Living to Loving

Chapter 17

*Rina POV*

"Hi there, Rina," my nurse, Hazel says, walking in.

"Hi," I say, fiddling with my phone. Mom had brought it for me just a couple hours prior.

"Do you want to get out of bed?" Hazel asks.

This attracts my attention. "Get out of bed?"

Hazel nods. "I can help you transfer," she says. "And if you want, we could go down to the gift shop or cafeteria or something like that."

I shrug. "I mean, sure."

Hazel smiles. "Awesome."

I sit in silent excitement as Hazel unhooks me from my IV. She helps me sit up and slide my legs over the side of the bed.

I'm sitting, my hands bracing my body so I didn't fall back.

Hazel locks the wheelchair and slides a board between the bed and the chair. She smiles at me. "Are you ready?"

I arch an eyebrow, staring at the board. "For what?"

"We're going to have to inch you from the bed to the chair with the board," Hazel says. "So are you ready?"

I sigh. "Sure."

She slides her arms under my armpits. "We're going to move a couple inches at a time, okay?"

I give a small nod.

"Three, two, one," Hazel helps me inch myself over a few inches. "Good job!" She praises me for moving three inches.

We continue until I can slide into the wheelchair a little easier.

Hazel gives me a small smile. "Do you want me to push, or do you want to try?"

I fidget with the little bandage over where my IV was. "I'll try." I touch the wheels and Hazel gently moves my hands over to the rims of the wheels.

"Try it right here. It's a little easier on your hands and it won't get them as dirty," she explains.

I nod and give it a push. It's harder than it looks. I push slowly with Hazel following me.

After only getting out the door, I have to stop and rest. Gosh, my arms get tired so easily. I stare at my legs and curse under my breath, low enough that Hazel can't hear. I hate this.

"Hey Rina."

I look up and see my mother. "Oh. Hey."

"Do you want to go over by the elevators with your mom?" Hazel asks.

"Yeah," I say, my hands feeling the cool metal of the wheelchair's rims.

"Alright," Hazel says. "Just don't go anywhere else."

I give a nod. "Come on." I start pushing myself and Mom walks beside me. I'm keenly aware of the fact that I'm going painfully slow. Unfortunately I don't really have another speed. I stop when we reach the elevator and Mom helps me find a place out of the way. She sits down in one of those nice-looking chairs that are actually kind of uncomfortable.

Although it can't be as uncomfortable as the wheelchair I'm sitting in.

"Did you find Joanna?" my brow furrowed.

Mom shakes her head. "No. We didn't."

"Are you sure she wasn't hurt or anything?" I ask.

"I wouldn't know, Baby," Mom says gently.

I sigh. "Okay."

"You know, that's what I love about you," Mom says.

I look up with a questioning look. "What?"

"Even with all you're going through," Mom says. "You're still worried about her. After all she's done to you. I love that."

"Joanna," I say, looking out the window.

"Daniel," Mom says.

My throat closes up at his name. I drop my head.

"I heard about your argument," Mom says. "He told me."

I sigh. I don't say anything.

"You know," Mom nudges me. "My mom always used to tell me with my sister and I, 'you'll have many friends in this life but only one sister', or in your case, brother. She was right."

I couldn't meet her eyes. "Aunt Ruth never hurt you."

"Oh yes she did," Mom says. I can feel her watching me intently. "She married my first boyfriend."

I look up at Mom incredulously. "What? Uncle Sam?" (Yes, Sam is his actual name.)

Mom nodded. "Yes ma'am. He was my first boyfriend."

My eyes widened. "Yowza."

"Mhm," Mom nods. "We were madly in love. We were on the Ferris Wheel when I had my first kiss."

I watched Mom intently as she told her story.

"Then we went to different colleges and we grew apart," Mom says. "And Ruth fell in love with him. She missed me terribly like he did. I suppose it started out as consoling each other. But pretty soon they were the ones madly in love."

"I'm sorry," I say.

"It's alright," Mom says. "I was hurt for a while, but if it weren't for Ruth, I wouldn't have met your father."

"Did you ever forgive her?" I ask.

Mom smiles. "She was at last Christmas, wasn't she? Yeah, we made up. But it took a few years."

"You came back to each other," I smile.

Mom nods. "Yes. We did. And you and Daniel can too."

"He got mad at me," I say. "He yelled at Zeke, then he yelled at me for liking Zeke. I can't help my feelings."

"He knows that," Mom says. "But you don't know his past with Zeke. He came to me, after his date with Gemma. He was devastated. I'm going to tell you the same thing I told him. Things between you two can't be broken."

"But they are," I say. "He hasn't yelled at me in so long. I haven't yelled at him in so long."

"They're not broken," Mom presses. "Damaged, maybe. I know it hurts, Rina. Fighting with him. But things work out. But you both have to want it. Daniel, he loves you. If he could redo it, he would."

I shake my head a little. "I don't know."

"Really?" Mom asks. "Because I'm positive of it. Daniel looks up to you. He counts on you being there. And when you're not, he crashes."

"Not anymore," I say.

"More than ever," Mom says. "You two have a unique bond. Even stronger than my sister's and I. Who was the first person Daniel came to when he had feelings for Gemma?"

I shrug.

"You," Mom says. "Listen, Rina. You only get to be a sister for one reason. You have Daniel. Without him, it all goes away. You would still be beautiful, talented, and amazing. But you wouldn't be a sister."

I drop my head, thoughts whizzing through my brain.

"Think about it, Rina," Mom says. She waits for a moment, then speaks again. "Well, we should get you back. You're starting to look a little tired. Can you push yourself or do you want me to do it?"

"You do it," I say absentmindedly. As much as I wanted to be mad at Daniel, Mom was right. I was only a sister because Daniel gave me the chance. I could only call myself a sister as long as I had him.

I wanted him back.