A Summer To Remember

Future

Melody sat down beside me on the couch. She had a stuffed animal with her. A bear that was missing an eye. "Are you coming back?"

I rolled my eyes. "I come back every time, Mel."

She poked my leg, just above the scar from where my stitches had been. "Will you still be... you?"

I put my arm around her, thankful it was my left side so it didn't make her uncomfortable. "I'm always me."

"You're not as much you anymore, Dyl."

"I'll still look like this when I come back, okay? No less." Maybe more if my appointment went well. I hadn't told Jade I was getting prosthetics and mom had told me not to mention it to Melody. She wouldn't understand and it was just easier to show her than explain it.

She leaned into me and handed me her bear. "Do you need Stuffy?"

I shook my head. "No, I'll be okay. You keep Stuffy."

She pulled him back and put him out of reach. "Good. I don't want him to leave."

Mom patted my shoulder from behind the couch. "Ready, Dyl?"

I nodded and squeezed Mel's shoulder. "We'll be back soon."

---

"Did you tell Jade about this?" Mom asked as she drove us toward the doctor's office.

"I wanted to surprise her."

She turned onto another street, her eyes on the road as she spoke. "Are you afraid you won't get them?"

I stared out the window, afraid to look at her. I didn't want to see the worried look on her face. I didn't want her to know how scared I was, either. "I don't want to get her hopes up." Or my own.

Mom reached over and squeezed my hand. "You've been really strong through all of this. I'm glad you have someone like Jade to help you through it."

I glanced at her, sensing the conversation was going in a direction I didn't like. "You're not mad at me, are you?"

She sighed but smiled. "I'm happy for you, baby. I'd be happy for you even if the circumstances were... you know, better. That's not really the right word. You know what I mean."

"I know. And I know all of this has been hard on you, too. I'm sure me and Jake being gone so much doesn't make it any easier."

"You're supposed to be independent and have lives of your own. It's a part of growing up. It might be hard but I have to accept it."

"We're still here, mom. That is, until Jake goes away to college and I move out to pursue... something." I hadn't figured out my life at all. When I was still... old me, I'd planned on getting a scholarship to play football somewhere and study something easy. Now, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do or be.

"Have you given any thought to your future?"

I sighed. "No. I thought I'd play football somewhere but I can't now."

"Who says you can't?"

I looked at her like she was crazy. I lifted my right arm, trying to get her to see reason. "I only have one hand. And... who knows if I'll even get these prosthetics today."

"This is your new normal. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who find ways to make it work for them."

Life had already been stressful enough before things changed. It hurt my head thinking about adapting to something so different and new. Nothing I did anymore was the same as before my accident.

"But it takes them years to get to that point."

"Then you better start now, honey."