Love Me Back to Life

by HMD

  She stops my chair at the curb and I see my dad pull up. He seriously brought the pick up. I feel Grace gently grip my shoulder. She’s reassuring me, clearly giving my father the benefit of the doubt. I’ll try my best to follow her lead. Clearly she forgot about the man who wanted to tell her a story about being locked in a porta-potty.

  “There’s my girl!” My dad shouts as he gets out of the car and rushes over to us.

  He places a hard kiss on my head. I flinch at the pressure but laugh anyway.

  “Hey dad. So how we doing this?” I ask wanting to know because I’m not flying around the back of this thing. He opens up the back seat and orders Grace to get into the car.

  She looks at me warily. She’s clearly done the math as well. There’s no way we are fitting everyone in this car comfortably. He doesn’t take no for an answer and ushers her behind the driver seat.

  “Dad…”I whine.

  I’m not really sure why I’m whining I think it’s more out of fear than anything else.

  “Trust your old man Em.” I watch as my girlfriend gets into the car and she looks a little more confident when she’s inside.

  There must be something inside that calms her nerves and if it’s good enough for Grace it’s good enough for me. So I do what my “old man” asked and trust him. He opens the passenger door, pulls the seat all the way forward and down.

  “G, you mind helping me with this one?” He asks my girlfriend and I can’t help the glee I feel at the way he shortened her name.

  Everyone is so comfortable around each other. The short amount of time we’ve all been together and it feels as if years have passed. It feels like Grace has been part of my family—been part of my life—longer than she actually has.

  My dad looks at me softly and I sigh wrapping my arms around his shoulders and he lifts me out of the chair. He guides me in as far as he can and once I’m in the middle of the seat I sigh in relief. My sweet old man has made a make shift harness for my foot to rest in.

  “You ready?” My girlfriend asks me and now it’s time to stealthily maneuver my legs so it doesn’t hit the car and cause pain to shoot through my body. I groan and she just giggles kissing my temple. “I’ve got you.”

  Hearing those words, I’ve never felt safer. She lets me handle myself because she knows how independent I can be and I lift myself up, she’s spotting me from behind and with my father’s help manage to get my leg into the car, over the front seat and rested into the harness. My leg doesn’t dangle too much off the console. My father has made it sturdy enough so it doesn’t go flying haphazardly.

  When I’m safely in the car and buckled up my parents load the wheelchair and my things in the back of the truck. Grace and I have a few seconds alone and I take this time to steal a kiss. She moans softly and smiles as I attempt to deepen the gesture. I am interrupted though as both front doors open up. I pout and she kisses it quickly.

  “Later.” She reassures me and I reluctantly settle for that option.

  “Buckle up.” My mother says and I don’t hesitate to do so.

  I’m more than happy to follow the rules of the road after what happened. Grace slips her hand into mine and I tighten my grasp. It feels good to have her so close. Granted we’ve been close every day in the hospital but being outside it’s so much better. It doesn’t feel limited and when it comes to the girl next to me, I don’t want any limitations on us.

  “Dad you can drive faster than twenty miles an hour.” He laughs nervously pushes the speed to twenty five. He’s acting like a father of a newborn and I can’t help the laugh that escapes.

  “If it’s any consolation Ryan, I’d be going slower.” Grace says and he laughs taking one hand off the wheel to get a five from Grace.

  “Both hands on the wheel honey,” My mother orders sternly and my dad’s hand is back on it in a flash. Grace and I laugh.

  I lean my head on her shoulder, her head leans on mine and I enjoy my company during this very slow drive home.

  We pull into the driveway and with a lot of strategy everyone maneuvers me out of the car. I’m quickly growing tired of being waited on hand and foot. I know they want to fuss over me but it’s making me feel some kind of way. Grace can sense my uneasiness and rubs my shoulders. I’m sitting in the wheelchair and she turns it away from the house.

  “I’m going to take Emma for a walk.”

  I see my mother trying to protest but I look at her softly and she just nods. My father pulls her away and she shouts behind her shoulder that lunch will be ready when we get back.

  Grace carefully guides the wheelchair down the steep driveway.

  “Thank you.” I tell her in exasperation.

  “ Of course. Do you want me to keep pushing or do you want to do it yourself.” She asks once we’re on level ground. The sidewalk is pretty smooth and I’m confident in my ability to steer this thing. Plus I know if I need Grace’s help she will find a way to give it without forcing it on me.

  “I’ll try for a little bit.” I grab the wheels and start to roll them forward. It takes a couple minutes but I get the hang of it pretty quickly. We walk in silence for a few minutes and she breaks the silence first.

  “I’m really glad you’re home. It’s just different knowing you’re not in the hospital that I put…”

  I stop her quickly. I halt the chair and she stops along with it. “You are not to blame. This was an accident.”

  All of a sudden I realize the words that everyone has ever told me when it came to McKenzie and George. All those years I took the blame, thinking there was something that I could have done. I just shake my head.

  “I know but…” She tries to counter and I stop her again.

  “Grace, you did nothing wrong. This was a freak accident and I’m all good now. You’re by my side, that’s all I want. That’s all I ever want. As long as you’re next to me everything is perfect. You hear me?”

  She sniffles and nods. I lift my head and pucker my lips. She adheres to my request and kisses me gently.

  “I love you.” She tells me and I easily say it back.

  We walk…well I wheel and she walks, down the block and just banter playfully and for the first time in weeks things feel normal.

  After about an hour Grace is pushing me back up the hill. We found a place to sit and talk idly. She urged us back home because she didn’t want my mother to worry. The way this girl considers everyone’s feelings just continues to prove to me just how amazing she really is. How sweet, caring, kind, and gentle she is and I can’t believe she’s all mine.

  “Alright here we are.” My mother announces unnecessarily as she guides me into the den.

  Grace let her take the reins. She felt it only fair since she did push me practically the entire day. I look around and notice how nicely my mother and father set everything up. There is a brand new bed, a television on the other end, a mini fridge, and dresser which my mother opens to show me my clothes.

  “Mom this is too much.” I say as I wheel closer to the fridge and open it to find it fully stocked. I shake my head and close it. “Really too much.”

  I look up at her and she smiles at me. “I just want you to be comfortable. I don’t want you to worry about a thing when you’re home.

  “I’ve never had to,” I tell her gratefully. “Thank you.”

  She bends down and kisses my head. “Welcome home sweetheart.”

  Grace and my parents help me settle onto the bed. Once I’m comfortable my parents leave me and my girlfriend alone and she lies next to me. I wrap my arms around her and she carefully snuggles into me. My ribs still a bit sore.

  “I’m going to miss you when you leave.” She sighs out in one breath.

  I didn’t think this was going to come up so quickly but then again if this didn’t happen I would’ve been gone already. No telling where she and I would’ve been if it didn’t.

  “I’m going to miss you too, but at least we still have a little bit more time together right?” I offe
r knowing that’s not good enough.

  She just nods. She’s always one for words but right now she’s not even trying to muster any up. I can tell that she’s upset and I try my best to comfort her. “I always found it so easy to go back whenever my leaves were over. This is the first time that I’ve ever wished I didn’t have to. Best part about it is, this is my last tour and I’ll be done. Then we can be together and start a life together, you’ll be writing and I’ll be doing I don’t know what but as long as I get to come home to you everyday life will be perfect. Right now…life is perfect.”

  She breathes out a laugh.

  “I wish you could come with me but then we’d have to get married right away so you’d be my domestic partner and travel with me…” I joke and laugh lightly.

  She’s quiet and my eyes shoot open wide and I think I’ve freaked her out. I call out to her and she looks up at me. Her face isn’t displaying horror, in fact it’s displaying contemplation.

  She just kisses me and I’m not sure what that’s supposed to mean. She’s not freaking out but neither am I. I’m not sure which of the two are the lesser of evils. We detour the topic not agreeing with the idea but not disagreeing either and we talk about general things. The mood changes but in a good way and though we’re on a lighter topic I know both of us are thinking about the heavier one because honestly as crazy as it sounds... it doesn't really sound all that bad.

  “I love you.” I tell my girlfriend lightly as she cuddles into my side; her leg draped over my good leg and I'm stroking her arm softly.

  She looks up at me with a smile.

  “I love you too.”

  I bend down to place a chaste kiss on her lips but Grace isn't having it. She puts a hand behind my head to pull me back into her lips, letting her fingers get lost in my hair while she expertly maneuvers to get on top of me; not breaking our kiss. I moan a little in pain but mostly in pleasure as she pulls her hands from my hair and wraps them around my waist.

  I think we've forgotten that we're in a room with a door that not only doesn't lock but is completely glass.

  I close my eyes at the feeling of Grace rocking her hips into me, I ignore the pain signals my leg is sending to my brain because there's no way I'm going to tell her to stop. We pull back from the kiss, both of us breathing heavily. The look in her eyes is telling me something. I know what she wants but I'm afraid to tell her that I've never been here. I've never been with a girl... with anyone.

  “I want you,” she leans forward and whispers in my ear.

  A chill shoots down my spine as her words make their way from my ears to my brain. She has no idea how much I want her too. She repositions herself on my lap, using my legs to balance herself; she accidentally puts a little too much pressure on my broken leg. I grimace in pain and her eyes shoot open.

  “I'm so sorry,” she shakes her head, slapping her hand against her forehead. “I'm sorry Emma I completely spaced.”

  “It's okay.” I chuckle and shake my head at my adorable girlfriend. “Don't worry about it. I've felt worse.”

  I wave it off and wiggle my finger for her to come closer. She complies quickly and I waste no time attacking her lips again. She moans into the kiss and again it sends shivers down my spine. I don't know why every time she touches me it feels like I'm being touched for the first time. Every hair on my body stands at attention. My brain sends signals to every nerve and her touch becomes electric.

  “Emma.” She sits back, her chest heaving up and down. I whimper a little as her eyes tell me what her lips aren't.

  I close my eyes, preparing my mind and body for what's about to happen. I pictured it different than this. I didn't have a broken leg in the scenario or healing ribs, but either way I want her just as much as she wants me right now so I'm not telling her no. I nod my head yes as I let my eyes flutter open. I'm telling her without saying it, I'm ready. I'm ready to go to the next level with her. I want to take the next step.

  She sits back a little, lifting her shirt up over her head. I gasp, staring at her bra covered chest. My eyes involuntarily close as I ingrain the sight into my memory. I'll need it when I'm overseas. When I open my eyes I quickly lift my shirt up over my head. She bends down kissing the bandages wrapped around my ribcage. I pull her face back up to kiss me. I missed her lips. She pushes herself into me more and I moan at the feeling.

  “I love you.” She whispers against my lips.

  “I love you too.” I reply just as softly as I allow my fingers to get lost in her hair. I don't think I've ever wanted anyone more than I want her right now. I drop my hands from her hair to her bra clasp to undo it.

  “Emma you're ho...” My little brother's sentence dies in his throat when he see us. Grace scrambles off of me as my mom walks in behind Tyler.

  “Oh my God!” I practically shout as my mom covers Tyler's eyes.

  “We were just um... we were...” Aw poor Grace.

  Granted we're adults and all, this is still embarrassing. I pull my shirt down over my head and turn to see my mother still standing at the doorway with a smile. What the hell right now mom?

  “Mom!” I shout and she starts to back out of the room.

  “We're gonna go.” She thumbs towards the hall with her free hand, her other one still covering Tyler's eyes. He's trying desperately to move it.

  “Mom I wanna see Grace.” He whines and Grace and I can't help but chuckle at him.

  “The only thing you wanna be seeing right now is the inside of your school books young man.” My mother chides my little brother. He stomps off down the hall. My mother stands in the doorway. I'm waiting on her to close it, but she's not.

  “Mom.” I urge her to continue her way out the door.

  “Oh sorry.” She waves me off. “Dinner will be ready in a half hour. You're staying a presume Grace?” She turns and asks my girlfriend.

  Grace glances at me before turning back to my mother and whispering out a shy 'yes.' My mother smiles and closes the door behind her.

  “Oh my God, I am so sorry. I forgot that door doesn't lock.” I start to explain but Grace just burst into laughter. I narrow my eyes at her, confused about why she's laughing. “What's so funny?” I question my chuckling girlfriend.

  “Your mom.... and little brother.... just totally walked in on us... about to have sex.”

  She's barely able to get out through chuckles. I'm still missing the part where any of this is funny. I purse my lips thoroughly confused releasing a dry laugh. She tuts and lightly swats my arm. I exaggerate the pain wailing a bit and she goes back into her laughing. I watch as she drops onto the foot of the bed. She’s choosing wisely because I think having her any closer will definitely aggravate the raging hormones coursing through my body. Grace puts one leg under the other and languidly dangles it. She looks shy and I nudge her with my good foot.

  “How do you go from a giggle fest to shy silence in ten seconds?”

  She drags her eyes up to meet mine.

  “I’m just thinking about how we’ll have to wait until you get back to…continue.”

  I breathe out a single laugh because that thought definitely didn’t occur to me. I was definitely caught up in the moment with her just a few minutes ago. The slew of events didn’t give me time to process the fact that she just reluctantly brought up.

  “Yeah I guess. “ I say picking at invisible lint on the blanket I’m sitting on.

  I feel her crawl up the bed and lie next to me. We just hold hands this time. The gesture is simple enough yet extremely comforting.

  “I want it to be perfect…is that weird?” She asks and I shake my head no. “I mean with you, it’s bound to be perfect either way.”

  I chuckle and pop my eyebrows up once and look away. I’m glad she has enough confidence for the both of us. My first time was just interrupted and I can’t help but think that it’s probably a good thing. I know I love her and I know all the things I want to do to her, doesn’t mean I’d be as debonair at doing them as I’d lik
e to think I would be. Grace turns onto her side, our hands still connected, she gently scratches my belly.

  “You would’ve been my first. Well…you will be my first.” I correct because I don’t want to be intimate in that way with anyone else. She gently kisses my cheek and squeezes my hand.

  “With how you kiss I’d never know.” She says with a smile.

  I can’t help the laugh that escapes me because, she’s the first person I’ve ever kissed as well. I guess I don’t have anything to worry about then.

  “Are you subtly calling me a slut?!” I half shout in mock offense. She just shrugs and turns onto her back.

  “Just calling it how I see it.” She answers half-heartedly fighting off a smirk.

  I carefully lean down and gently bite her shoulder. She shrieks and pulls away a little. She leans a little too far and almost falls off the bed. I hold onto her tightly. She pulls herself up, her face a little red from the blood rushing to her face.

  “Thanks for catching me.” She says sweetly.

  I decide to be corny and answer with. “Thanks for falling for me.”

  I figure she will just tease me about it but she stares into my eyes seriously. Her eyes are so beautiful. The shade of blue that they are, is breathtaking and I find myself getting lost in them.

  “You didn’t leave me with much of a choice.” She counters. I tilt my head to the side a little confused. “You’re easy to fall in love with.”

  I bite the inside of my bottom lip. Grace steals a kiss and I lift my other hand keeping her there. I’m taking all the kisses I can get. They are surely numbered and time, again, isn’t on our side. I’ll kiss her until there’s nothing left in me. I brush my nose over hers. My head pushes back a little bit as she leans her forehead against mine.

  “I’m so glad I found you.”

  “Me too.”

  She lifts her free hand and drags her thumb back and forth across my lips. I give it a peck. We sit silently just enjoying the presence of each other. A knock on the door interrupts us and I roll my eyes. Now they knock?