Paraplegic (COMPLETED)

Chapter 28

My heart was heavy by the time we arrived home that evening. I should be happy after having such a magnificent dinner with Calix, but I'm not. How can I be happy when I know Kalyope is lying in bed just waiting for death to come find her? I'm full of anxiety just thinking about how valuable each second is; knowing that every second that I'm not successfully making advancements towards finding Kalyope a new heart is a wasted second.

After we had made it inside the house, mother said she was going to make popcorn. Apparently, she's still hungry after eating McDonald's. I was too emotionally drained for snack food, so I went to bed. I lie under the thick blankets, listlessly watching the red numbers of the digital clock tick by, unable to fall asleep. It's obvious that I won't be falling asleep anytime soon. With a huff, I throw the blankets off of me and reach for my wheelchair, pulling it alongside the bed. It takes me a good five minutes to ease off the bed, dragging my unwilling legs behind me, and slide onto my chair. The whole process leaves me out of breath; I'm still getting the hang of it, but I'm glad I've come to the point where I don't always have to rely on someone to help me.

It's hard to believe that it's been five months since the accident. I barely remember a life without this chair. In some ways, the last five months have gone by agonizingly slow, but at the same time it feels like it's flown by. The weeks after the accident, I would have frequent dreams where I'd be running through a forest or along the shoreline—waking up to the harsh reality that it was just a dream was always heartbreaking—but those dreams don't occur anymore. I wonder if that's because my subconscious has accepted this life and such fantasies can no longer change any of that.

I turn my wheels in the direction of the French doors and proceed to The Bluff. I don't know what I'm hoping for; Aurora wasn't there the last time. What if she never comes back? My heartbeat spikes at the thought.

As I make it to the summit of The Bluff, my hopes crash to the earth—there's no sign of Aurora anywhere. The only movement in sight is from the oak tree shedding its autumn leaves. I guess I shouldn't have expected anything less. My words to her were pretty harsh the last time we spoke.

I sit in silence and contemplate Kaylyope's fate. How am I going to do this? I know nothing about heart transplants. I don't know where to get a heart. I don't even know where the waiting list is. How do I contact a donor? How can I be certain that Kalyope's body won't reject the new heart even if I do find her one? This is starting to seem more impossible with each progressing thought. Maybe I'm in over my head? But no! I can't give up. I don't wanna look back a year from now with regret, wishing that I would have at least tried. I can't have another friend die!

"Bestie?" My heart leaps at the sound of that voice. I jerk my head around—Aurora is standing behind me.

"Rora!" I shove my wheels toward her, practically crashing into her. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean what I said before. Don't ever leave me again." I curl my arms around her waist, hugging tightly. "I missed you."

She lowers her chin on top of my head. "I missed you, too, Bestie."

We part and she takes a seat on the grass beside my chair. I fill her in on the events of the last few days. She gets all giddy as I tell her about the candlelight dinner that Calix had planned for us, then becomes sad when I tell her about Kalyope and her grave fate.

"And you think you can pull this off?" she says after I had finished explaining everything.

"I don't know. I've never done something like this before . But it just feels wrong moving on with my life forgetting that I ever met her."

She pokes her finger in between each of my wheel spokes. "Well, if there's anyone who can do it, it's you, Bestie."

"I hope you're right."