Chasing Charlie

Chapter Twenty-Four | Birthday and Museum Reveal

Chase

Charlie burst through my bedroom door, early the next morning. I was irritated since it was Saturday and I wanted to sleep in. She woke me up, saying there was a surprise waiting for me at the park. Reluctant to see this surprise, I got dressed and we were on our way.

I wasn’t expecting much, maybe a picnic or a present. It wouldn’t be something big, I thought as I pushed myself alongside her. My wrist was feeling better, sore and the bandage was still wrapped around, but nevertheless better.

We got to our bench and I was surprised to see my physical therapist there standing beside a huge box.

“Happy birthday Chase,” he smiled.

“Thanks, but why are you here?”

He looked over to Charlie. “You’re friend came up and told me about something that could help you walk. I looked into it and found Sydney had one in a physical therapy centre in the city. It’s incredibly expensive but we’ve rented it out for the day. It’s called the Ekso’s Exoskeleton and it’s like a set of robotic legs to help you walk. It takes long to get into and longer to get the hang of, but I think you’ll like it,” he smiled.

I smiled. “Thank you Charlie and thanks Doc, for doing this.”

“You’re thanking me?” He chuckled. “Finally! After all those years of swearing I didn’t think I would get a thank you.”

It took a while to set up, varies straps and support stuck to my body like glue. After that, I was handed a pair of crutches and I was finally ready.

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It was hard at first, getting use to all the controls and how to control my upper body to correspond with the machine. Darren, my physical therapist helped me as Charlie stood by and watched anxiously.

Finally, after a few hours, I was allowed to go around for a bit on my own. I walked towards the empty basketball courts with Charlie by my side.

I was so happy, and it had been ages since I had been this happy. The girl I had a crush on was by my side, I was walking once again and it was a good birthday. I stopped once we got to the middle and I stood still, pressing a button to stop the machine. Charlie stood in front of me, shorter than I expected her to be.

“Thank you so much. You honestly don’t know how much this means to me, to be able to walk again. I know it’s only for a day, but damn, it feels good to be normal.”

“It’s not much,” she smiled. And god, she looked so pretty under the darkening sky. It was past sunset, a bit of sun still showing but dark. Her green eyes were happy and in that moment I couldn’t feel more normal, standing in front of the girl I was crushing on.

I leaned forward, my lips about to touch hers. She closed her eyes. “Thank you Charlie,” I whispered and kissed her, closing my eyes as well.

Her lips were sweet as we kissed, different from the first. I felt her arms wrap around my neck, my grip on the crutches tightening. Her hands moved upwards, tickling the back of my neck, and climbing higher into my hair. Lightly tugging at my hair, I felt a sound form in the back of my throat.

In my mind I wanted to do the same. I wanted to wrap my arms around her waist so she was closer. Or I wanted her on my lap, my hand cupping her cheek while hers remained in my hair. It was pretty cliché, but I wanted it so badly. I wasn’t a normal guy and I didn’t even know if I could kiss.

I pulled away, when I felt myself getting tired, my left wrist just about ready to give up. I pushed the button for walking and carefully as I could, walked back as quickly as a beginner could. Thankfully, I got to the bench in time, just as I collapsed from exhaustion.