Promise Me? *DISCONTINUED*

Chapter 10: The Recovery

The next two weeks that passed were both the slowest and the fastest weeks of my life. I had to go to back to school in the second week following Jeremy's accident which was definitely one of the more stressful experiences I've had to deal with; somehow news had gotten out about what had happened to Jeremy and everyone was either trying to talk to me about it or just staring wordlessly. I couldn't decide which was worse. Thankfully I had Elena by my side and Aiden and Chase were in the same boat as me so it made it a bit more tolerable to know that I wasn't alone.

Jeremy was also slowly getting better. He was still in the hospital but he had been walking at least once everyday- either with a family member, a friend, or a nurse- and I could tell he was adjusting more and more.

Of course it was still extremely difficult for him and he had his bad days but I was so proud of how much better he was getting from when the accident first occurred.

Before the accident, I had been very close with Jeremy's family and I had cared for and respected them like my own family, but in the time following the accident we had gotten even closer than I had believed possible with family that wasn't truly your own. Ms. Fuller had been calling or texting me almost everyday just to check in on how I was doing, and if she didn't contact me first then I was the one contacting her. Hazel and I had been meeting up more often, I had begun trying to tutor her in certain subjects that she wasn't quite grasping; she had begun 9th grade and Jeremy and I's high school this year so I was familiar with some of her teachers.

My family had been settling down more and I could tell my mom wasn't worrying about me as much as she used to. Of course she still drove me crazy every time she tried to "talk" and convince me that I needed to express all my feelings and just pour out all my emotions to her but I suppose that's just the way she's always been so it didn't bother me too much.

Now that Jeremy had been getting better, the doctors told us that his bandages would be coming off soon. When Jeremy told me this, I could read the expression on his face and it was easy to see that he was scared. When I asked him what he was afraid of, that this was a good thing and he should be excited for it, he told me that this would make the whole situation more real, "It's easier to pretend that this is all temporary and not really happening to me when I have something covering my eyes; like that's the reason I can't see. It's easy to pretend that when the bandage comes off I'll be able to see and this will have just been some practical joke. I think the rational part of my brain knows that, when it comes off, nothing will change and I'll have to face the fact that this is permanent but the other part of my brain just keeps shoving that down and trying to pretend that it's not really happening" Jeremy had expressed that night.

I remember my heart getting caught in my throat and I took his hand, slowly making circles on it with my thumb as the thought that I could say nothing to ease his mental and physical pain ate away at me.

Two days following that painful night, I was just getting in my front door after school when I got a call from Jeremy's mom, "Hi, Miranda! How's it going?"

"I'm doing alright, dear, how are you?" I could practically hear her motherly aura radiating through the phone.

"I'm good, just getting home from school now" I put the phone on speaker as I took off my bag and coat.

"Oh, good! I was hoping that was the case!"

"Why what's going on?" I asked, curious as to why she chose this specific time.

"I'm just at the hospital with Jeremy right now and he insisted I call you and ask if you could come for a visit. He assured me that school would be finished by now but you can never be sure wit him" she chuckled.