with a stern expression. Michael just looked at him, shocked.
"You need to stop feeling bad ok!" Gregory continued as he finished cleaning up the mess. He then wheeled off and put the now dirty rags into the washing basket in the laundry. He then came back a few minutes later with a blanket for Michael.
"What's this for?" Michael asked, smiling slightly.
"It's just in case" Gregory smiled, handing the blanket to Michael. Michael grabbed it, thanking Gregory. Gregory then grabbed the empty cup off the floor and took it to the kitchen.
"How's your back at the moment? Any less painful than it was?" Michael asked.
"Yeah it's…it's doing ok at the moment. Cleaning didn't really help it but….yeah, at the moment I'm managing" Gregory answered.
"You really didn't have to do that you know" Michael said, sighing a little.
"And risk you falling and hurting yourself if you cleaned it up?" Gregory asked.
"Fair point" Michael said, sighing again.
After putting the cup in the kitchen, he came back to the living room.
"Just let me know if you need any help later" Gregory told him.
"How are you going to help? You're in a wheelchair" Michael asked, confused.
"I'll do my best. Freddy will help if I need him to. Right Freddy?" Gregory answered, looking at Freddy.
"Certainly Gregory" Freddy said. Gregory nodded before looking back at Michael. Michael smiled as he put his hand gently against Gregory's cheek.
"I love you my superstar" Michael said.
"I love you too" Gregory said, smiling back at him.
A FEW DAYS LATER, MASON CITY HIGH SCHOOL
"You sure you're ready for this?" Michael asked, looking at Gregory.
"Yeah. I'm sure" Gregory smiled, nodding.
"Ok well…if you need anything, you call or message me straight away ok?" Michael told him. Gregory nodded.
"See you after school, Michael" Gregory smiled as he grabbed his bag from the floor of the passenger side of van and pushed the door shut.
"See you after school" Michael smiled back. Gregory then wheeled off towards the front entrance of the school. Michael watched on as Gregory soon entered the school.
As Gregory wheeled himself down the hall towards the locker area, his name was sort of called out. He turned and saw Grace with a smile on her face. A smile appeared on his face also.
"It's good seeing you back at school" Grace smiled, walking up to him.
"It's good to be back here" Gregory smiled.
"I thought you'd be off school for a while considering what happened" Grace said, referring to the wheelchair and his back.
"I thought about staying home after what happened but eventually…it got kinda boring. And I was beginning to miss school. And you" Gregory said. Grace just smiled at that, eventually saying that she missed him too.
"Look who it is" Patrick's voice suddenly spoke with a snicker. Gregory turned to find Patrick standing there with some of his friends. But not Sean.
"Where's your leader?" Gregory asked, wondering where Sean was.
"He's off school today. Gives us a chance to catch up with you" Patrick smirked.
"I don't have time for this" Gregory said, rolling his eyes slightly.
"How'd you get in that wheelchair?" Patrick asked, completely ignoring what Gregory had said.
"That's none of your business, Pat!" Grace said, moving from her spot and standing in front of Gregory.
"Shut up, Grace! He didn't ask you!" One of Patrick's friends sneered. Grace just looked at them.
"Hey! Don't talk to her like that! You want to speak to someone like that, you talk to me like that. Don't treat her like that!" Gregory said angrily, grabbing Grace's hand. She smiled slightly at Gregory grabbing her hand.
"And like Grace said….it's none of your business. So, piss off!" Gregory then said, looking at Patrick.
"I think we have a right to know! So you're not going anywhere!" The same friend told him.
"He said piss off!" Sean suddenly spoke from behind Patrick and the gang. They all turned and looked at Sean as he pushed past them all.
"You're sticking up for them now, Davies!?" One of the friends asked in shock.
"Yeah. Because unlike you lot, I don't make fun of people when they're in situations like Gregory" Sean said. Gregory and Grace looked at each other in shock before looking at Sean.
"So, unless you're deaf and stupid, you'd better clear off before I hit all of you" Sean told them, clenching his fist. Patrick scoffed a bit as he and the gang began to walk off.
"This isn't over, Sean!" Patrick sneered as he and the gang then disappeared down the hallway. Sean sighed a little before turning to face Gregory and Grace.
"What the hell was that?" Grace asked him.
"Standing up for you guys" Sean answered, shrugging.
"Why? After everything you've done. Especially to me. Why the sudden change of heart?" Gregory asked.
"Because something made me realise that hurting other people was wrong. And besides, my mother taught me that before she died and up until now, I've been squandering everything she taught and told me" Sean said, sighing a little. Sean then took a bit of a pause before speaking again.
"Look Gregory…..I know you don't have to forgive me for what I've put you through but all I'm asking for is that you give me time to make up for what I did" Sean said. Gregory smiled slightly before wheeling closer towards Sean.
"I'm not usually a huge fan of holding grudges so…..I forgive you" Gregory smiled, holding out his hand for a friendly shake. Sean looked down at his hand before shaking it. He smiled as he did that.
"So, should we head to class?" Gregory asked.
"Yeah" Sean replied with a nod. Grace also agreed. Then the three of them, now friends, began heading towards class. Just as the bell rang.
LATER, AFTER CLASS, STUDENT LOUNGE
"So, what happened? All I heard was that you got hurt badly" Sean asked, looking at Gregory, who was sitting across from him.
"I was getting a birthday present for my dad when someone jumped me and stabbed me. One of those stab wounds….a major nerve was damaged. Thankfully, Michael found me before I could bleed out. Then when I woke up in the hospital, I was told that the damage was so bad that I'll be in a wheelchair for at least a few months…or even a year. Depending on how well everything heals" Gregory explained. Sean sat there, shocked.
"The good thing now is….is that he's out of hospital and back at school" Grace smiled, putting her hand over Gregory's. Gregory looked at her and smiled.
"I'm sorry for how my "friends" were treating you" Sean said a few minutes later. Gregory looked at him.
"You don't have to apologise, Sean. That's not your fault at all" Gregory told him.
"I just feel like I do" Sean said, looking down, feeling awful.
"Hey" Grace smiled, putting her other hand over Sean's hand. He looked at her.
"How those idiots act…is not your fault. They only have themselves to blame for their bullying behaviour" She told him. Sean gave a slow nod.
"Now that we've got all of that behind us, how about we focus on being friends" Gregory said, looking at Sean with a smile. Sean smiled back.
"I'd like that" Sean said. Gregory then looked at Grace, who also smiled at him. She pecked him on the cheek. Which made him smile again.
After school; Gregory, Sean and Grace headed to the local retro diner for some milkshakes. And some ice cream. Which they believed was well-deserved.
"So, how's your dad doing?" Sean asked Gregory, who was sitting opposite him with Grace sitting next to him.
"I think he's doing ok. I'm not overly sure though" Gregory answered, sighing a little.
"What do you mean?" Grace asked.
"I don't know….He had a blackout a few days ago. I'm not sure what caused it. I came out of my room to ask Michael something when I found him out cold. I assumed at first that he had fallen asleep. I tried saying his name but he didn't wake up. And every time I do say his name or something, he wakes up quite easily. But after I called his name and he failed to wake up, I knew that he wasn't asleep at all. He had somehow fallen unconscious. I tried waking him up for the next half hour. And when he finally did wake, he seemed a little off. Like something was going on with him and he didn't want to tell me" Gregory said.
"Has there been anything other than the blackout?" Sean asked. Gregory nodded.
"He thinks I haven't noticed this but, he's been getting these really bad headaches. That only seem to last a few seconds" Gregory answered.
"Has he been to the doctor about it?" Sean asked.
"No. No I don't think so" Gregory answered, shaking his head.
"Well, we hope that he gets better. From whatever it is" Grace said with her brow furrowed as she held Gregory's hand. Gregory smiled at her and thanked her. A bit of a long pause happened before any of them spoke again.
"So, how's your dad? After what happened with him and my dad" Gregory asked, sighing a little.
"He's pissed. Mostly he takes his anger out on me, which isn't all that fun. But, I deal with it the best I can" Sean explained. Gregory's and Grace's eyes widened at that.
"Sean, you never told me your father was hurting you" Grace spoke in a shocked tone.
"Sometimes, I choose not to tell people certain things. This especially" Sean told her, looking down slightly.
"Sean, have you seen someone about this? Like, the councillor at school?" Gregory asked. Sean shook his head.
"I can't. If anyone finds out what my father does, they'll notify the police and possibly CPS and then my father will come up with the most elaborate lie that will convince them there's nothing wrong and what I claimed wasn't true and then he'll use that as a weapon to hurt me further" Sean answered. Grace and Gregory both felt awful for Sean. Wishing something could be done to help him but accepting the unfortunate fact that there wasn't anything that could be done to help him…at the moment.
"Well, you have us Sean. And we're not going anywhere" Gregory smiled, grabbing Sean's hand and holding it. Sean looked at Gregory and smiled back. Grace put her hand over Sean's and Gregory's.
"Thanks guys" Sean smiled. They just smiled back at him.