Whenever You're Ready

Chapter 6 - Goodbye Hospital

Dylan

A week felt like a month in that hospital. People would come in and out, give him their best well wishes, and he would just sit there wishing he could get out of the place. He knew eventually that the time would come. He could finally sit up and speak to people without having the risk of ripping his stitches out. Everything in his body ached, but he was ready to get out of the wretched place. There was one person however, that made everything seem a little more bearable. Taylor. She would come into his room every day to see how he was doing. Before he was able to talk, she would tell him stories about her family, she had two younger brothers, twins, and her mom was a nurse, and her dad a pilot. Dylan lived for those moments. Just her and him alone. Her trying not to make him laugh so he didn't rip out a stitch, and him trying not to smile too widely at how happy he was with her. She made everything so much better. When he was finally able to talk, he introduced her to his family. Her and Julia were friends instantly. Seeing his family like this was rough. He hated being in this position. He hated knowing that they were hurting for him. But they were there every day. Supporting him through everything.

The only thing that scared him about his recovery, was that once and a while, he wouldn't be able to think straight. He would sometimes stumble over a word that he was trying to say, or once and a while black out. The doctors said that it could be due to some brain damage. They weren't completely sure if it would ever go away. That's what scared him the most. What if his career was over? That thought constantly ran through his mind as the weeks went by.

Finally, the wait was over. He was told his release date. He would have to go through four days of Physical Therapy and then he was out. The doctors were worried that it would be hard for him to walk again since he was in a bed for two weeks. However, Dylan knew that was only part of the reason. He knew that the other part was that the brain damage could be affecting how he walked.

"You ready?" Taylor asks as she comes into the room with a wheelchair, ready to bring him to his first day of PT.

Dylan just laughs, "Get me out of here."

Taylor smiles and helps him out of bed and into the wheelchair. It felt so damn good to get out of the hospital bed. He was beginning to think that he was going to be stuck there forever.

She wheeled him to a room not far from his own. Inside, there was everything you would find at a gym. However, modified to fit a small room. Dylan was brought over to two long bars parallel to each other. He guessed those were the railings he would have to hold onto in order to walk. He bites his lip. How the hell did it have to come to this? How did he go from one day complaining about all of the work on his feet he was doing, to the next struggling just to be able to walk?

Taylor looks over at him, sensing something was wrong.

"Dylan? You okay?" She asks softly.

Dylan just shakes his head. "Y-yeah. I'm fine." He looks up at the trainer who was about to give him instructions on how to walk.

He tried to pay attention but it was hard. His thoughts were clouding his brain. Why did this guy have to help him walk? It was ridiculous. He wasn't a baby.

"Dylan... Dylan." Taylor, again.

Dylan looks up at her. She was looking at him with her one hand resting on her hip.

"You ready?" She asks, gently.

Dylan nods. Taylor reaches under his armpits and helps him steady himself on the two railings. Putting weight on his two legs felt so weird. They felt like deer legs, about to give out. Taylor holds one hand on his back and the other on his chest and helps him as the instructor tells him to put one foot in front of the other.