Love is Blind

by Shayna B

  He just shrugged. “Well, what else are you going to do? Act all friendly to everyone just because they decided we’re not that rejects anymore?”

  “They never thought I was a reject. Just mentally impaired for putting up with you,” I muttered before kissing his cheek lightly. “This day might turn out to be a bit more interesting than I thought it was going to be,” I mused.

  It turns out I was right. All day, I had people smiling at me and a few of them even stopped to talk to me, letting me know that they thought I had a wonderful voice. I noticed no one tried talking to me when Blake was around though, and that confused me a little at first. But I quickly realized it was likely because of Blake’s unpleasant attitude towards most people that kept everyone away.

  By the time the final bell rang, I was more than happy to get out of there. The smiles I kept receiving were starting to creep me out. I found Blake and Sophie quickly, and the three of us headed out of the school, with Blake on one side of me and Sophie on the other.

  We walked out of the school and headed towards the parking lot, shivering as the freezing wind whipped through our clothing. I picked my way carefully over the icy ground, trying not to lose my balance.

  “Are we going to your place or mine?” Blake asked.

  “Doesn’t matter to me,” I replied. “As long as it’s somewhere warm, I’m happy. I freaking hate winter.”

  “I’m getting sick of the cold weather as well,” Sophie agreed. “Maybe we can stop and get some hot chocolates from somewhere.”

  “That’s a good-” my voice was cut off as I stepped on a particularly slippery patch of ice. My feet went out from under me and I desperately tried to regain my balance, but it was too late. I saw two hands reach for me as I slammed into the ground on my back, and excruciating pain raced through me. I struggled for breath as my vision darkened. I managed to not lose consciousness, but it was difficult.

  “Hailey, what the hell just happened?” Blake asked in a panicked voice.

  I couldn’t get enough breath to answer, and Sophie obviously realized that because she answered for me. “She slipped and landed on her back.” She dropped to her knees beside me. “Are you okay?”

  I shook my head and a moment later Blake was kneeling beside me as well. He found my face with his hands and stroked my cheeks gently. “Can you move?” I shook my head and he cursed quietly. “Is it your back?”

  I nodded and tears started trickling down my cheeks. I finally got enough breath back so that I could talk. “I can’t move my legs,” I whispered.

  Blake wiped my tears away with his thumb. “It’ll be okay Hales. Sophie, call an ambulance and then call Jared or Liam.”

  By this time, a small crowd of people had gathered around us. I closed my eyes and concentrated on just breathing properly while Blake continued to stroke my face lightly. I heard Sophie talking on the phone, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying.

  A few minutes later, I could hear sirens approaching. I opened my eyes again and saw that Sophie was kneeling beside me once more. I gave her a weak smile, which she returned before her eyes flickered around the crowd that was surrounding us.

  I followed her gaze and realized that there were a lot more people around me now. I watched as Mr. Avery literally pushed his way to the front and then crouched down beside me. “What happened?” he asked.

  “I slipped and fell on the ice,” I replied. “I landed on my back and now I can’t move my legs.”

  The sirens grew louder and everyone turned to watch as the ambulance came to a stop a few yards away. Two paramedics climbed out immediately and one came straight to me while the other one went into the back to get some stuff.

  What happened next was a bit of a blur. I was aware of being asked questions and I know that Blake answered most of them for me. I heard him explaining to them about my history of back problems and that they had already called my physical therapist and uncle.

  As if on cue, I heard Jared’s voice above everyone else’s. “Move the hell out of my way,” he bellowed, shoving his way through the large crowd. He reached me and knelt down beside Blake. “What happened?”

  Blake then explained everything to him and I just tuned out. I was vaguely aware of being moved onto a backboard and then being placed into the back of the ambulance. Blake came with me, saying that Jared and Sophie would meet us at the hospital. Liam and Jake were apparently already on their way there.

  At that point, I could feel the edges of my vision start to darken again, and this time I willingly allowed myself to fall into unconsciousness.

  The sounds of machines beeping roused me from my unconscious state. I opened my eyes and looked around the hospital room. Blake was seated beside me and he was holding one of my hands. Jake was on my other side and he was holding my other hand while slumped in his wheelchair. Jared and Liam were standing near the end of the bed and they were talking quietly, although I don’t know what about. I had an IV in one arm and I assumed there were pretty good drugs going into my system because my back didn’t hurt that much.

  “You’re awake,” Jake said.

  Everyone’s attention was immediately on me. I looked at Blake and saw that his whole body was tense, so I squeezed his hand gently before turning my attention to Jared. “What did the doctor say?” I asked.

  Jared hesitated, and that caused dread to fill me. “You’re going to have to go for more surgery, Hales. There’s a lot of swelling around your spine and they need to relieve some of the pressure or else it could do even more damage.”

  I drew in a shaky breath. “Am I going to be able to walk?”

  “They aren’t sure. It depends on just how much damage is already done. But you got through this once before. You can do it again,” Jared said firmly.

  “When will they do the surgery?” I asked.

  “Right away, now that you’re awake. You were only out for an hour, so hopefully the surgery will be able to repair all the damage.”

  I nodded and glanced around at everyone again. My eyes latched onto Blake, noticing how tense he still was. “Can I have a minute alone with Blake?”

  “Sure, we’ll go find the doctor,” Jared said, and the three of them left.

  Once they were gone, I tugged on Blake’s hand a little. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  I groaned. “Don’t lie to me, Blake. I know something is bothering you, so just tell me.”

  “I couldn’t do anything to help you,” he said quietly.

  I frowned. “Huh?”

  “I felt you starting to slip, but I couldn’t catch you because I couldn’t see you. If I’d been able to see, I could’ve prevented you from falling.”

  I gaped at him. “Let me get this straight. You think that if you weren’t blind, you could have turned into superman?”

  He scowled at me. “I wouldn’t have had to be superman, Hailey. Just a normal person.”

  “Oh really? So Sophie isn’t normal then?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Sophie was right beside me as well. I saw her, as well as you, try to reach for me to save me, but she wasn’t fast enough. It happened really quickly, although it didn’t feel like that at the time. So unless you suddenly turned into superman, you wouldn’t have been able to do anything to help me.”

  “I’m your boyfriend, Hailey. It’s my job to protect you.”

  “You did protect me, Blake. You kept me calm and answered the questions when I couldn’t. You thought to call Jared and Liam, which I didn’t even think of. You immediately knew that it was my back that was preventing me from moving. No one else would have known that.”

  Blake was silent for a moment as he thought that over. “I guess that’s true,” he said grudgingly.

  I closed my eyes and blew out a breath. “I can’t fight with you right now, Blake. I’m trying to stay calm about the fact that I might not be able walk again and I need you to keep being there for me.”

  He stood u
p and used the hand that wasn’t holding mine to cup my cheek. “You will walk again, Hailey. You’re too damn stubborn not to.”

  I smiled a little and leaned my face into his hand. “Will you sit up here with me until they come to take me for surgery?” I asked quietly.

  He nodded and cautiously climbed onto the bed, with my guidance so he didn’t hurt me or accidentally pull the IV out. Once he was beside me, he slipped an arm around my shoulders. “How does your back feel right now?”

  “It’s sore, but I think the drugs they have going into me are keeping it from being too bad. What worries me is that I can’t feel my legs.”

  He leaned his head on mine. “That’s probably because of the pressure on your spine right now.” He paused for a moment. “You do realize that everyone at school is going to know about your back now, right?” he asked quietly.

  I sighed and leaned into him a bit more. “I didn’t even think about that, but you’re right.” I rubbed my face with one hand. “Oh well, I always figured that people would learn about it eventually. Hopefully by the time I get back to school everyone will have forgotten about it.”

  The doctor came into the room, followed by Jake, Jared and Liam. Blake climbed off the bed, but remained standing beside me as the doctor explained the surgery to me. A few minutes later, a couple of nurses came in and started getting me ready to go. When they were ready to wheel me out, everyone moved out of the way except for Blake. He held my hand as they pushed the bed out of the room and into the hallway.

  When he wasn’t allowed to go any further, he bent to brush a light kiss over my lips. “I’ll be waiting when you come out.”

  I squeezed his hand tightly. “I could still go for that hot chocolate when I get out,” I informed him.

  He smiled slightly. “Sophie is down in the cafeteria now, so I’ll get her to bring some up as long as you’re allowed to have one after, okay?”

  I nodded and reluctantly released his hand. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

  He gave me another gentle kiss and then took a cautious step back. Jared appeared beside him and smiled at me. “We’ll see you shortly Hailey.”

  I gave him a tiny smile and then the nurses started pushing my bed forward again, making me lose sight of them. I closed my eyes and let the fear that I had been hiding from them finally wash over me. How was I going to do this again?

  Chapter twenty-eight

  As the anesthetic wore off, I slowly became aware of my surroundings again. I blinked blearily a few times and then focused on the people around me. Blake was once again beside me and I could see Jared, Jake and Liam near the door.

  I tried to sit up, but I wasn’t able to. Blake heard me moving and immediately straightened up. “Hailey?”

  The other three men in the room turned to look as I stopped struggling to move. “Yeah, I’m awake.”

  Blake searched for my hand and found it, squeezing it gently. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like I got hit by a truck,” I said.

  “Well that can’t be too pleasant,” Blake stated.

  I let out a hoarse chuckle. “No, it really isn’t. How did the surgery go?”

  Jared came up to my other side. “They were able to relieve the pressure on your spine, but they won’t know if any permanent damage was done for a couple of days.”

  “I hate waiting,” I whined.

  “I know, but there’s nothing we can do about it. Can you feel your legs at all?”

  I grimaced. “Yeah, but it’s not a pleasant feeling.” I thought about it for a moment and then brightened. “Hey, at least I can feel them again. That’s probably a good sign, right?”

  “Definitely,” Jared assured me. “That means you’ll likely be able to walk again, although it’ll be a lot of hard work and there’ll be a lot of pain.”

  I let out a defeated sigh. “I was afraid you were going to say that.”

  Blake tugged lightly on my hand. “Hey, you have me with you this time.”

  Jake rolled his wheelchair to my other side. “And me.”

  “That’s true. Blake, can you raise the bed for me so I can sit up?”

  He did as I asked and then shifted me slightly so he could sit on the edge of the bed and wrap his arm around my shoulders.

  I let my head rest on his shoulder, closing my eyes for a moment. When I opened them again, I smiled at the other three men. “Do you think I’m allowed to eat something?”

  “I’ll go find out,” Liam said and then disappeared out into the hallway. Everyone knew that he was the most likely to get some answers, since he had donated so much money to the hospital and was treated like a VIP.

  We chatted quietly for a few minutes while we waited for him to return. Blake told me that Jared had driven Sophie home during my surgery. She was planning on coming back to see me tomorrow.

  Liam came back in and informed me that my dinner would be here shortly. He also assured me that I wouldn’t be eating regular hospital food; he’d arranged to have a local restaurant deliver to me while I was here.

  I rolled my eyes a little at that. “It’s amazing what a bunch of money will do for you,” I said dryly.

  “Hey, don’t mock me because I’m rich,” Liam protested. “My money is the reason that Blake gets to stay the nights with you here.”

  I perked up. “Really?”

  “Yeah. All I had to do was donate some more money and it was instantly all right. We also have unlimited visiting hours now.”

  I grinned. “Have I ever told you that I love you Uncle Liam?”

  He made a face. “Ugh, don’t call me uncle.”

  Everyone laughed then and the atmosphere remained light until my dinner arrived. Liam had been kind enough to order some for everyone else as well, so we all ate together. The nurses checked up on me a few times, but never stayed for too long.

  When we were finished eating, Jared, Jake and Liam got ready to leave. Jared said he’d go to Blake’s and grab a bag of stuff for him and then drop it off before going home for the night.

  Once they were gone, Blake and I sat in silence for a bit. Now that there were fewer people here, I was finding it harder to keep myself from freaking out about the whole situation.

  Of course, Blake knew that something was wrong. “Hailey, you know you don’t have to stay strong all the time. You’re allowed to break down if you need to.”

  I pressed my face into the side of his neck. “I’m scared,” I whispered.

  He rested his cheek on my head. “I know. It’s not going to be easy for the next little while, but I know you’ll get through it. I won’t let you give up.”

  “I know you won’t. I might get mad at you a lot until I’m better,” I admitted.

  “That’s okay. I was an ass to you for a while and you still stuck by me. It’s time for me to return the favor now.”

  I smiled a little. “I probably won’t be as bad as you were,” I said teasingly.

  He laughed. “That’s a good thing. I was pretty horrible sometimes.”

  “Yeah you were. But it was worth it in the end.”

  “I’m glad you think so,” he replied. “And just think; anytime you get too cranky, I can just run you into a wall,” he added cheerfully.

  I giggled and pulled my face away from his neck. “You’re so weird sometimes.”

  “Yeah, but you love me anyways.” He stroked my cheek with his hand. “I’ll always be here for you, Hailey. No matter what you need me for.”

  It turned out that I ended up needing him for a lot. Two days after the surgery, the doctors told me that I might be able to walk again if I was willing to work very hard. I agreed and they let me go home a few days later. Blake pretty much moved in with us so that he could be there for me all the time. He helped me with everything I needed, even bathing which he didn’t complain about. But he also let me do things for myself, and pushed me when he knew I needed it.

  The sound of a guitar being strummed roused me from my sleep a couple of days after I
was released from the hospital. I cracked an eye open and saw Blake sitting on the edge of the bed, his guitar, which he’d brought with him last night, sitting on his lap. His back was to me, but when I shifted a little he turned his head in my direction. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  I struggled to push myself up and he obviously heard me because he quickly put the guitar down and came to my side. He offered me his hand and I took it gratefully, letting him pull me into a sitting position and prop me up against the headboard. “What were you playing? I didn’t get a chance to hear what song it was.”

  He hesitated for a moment. “It’s going to sound corny, but when I had you in my arms this morning, I started thinking about how much you’ve changed my life for the better. A song popped into my head, so I grabbed my guitar.”

  “What song?” I asked.

  He moved back to the side of the bed and grabbed his guitar again. Then he settled beside me and bent his head over the guitar. He began playing and it only took a moment for me to recognize the song. It was God Gave Me You by Blake Shelton.

  I had tears in my eyes by the time the song finished but I didn’t let them fall, knowing that it would just make him uncomfortable. Instead, I just cuddled into his side when he set the guitar to the side to wrap an arm around me. I tilted my head and kissed him lightly. “I love you,” I said.

  “I love you too; more than I ever thought was possible. You didn’t give up on me, even when I tried to push you away. You’re one of the most stubborn people I have ever met and that’s how I know you’ll walk again. Plus, you don’t want to suffer through me running your wheelchair into walls constantly.”

  I let out a quiet chuckle. “That’s enough motivation right there,” I replied. “I will walk again, I know that. It’s just frustrating that I have to be in a wheelchair until then. I’m not looking forward to going back to school.”

  “Well on the bright side, at least everyone won’t be staring at me for once,” Blake said.

  That caused me to start laughing and he joined in. “We make quite the duo, don’t we?”