Chasing Chastity (Now on Radish)

Chapter 12

I cried out, struggling with the task at hand. My physical therapist, Monty, was sitting beside me, telling me reassuring words as I worked on regaining my strength. My doctors told me that I was paralyzed from the waist down from the car accident. I wasn't surprised, we had a nasty crash from what I remembered. I asked Maddie and Mo to have a restraining order put out against Robert. I didn't want him coming near us at all. It was July now, just a few weeks away before the adoption was finalized. I would be seventeen by then, and I couldn't be happier.

"Alright Chastity, I think we're done for the day." Monty said as he took the equipment from me. I wiped my damp cheeks on my arms as Monty came back with my wheelchair. "Ready kiddo?"

"As ever," I responded as Monty lifted me into his arms. He placed me in the wheelchair and wheeled me over to the desk, where Peyton and James were waiting for me. James went over to the counter and made another few appointments while Peyton stood there, averting his eyes from my face. He hated that I cried when I went to PT. He hated that he couldn't take away my pain.

"Alright, time to go kids." James said, leading the way out of the building. Our stroll to the truck was silent, mainly because no one knew what to say to each other. Everyone but Will, Mom and Dad have been treating me with kid gloves. They don't want to say anything that would offend my new condition, but they don't realize that this is just a new chapter in our lives.

Peyton lifted me into the back seat of the truck, then climbed in next to me as James secured my wheelchair to the bed of the truck. He took my hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it as James climbed into the driver's seat. "Do you guys mind if we stop for lunch? I'm starving."

"Sure," I said, resting my head on Peyton's shoulder. He played with my hand as James drove us to the family diner in the middle of town. Peyton was the worst with his political correctness, and drove me up a goddamned wall most days.

"Gracie and Derek had the twins today," Peyton said casually, pressing a kiss to my temple. I smiled as I turned to look at him.

"That's great! Do we know what they named them?" I asked as I pulled myself closer to Peyton. He shook his head, wrapping an arm around my shoulder as he looked at me.

"No, but they had a boy and a girl. Derek said he would send pictures when Gracie woke from her nap."

"That's good."

More silence ensued as James parked the truck and went to get my wheelchair. Peyton climbed out and then pulled me out of the cab, cradling me to his chest like I was the most important person in his life. I hoped that I still was. Peyton lowered me into the chair, then proceeded to push me into the building. The waitress who sat us was an old friend of James', and she sat us quickly. James and Peyton and the waitress talked at me, around me, even about me, but never directly to me. I was fed up. No, that was an understatement. I was gone.

No, really, I just wheeled away from the table and left the building. I was half way down the street before Peyton caught up to me. He jogged beside me as I ignored his continuous chatter.

"Chastity, come on, please stop." He begged, keeping pace with me. "Chastity!"

"No," I growled, pushing myself further ahead. "I'm going home."

"Let us drive you home then! You're going to hurt yourself!" Peyton exclaimed, reaching for my chair. I stopped abruptly, turning to face him. I was fuming; I wasn't some porcelain doll that needed to be kept high on a shelf, I was a human. And humans always get hurt.

"I am not fragile, Peyton. I am human. Humans get hurt." I shouted. "None of you seem to realize that. You all think that talking at me, being PC about my 'condition', just ignoring me as a whole will make everything better! Newsflash, Peyton! I'm going to be like this for the rest of my life! I'll forgive my family for taking the slow path to this realization, but you? There is no excuse. I heard every word you said while I was in that coma. You promised you would be there for me, support my every move. So far, you really haven't. All you've ever done is talk in circles, and not even to me!"

We stood in the middle of the sidewalk like two idiots, waiting for the other to say something, possibly profound, to fix the predicament we were in. Peyton turned away from me, kicking a stray rock into the road. Peyton turned back around with red rimmed eyes, his posture was hunched over and his hands were shoved in his pant pockets.

"I am terrified of losing you again. It makes me sick to my stomach to know that I could lose you in the snap of a finger. And I know it's not your fault, but every time I think about what happened that day... I feel so out of control. I was going to tell you I loved you, the day of the accident. I had it all planned out, but when James came crashing through the house, I felt like I was disembodied. I didn't feel real, Chastity.

"And now that you're alive, breathing, doing things again... I can't shake that feeling that one day you'll be ripped from me. I don't know how to handle that, Chastity. I need you to help me, so I don't lose you." He begged, looking at me with sad eyes. I grabbed the bottom of his shirt and yanked him to me, kissing him with a great deal of force. I hadn't realized that the accident had affected him so badly. I pulled back and looked Peyton in the eyes, watching his expressions closely.

"We're gonna work at this together, Peyton. We have to, because if you really love me like I love you, I'm going to need you for a lot more than pushing me around when my arms get tired." I joked, thumbing my armrest nervously. Peyton lifted me up and kissed me, supporting all of my dead weight on his body.

"I love you," He mumbled, kissing my forehead. Peyton helped me back into the chair and began wheeling me back to the restaurant. James didn't bother looking at us as he picked at his fried pickles.

"Took you two long enough. I thought I was going to have to eat three meals by myself." He mumbled through food. I rolled my eyes at my brother as he continued to eat. The rest of lunch went by smoothly. Once in a while I would catch a patron staring at me, and I wasn't about to get offended by it. They were curious about my disability. We left the restaurant by one in the afternoon, just enough time to catch the game on T.V.

I raced Peyton into the house, winning by a landslide. Jason, Will and Lee were in the living room with the game on, whooping and hollering as Wiloma and Lucia were napping through it all. Mom and Dad were in the kitchen, looking at the mail and whispering to each other. Mom looked up as the three of us entered the house and smiled. James said a quick hello before running into the living room, jumping on all three of his brothers before being pushed to the floor. Mom waved us on to join the others, reminding us to leave the wheelchair near the stairs. Peyton carried me into the living room, placing me between him and Will. Will put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close to him.

"Mom and Dad have a surprise for us after dinner. I think it's about the adoption." He whispered before kissing my cheek. Dinner could come soon enough, now that Will's comment had caught my intrigue. Peyton being there helped, since he constantly played with my hands or stole kisses when my brothers weren't looking. Mom and Dad called us to dinner around five, and the mad dash began. James nearly killed Will and Lucia as he beat them to the table, followed by the other three elephants in the house. Peyton waited to carry me into the kitchen, so he wouldn't fall or drop me.

As Peyton lowered me into my seat, I saw a manilla envelope where my plate would be. I looked up at my family and the stared back at me with anticipation.

"Well, open it!" Mom encouraged, jumping up and down. I grabbed the envelope and opened it carefully, scared and hopeful of what the envelope help. I pulled the thin, crisp paper out and had to do a double take.

I was officially adopted.

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Hello Lovelies!

One more update for Chasing Chastity. This update will be on March 15th. The Outlaw has been updated on both Wattpad and Radish and Breaking Bailey has been updated as well. The next chapter of the outlaw will be available here on wattpad on March 17th.

Happy belated Valentines day and I hope you are all looking forward to the long weekend!

Lots of Love,

DoctorWho