by Caila Olsen
Chapter 8
RILEY
“Ouch!” I cry.
“Sorry,” Sam apologizes as she takes another strand of my hair and crosses it over another, forming it into a braid. “I am just about done.”
Sam reaches into her bag and pulls out a mirror for me to take a look at the fishtail braid she just finished doing in my hair. “It looks great Sam! Thanks. I can never get my braids to look as good as the ones you do.”
“Aw, thanks,” Sam says, “I have missed doing your hair.”
Usually every second weekend Sam and I would have a girl’s night. We would lounge in our oversized pj’s, make a bunch of snack food, do each other’s hair and watch a chic flick. I know it sounds so lame that we still do that kind of thing since we are both in university, but I could care less. I still enjoy that sort of thing.
“Now I can look somewhat presentable for Aden,” I say.
“Hold on one second,” Sam says. She grabs some lip gloss from her purse and hands it to me. “No offense, but this hospital air has done quite a toll on your lips,” she teases.
“Thanks. I almost forgot,” I say as I take the berry flavored gloss from her hand and put it on. “Do I look okay?” I ask Sam.
“I have always been jealous that you could not wear a stitch of makeup and still look so gorgeous,” she says.
“Enough joking around and tell me the truth!” I demand.
“It’s true! You have such a clear complexion, you have thick long lashes, and beautiful green eyes. You wake up still looking good, I don’t know how you do it. I have always been so self-conscious of myself. You will never see me in public without any makeup. You know I have been struggling with skin problems ever since I was a teen and even though I have somewhat got it under control now, I still look at myself in disgust,” she confesses.
“Sam, I think you are beautiful even without makeup. You don’t even notice the scars or imperfections behind that smile and big brown eyes. When you show confidence, that’s all a person sees. Not all the physical imperfections. Don’t compare yourself to me because we all have our own kind of beautiful,” I tell her.
“Thanks,” she says shyly. “Let’s get you over to Aden.”
Sam passes me my crutches. The doctors have told me to try get around using the crutches for the next few days so I can work on building up my muscle. It’s harder than it looks. I am exhausted just after getting to the other end of the hallway.
“Do you want me to walk with you there?” Sam asks.
“Sure. Just in case I fall and can’t get up,” I say with a smile.
“Who says I would help?” Sam jokes.
“Come on, let’s just go,” I say, nudging her with my shoulder.
Aden’s room is a level above mine. I am grateful for elevators, but at the same time, they are tricky when you have a broken leg. I have to rely on someone to hold me up and balance me as the elevator stops and starts so I don’t fall over.
By the time I reach Aden’s room, I am out of breath. I feel like I just ran a marathon. The doctor was right. I need to work on my muscle and endurance. Being immobile for four days has had a big impact on me.
“Riles!” A robotic voice says as I walk into the room. I look over to see Aden with the biggest smile on his face. On the other side of the bed is Ethan setting up a laptop.
“Aden!” I call. I would run over to the bed, but I can only move as fast as I am capable of at the moment.
Sam grabs a chair and pulls it next to the bed for me. I sit down and Aden grabs my hand to kiss it. “I’ve missed you,” he types. “You still look as beautiful as ever. It’s just your leg that was broken?”
“I missed you too! I am so glad they found a way for you to communicate,” I say. “Yes, only my leg is broken and a few stitches on my forehead. Other than that, I am doing really well. How are you?”
Aden starts typing, “It was a bit of a shock waking up not being able to talk. It’s like there is a little voice inside of me that is trapped and can’t come out. Now that I have this computer to talk through, that part of me has calmed down, knowing I can communicate through it easily. I am sure that I will be able to speak again. After speaking with Dr. Harley, I am positive they can fix whatever is wrong with me.”
“That computer has a name,” Ethan pipes in, “Her name is Barb.”
“Ethan, we should probably go,” Sam says.
“But I am just about done setting this up,” Ethan protests.
“It can wait,” Sam commands. She takes hold of Ethan’s arm and drags him out of the room. “We will see you later.” They wave goodbye to us then leave.
“I can’t even imagine how you are feeling right now,” I say empathetically.
“Don’t worry about me. I am fine and you are okay. Both of us are sitting in the same room together,” he types.
“I can’t believe how so much can change in a year,” I say as I reminisce.
“I know. Last year this time we were both packing up our things and leaving home for the first time,” Aden types.
“I was so scared to move away, especially to such a big city,” I say.
“I couldn’t wait to get out of there. I was ready to start a new life on my own. My parents always encouraged me to just jump in and try out new things,” he types.
“We are completely opposite. I don’t even know how we even got together,” I say with a small laugh.
“Opposites attract I guess,” he types.
“And we met in the most cliché way too,” I say. “Running into each other? That is so typical, so story book.”
“Ya, I planned a much more extravagant way on asking you to prom, but I figured I might as well ask you right then while I had your attentions” Aden types.
“How were you going to ask me?” I ask. “I never heard that story from you.”
“You sure you want me to tell you? You might be disappointed it never happened,” he types.
“Come on, tell me,” I insist.
“Okay, fine you twisted my arm,” he types. “I made a huge banner about 6 ft. long that said, ‘Riley will you go to prom with me?’. I was going to hang it across the cafeteria balcony at lunch.”
“Um, that is what you were actually going to do?” I burst out laughing. “I am sorry, but I like the way you asked me the way you did, in person.”
“Haha, I figured that. I think if I went with what I originally had planned, I would have embarrassed you more than anything,” he types.
“It’s clever, but a little cheesy,” I say.
“Instead I went for the cliché way. Knocking the girl to the ground,” he types.
“Was that on purpose then?” I ask.
“No, but I couldn’t have planned it any better,” he types.
“I’m happy it turned out that way,” I say. “Now we have a great story to tell.”
“Yes we do,” he types.
“If our life was written into a story, what would you call it?” I ask.
“Good question,” he types.
“Sorry to intrude on you two, but I have a few exercises scheduled to do with Aden,” Dr. Harley says.
“Oh right, I totally forgot about that,” Aden types. “I will get back to you on that answer later Riles.”
“Is it alright if I stay and watch?” I ask.
“It’s best that Aden has full concentration. It would be better for now if you weren’t in the room,” the doctor says to me.
“Sorry Riles, you are just too distractingly beautiful for me,” Aden types.
“Bye babe. See you later,” I say as I hop out of the room on my crutches.
“If you just wait in the hallway, I will page Nurse Daisy to come and help you to your room,” Dr. Harley says to me.