A Summer To Remember

You're Hovering

"I'm fine, mom. Stop hovering." I snapped. I didn't intend on being so mean to my mom. I loved her and I knew she was only trying to care for me. But damn, she wouldn't give any breathing room.

Her face went from sad to hurt in seconds. Her shoulders dropped and she walked to the kitchen, finding something to do that made her happy.

She did everything for us. She loved us more than she loved herself. While I wasn't the oldest or the baby, she still made sure I was thought of. I wasn't just the loser kid who happened but wasn't what they wanted. Although it wasn't what our dad wanted. He left when my younger sister, Melody, was just a baby. Mom had been taking care of us on her own since.

I reached for my phone on the coffee table only to see it was bare. I sighed and settled back on the couch, remembering my phone was in my dresser drawer, turned off. I was tired of people telling me they were sorry or asking for pictures. I was living it and even I didn't want to see the damage.

It had been almost two weeks since the accident. I still had the bandages on to cover the many stitches I'd gotten. The hospital bracelet was still on my dresser.

The ride home had been the longest three hours of my life. Our local hospital couldn't handle such a touch case. We had to travel to the nearest city to find a doctor that could help. By then, it was too late to save my extremities and they had to do surgery to remove the damage.

Thankfully, my physical therapy was in town. I couldn't imagine another six hours in the car with mom and Melody.

My older brother, Jacob, sat down on the other end of the couch, crossing his arms over his chest almost immediately. Jacob wasn't a big guy, muscularly at least. He was taller than me but he was thin. I'd gotten the easy muscles, the broad shoulders. It made it that much harder being in a wheelchair.

"What are you watching?" His eyes were focused on the TV though I didn't think he was trying to look at anything but me. He never made eye contact with anyone, really. It wasn't a personal thing at all and I didn't take it as such. He was the last person to treat me any differently.

I shrugged, moving my gaze from him and to the drama on TV. It was two in the afternoon and nothing good was on. I'd found something that could hold my attention enough to not put me to sleep and was binging it. I'd been doing so since I got home from the hospital. "There was nothing good on."

He nodded once at the TV. "That guy's the killer."

"The episode just started and they don't even show what happened until the end of the episode. How do you even know-"

"Either he's a druggie or he's guilty. Look how twitchy he is."

I rolled my eyes and let my head fall back against the pillow mom insisted on giving me.

Jacob sat up and pulled his feet back, his eyes widening only slightly. "I'm not kicking you, am I?"

"What the hell, Jacob? I thought you of all people wouldn't do this to me."

He threw a pillow at me and lowered his voice. "Mom told me to be nice to you. Quit acting like such a baby."

"You're such a-"

"Hey! That's enough. Jacob, your brother's-" Mom started.

Jacob interrupted, turning his gaze to mom. "You're yelling at me? I shouldn't have to be nice to him. I didn't ask for this."

"Oh, go fu-" I started.

"Jacob, go to your room."

He rolled his eyes and walked out of the room. "Screw you."

Mom sighed and rubbed her forehead. She started to go into the kitchen but stopped. "My sister's coming to stay for a while."

I groaned. "Mom, we don't need Aunt Emma here to-"

"I can't take care of all three of you on my own."

"Jake will realize he's being an idiot and help out. We-I... I can figure out this whole... wheelchair thing. Mom, we'll be fine."

"Dylan, I can't ask that of him. Or of you."

"We've been taking care of things for, like, nine plus years now."

She walked around the couch and sat down beside me. "She'll only be here for a week or so. If she hovers too much, just tell her. It won't be so bad."

I knew mom wouldn't intentionally make us mad. She wouldn't ask her sister to come if it wasn't necessary. She really needed help and it went further than Jake and I.

"When will she get here?"

"Later tonight."

I groaned. "You should have told us sooner."

"I only called her this morning."

"She's a bit excessive, don't you think?"

She laughed. "A little bit. She wanted to come when I called her a few weeks ago but I told her not to."

"She listened to you? I'm shocked."

She fluffed the pillow under my head and pulled the throw over me more. "Why don't you get some rest before she comes?"

"She's not staying in my room, is she?"

"No, she'll stay with me."

I put the remote on the coffee table. "Mom, if you want... you can stay and watch TV with me." The more I thought about it, the more I wanted her around. There would come a time where I wouldn't have her to help me and while I wanted to get used to it soon, I always wanted her to wait on me just a little while longer.

"You won't say I'm hovering if I do stay?"

I was never going to live that down. "No."

She kicked off her slippers and sat back down on the couch. She sat where my head had been and pulled the pillow into her lap. "Lay back, sweetie."

I curled up on my side, cradling my bad arm against my chest. The blanket was draped over me, almost covering all of me. I felt invisible under it. Protected. Mom only made that feeling increase.

I liked it.

She ran her fingers through my head and I felt a peace I hadn't felt since the accident. I was always on edge, always feeling like I was an elephant in the room. And, honestly, I was.

"I love you, Dylan." Mom whispered, leaning down to kiss the side of my head.

---