In An Instant

Chapter 9: Falling Harder

I woke up to a text from Bri, letting me know she wouldn't be to pick me up for school today, since she was sick, and that I would have to drive. It didn't surprise me, since she'd acted so down yesterday, but what did surprise me was the last part.

I was supposed to take Kaden to his doctor appointment after school. Can you take him?

I sent a message back, letting her know that I was off work and could take him if he was okay with it.

Of course it's ok. He has to be there at 3:30 so you'll have to come straight here after school. I'll make sure he's waiting for you. Thanks, Em

Needless to say, that's all I could think about all day at school. Even when Trey sat with me at lunch, talking about a new book he was reading, all I could think about was Kaden, and how dirty my car was. I got most of the trash out before school, but some of my things were still in the back seat, making it look cluttered. He'd known me long enough to expect it, though, so I didn't bother cleaning it up.

"Hello? Earth to Emersyn," Trey said, pulling me back to reality. "I asked if you wanted to borrow it when I'm finished. I think you'll like it."

"Oh, sure. I'll read it." I had no clue what book he was talking about, since I hadn't been listening, but would practically read anything, so I agreed.

He tilted his head at me. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Or I would be in just a few hours when Kaden was sitting next to me.

For the next three hours, time seemed to slow. When I finally made it to his house, he was waiting for me outside, leaning against their retaining wall. He was, once again, walking and smiled as he approached the car. Unsure if his prosthetic arm could open his door, I leaned over and opened it before he got to it.

He lifted his prosthetic leg into the car as he sat down, still smiling. "This should be interesting," he said, glancing over at me before reaching for his seatbelt.

"What?"

"Riding with you."

"I'm a great driver," I admitted as I started to back up.

"Can you help me with this?" he asked, holding his seatbelt out for me, unable to fasten it.

"Yeah, you might need this," I said, rubbing the side of his hip as I buckled him up.

"I thought you said you were a good driver."

"I am... most of the time."

He told me where his doctor was, but didn't say much else until we got there. "You can sit out here if you want. I shouldn't be too long. It's just a check-up."

"Okay."

He undid his seatbelt, after several tries, and got out, walking carefully into the office. With his jeans on, it was hard to tell he had a fake leg, except for his limp and the way his fake leg moved, which wasn't natural. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed watching him walk away.

I grabbed a book out of my back seat and picked up where I'd left off, making my wait go by much faster. When I saw him come out, I stuck my bookmark back in my book and laid it into my back seat before leaning over and opening his door for him again. He was almost to my car when his leg gave out. It all seemed to happen in slow motion, yet fast enough that there was nothing I could do but watch.

As he took a step with his prosthetic leg, he did exactly what he told me he had a habit of doing—stepping too far. When he did, the knee buckled and he went down. As he fell, he instinctually put his arms out to catch himself, causing his prosthetic arm to catch a majority of his fall, cracking the forearm of it. His other arm tried to catch him, causing me to wince as it made contact with the pavement. It hurt me to watch him fall, so I knew it had hurt him even more, and not just physically.