Speak Now & Surprises [Hunter Hayes fanfic]

Chapter 31

“If I can’t do this under supervision, how am I meant to do this by myself?” I exclaimed angrily at the nurse. She was trying to teach me how to change my wound dressings by myself, but the bandages kept slacking and falling off every time I tried.

“Miss White, you really have no choice.” She snapped, quite harshly even for my standards.

“Yeah, like I had no choice in having this damn leg cut off to begin with!” I retorted. The nurse gave me a despairing look as I heaved myself off my bed and into the wheelchair that was handily left there. I gave her a withering glare of my own as I wheeled out of the ward. I could tell that she was giving up on me.

It was the twenty-ninth of June and day nine in the hospital; surprisingly, only Amelia had stayed with me. The entire cast of the Speak Now tour was currently residing in Greensboro, preparing for the concert that would be taking place the next day. I vaguely wondered how they were managing without me.

I imagined the surfaces of the bus to be smeared and mucky, and Andrea constantly red in the face from yelling at everybody about the mess. I couldn’t help but picture that little black Toyota that was once like a shadow to that tour bus following it around in my head.

I was wondering what car my company would send me next - or if they’d even send me a car at all – when I bumped into Ricky.

He was leaning on the desk in the foyer, flirting with the receptionist. He caught sight of me wheeling in through the automatic doors out of the corner of his eye and came over without hesitation.

“I’m so glad you’re okay Shelby.” He said immediately, sounding thankful and relieved. I gave him my best smile and told him that it was nice to see him. He asked what I was doing out of my ward and unsupervised. I shrugged and suggested we get some lunch.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Screamed the witch from hell, charging down the hallway after us. My nurse.

“Quick – this way.” I murmured, and skidded around a corner and into a network of walkways that were sprawled like legs of a spider.

After many twists and unexpected turns we found ourselves in the quiet, colourful children’s ward.

“What did the nurse want you for?” Ricky asked quietly, rubbing the smooth stubble on his chin with one of his hands. I thought about how thankful I was that Hunter didn’t have stubble – I didn’t think I’d like to kiss someone who had hundreds of spiky hairs stuck to their chin.

“She was trying to show me how to change my dressings... but I ran off.” I admitted, before quickly rephrasing, “Maybe ‘ran off’ isn’t the right phrasing, more like I wheeled off.”

Ricky cracked a smile and began laughing that stupid British chortle of his. They all seem to laugh in a really posh way across the pond. It frustrated me immensely.

All of a sudden, Ricky froze mid-laugh, his eyes locked on something else in the room. I turned, searching for what he was looking at, and I found it.

We weren’t only in a children’s ward.

We were in a children’s cancer ward.

We both sat in silence for a long time watching the sick children play, their pale bald heads reflecting the sunlight as their shrunken hands struggled to grasp the large jigsaw pieces they were trying to complete on the floor together.

Ricky looked at my missing leg and then back up to me.

“Look Shelby, all I’m saying is that you could have it worse. Now let’s get you back to your own ward.” He sighed sadly, and began wheeling me away.