Downgrading Miss CEO

Chapter 25

Chapter 25

The story was out. No more secrets. No more pressure. That night had brought me a sense of rest and relief. As if I could finally relax. That luxury was something I only had when it came to my dating life. Julian took it well, better than I ever would imagine.

That was five days ago.

"Oh come on, Luce. I am not paralyzed. I am fully capable to carry my own bag." I just rolled my eyes at him as a reply as I swung the bag over my shoulder. "Let me guess, you can walk to the car yourself as well?" His silence was my answer. "That's what I thought. I am carrying the bag, and that is final." I stood behind him and started to push the wheelchair he was in forward. "You better get used to this because you're staying with me. Mom is over at my place to get everything ready."

Chris sighed, obviously still not happy about the arrangements made. "You are all making too big of a deal of this. I am just fine. I can get back to my own house. I mean, you know I am a grown man, right?" Again, rolling my eyes was the only reaction I could give him right now. It was useless to reason with him when he was in such a mood, so I didn't even bother trying.

I pushed the wheelchair until I arrived at my car. I opened the door by the passenger seat and pulled the little handle above the wheel. "Okay, it's on the brake. Do you need any help getting up?" Chris just shook his head. And pushed himself up from the chair. When he did so, I couldn't help getting a little sad. I used to look up to my brother. I used to envy how strong he was and hated how much help I needed to lift some heavier things.

Chris was struggling to push himself to fully stand up. I rushed to his side and quickly ducked under his arm, wrapping my arm around him, supporting his weight. "It's okay. I've got you." We slowly stepped to the passenger seat and once we were there, Chris dropped himself into the chair. The sad expression on his face was showing and I knew better than to show any form of compassion. Chris was finally seated and I folded the wheelchair and fit it in the backseat of the car. After closing both doors on the passenger's side, I moved around the car and got in myself.

De drive to my apartment was silent. I knew Chris was feeling like shit because I pitied him, and I pitied him because he had to feel like shit. Once we were parked in the garage, I got out, ready to take the wheelchair out again. "Please, don't." Chris's voice sounded broken. "Please, I want to this myself. Support me if you have to, but I don't want to be stuck in that damn wheelchair all the time. The physical therapist said I had to keep moving to rebuild muscle, forcing me to use the damn thing isn't helping anyone." He sounded so certain and I believed him. The last thing I wanted to do was to make my brother feel any worse than he already did. So I nodded my head, closed the door to the backseat, and then jumped back to prevent getting hit by Chris's door swinging open. He looked at me, a big smile spread on his face. "Gotcha."

"You're taking quite the risk there. You do realize I am the only one here to support you right now, right? And I meant that in quite the literal sense." I offered my arm to him once he was turned in his seat and had is legs placed outside of the car. He took it and took hold of my wrist, while I did the same to him. I bundled all my strength and pulled him up by his hand, and was suddenly glad I at least did something to remain fit. His muscles may have weakened, but the weight was still there.

Once he was up, I supported his weight once again by sling his arm around my shoulder, and my shoulder around his waist. "It's okay. We've got this." I said this to reassure him, but I could use the reassurance myself, too. We made our way to the elevator and I was relieved the elevator was already here. On our way up, Chris kept staring at me. "Thank you, Lucy. I am lucky you came to pick me up. Don't get me wrong, I love Mom to bits, but there's no way she would let me do this myself. I would have been glued to that wheelchair." The look on his face was genuine and I just smiled at him. "That's what sisters are for, right?"

Chris laughed. I missed his laugh. "And here I thought they were just there to make life difficult and to nag about things."

"In my defense, I have to catch up one way or another. You have been preoccupied for a couple of years, mister. But without kidding, I do believe you should ask Rachel out. And don't even start about the 'no-dating-patients-policy'. You're no patient of the hospital anymore. She's a nice girl and she likes you."

Chris just rolled his eyes. The elevator dinged, indicating we had reached my floor and we immediately started moving. Luckily, the elevator was right across my apartment door, which was already open as I had agreed to with my mom. As soon as we were inside my apartment, Chris dropped to my couch, a tired look clear on his face. However, the look of fulfillment was also there. He looked me in the eye and gave me a smile to thank me.

-

Later that evening Chris and I sat on the couch eating pizza and watching the latest 'Mission Impossible' when my phone buzzed. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the sender of the message and a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach appeared.

Julian.

With a smile on my face, I opened the message.

How did everything go today? Are you still available for dinner?

I sent him a reply by taking a selfie, holding a slice of pizza by my mouth, and taking a bite. "Oh, I want in!" And so Chris joined in and photobombed my moment. His eyes then fell on the contact. "Is that the Julian?" I only replied to him by giving a small nod, my eyes never leaving the screen of my phone, as the three dots were showing, indicating he was typing a new reply. "Come on, Luce, just ask him to come over. I don't want to feel like I am a burden to you. Besides, I would like to meet the guy that has my sister head over heels."

"I am not head over heels. I am still the same Lucy. Besides, I need to focus on fixing what is broken with the company. That's the only way I can make sure I can make my own decisions in life in the future. And you know that because you know dad."

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A little brother-sister bonding. I would love to hear what you thought about the chapter?

 How do you bond with your siblings?

Xo Anna

P. S: if you are looking for a fresh, original and well written story, you should definitely check out Twice Forward by my friend @SupfromSam