A Different Path

Chapter 37 - Patience

Criticism spot! :)

A longer chapter. :)

Crutchie's POV

I was unable to stay asleep most of the night, my nightmares of my Dad starting to get bad again. Thankfully I never woke Jack up, and at some point I just decided to stay awake the rest of the night rather than risk having what would've felt like the hundredth nightmare in a row. I had turned away from Jack so my back was to him, and I wasn't super close to him anymore either. I was staring straight head at the wall when the bell rang, waking Jack up. 

"Crutch?" He asked, sitting up. I stayed put, not having the energy to move. "You okay?" He shifted over so he was sitting directly beside me now, starting to play with my hair.

"Bad night," I mumbled, my chest feeling tight.

"What happened?" He asked, making sure to talk quietly so I felt safe.

"Kept having nightmares." I turned so I was on my back, looking up at him.

"Are they getting bad again?" I sighed before nodding, and Jack smiled at me kindly. "Do you know why?"

"Dunno," I answered, wanting to sleep, but feeling too afraid to do so. 

"Go easy on yourself today, alright? Maybe you can work on walking a bit," he smiled again, and I smiled back, weakly. "Just a little bit longer until we can go back to the penthouse, alright?" I nodded, and he kissed me on the forehead. He got up, starting to get ready. Only a few seconds passed before there was a knock at the door, and Jack went to answer it. I sat up, smiling when Race walked into the room.

"Morning!" He said, far more awake than either of us. "Here to check on your hand again." He sat down on the bed just as he had the day before, and I set my hands out, palm up again. "How is it feeling?"

"Same as yesterday," I answered, feeling Jack's eyes on me. 

"Instead of doing a fist, I want you to open your hands, like you're giving someone a high-five or something." I chuckled a little at Race's example, focusing back on my hands.

I took a deep breath, knowing Jack was watching. I tried to do as Race asked, but was finding it far more difficult to do this instead of just doing fists. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get my hand to go any further, and it had barely opened at all. 

"Alright, relax," Race instructed, and I did just that. Jack had gotten ready and was now standing beside me, his hand on my back. "Try it one more time," he said, and I took another deep, shaky breath. I was actually having more trouble this time, barely able to open it at all. "C'mon Crutchie, just a little more. Try to open it more than the first time," Race said, not trying to upset me. "Keep trying."

"I am," I said through gritted teeth, my hand feeling on fire as I kept pushing to open it more. 

"That's enough," Jack quickly added, and Race nodded, agreeing.

"I can do it," I said, but Jack grabbed my hands, forcing me to stop.

"You're done, you can't push yourself too far." As I looked at him my eyes began to burn, wishing he hadn't stopped me.

"I'll come back again when I'm done selling and you can try again, how does that sound?" Race offered, standing up. Jack looked away from me, smiling at Race.

"Sounds good. I'll meet you downstairs in a few minutes." Race left without another word, and Jack knelt down so he was just a bit shorter than me, since I was on the bed. He was still holding my hands, knowing how upset I was. "Hey," he said, making me look at him again. "Take a breath. It's alright."