Adopted by Phan

Chapter 73

Jay's P.O.V.

The journey home was long, longer than I had remembered it being, even though I had been unconscious. The hospital had loaned us a van to fit my wheelchair in to get home and I was sitting right at the back, where there had been a ramp to get the wheelchair in.

Along with Dan, Phil, Officer Briny and the driver, there were also two nurses who were coming to look around the home and to help make things easier for me. I was still clinging onto my book, still the fifth one, but it was closed as I had found out that reading in the car didn't make me feel the best.

"We're here guys..." The driver got out of the front seat and opened the back door of the van, pressing the button that lowered the ramp so I could get out. He then leaned in and undid the straps that kept the wheelchair held down, including the strap that went across my lap like a seatbelt, helping me wheel the chair down.

I still was very good at controlling where it went and my arms weren't quite strong enough to move the chair much at all.

Wheeling towards the front of the house I saw my first problem, which was the fact that the front door had a step up, and then another step to get into the house.

"Okay, do you guys have a remote for the garage door? It'll be eaiser to get in that way." The garage was around the side of the house, and only had a little bump to get inside.

Phil shook his head.

"We've never needed to use it before, but it's probably in the key bowl." He pushed open the front door, leaving the rest of us in mostly silence, my hand flicking the pages of the book up and down.

Although it was nice to be home, I didn't really feel any different about it. It was still a bed, probably a more comfy one, and a place full of people that kept asking me questions.

Phil hadn't really spoken to me since my outburst, I didn't exactly blame him but it was a little bit off putting considering it was now only the nurses, doctors or Dan that talked to me on a regular basis.

"Jay!" I turned my head, only to see Anais running up the driveway, her headscarf flapping wildly behind her and her bag bouncing on her back. Her face was red and something told me she had run all the way from school, which wasn't actually that far, ten or fifteen minutes walk away.

"Hey Anais." She leaned over and hugged me and I caught a glimpse of her black hair as she did so, so I leaned up and pulled the scarf down a little more.

"Are you okay?" I nodded without thinking about it, but Anais crouched down to my level.

"I know you better than that, no you aren't." I shrugged, jumping when I heard the sound of the garage door opening. It was loud, louder than it probably should have been because of its lack of use, so I started to wheel my chair around the side of the house, avoiding the uneven part of the driveway.

Anais moved around behind me and started pushing the chair for me, dumping her school bag and making me smile. Although she hadn't actually been inside the house before she seemed to know where she was going, heading down the short hallway and into the living room.

I looked around, smiling when I saw the familiar room with shelves full of random trinkets and games, little things that I had come to love over the months I had spent in the house, although it honestly seemed like I had spent longer in the hospital.

"Jay?" I hummed, not bothering to look at the person who was talking, one of the nurses I think.

"We need to work out how we're going to get you up the stairs, or whether it's going to be too difficult." I sighed, feeling Anais direct my chair out into the hallway and to the base of the stairs.

Using the banister I hauled myself to my feet, or rather foot, startling the hell out of the nurses and Anais.

"What?" I turned to them. "It's not like I can't walk or anything..." Dan frowned at me.

"I know that, but the doctor said it wasn't good for you." I sighed, basically ignoring him and continuing up stairs, wobbling a little bit as I did so. It only took a minute before I was at the top of the stairs, my hands clinging to the railing still for the support.

"Told you."

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"Anais?" She looked around, she was still standing beside my window and looking out of the window to see what was outside.

I was sitting on my bed, my crutches somewhere on the floor below me. Dan, Phil, Officer Briny and the nurses were all downstairs trying to sort everything out, making paths between the furniture and making it easier for the wheelchair to get around the house.

"Yeah?" I reached my hand out, silently asking her to come and sit on the bed beside me. She did so and I leaned my head onto her shoulder, feeling her squeeze my hand and she start to rub her thumb across the back of my hand. I could feel my eyes starting to close, I was already exhausted even though I hadn't done much.

"You tired?" I nodded in my tired state, continuing to lean against Anais's shoulder, almost completely using her as support to keep my head up.

I felt her run her hands through my hair, a comforting gesture and I found it reassuring so I leaned into it further, almost craving physical contact. I had drawn myself away from both Dan and Phil, purposely making sure that they never touched me but when Anais was sitting there beside me, it was nice.

Her arms crept around my waist, squeezing gently.

"I missed you, you know. I miss the old you." I smiled to myself, knowing that she could see my face.

"That's what everyone tells me, but I don't know if the old Jay's ever going to come back. She's gone." Anais tilted my head back so I was looking her in the eyes and I noticed that her headscarf was slipping again, some of her hair falling out of its plait.

"Then I'm gonna make the most of this one." She squeezed me tighter, falling back into silence, a comfortable silence though.

A wave of nausea overtook me and I groaned, feeling my head spin.

"I think I'm gonna be sick."