Ruby's Broken Bone

Ruby's Broken Bone Part 4

"Gotcha, Winston!" Max exclaimed as he tagged his friend from behind, which startled both Winston and Ruby.

"Woah!" Winston exclaimed. "You sure did get me, Max!"

"Freeze!" Max said to him. Winston sat as still as he could like a statue in his wheelchair as Ruby watched with a bummed expression. "I win!" Max celebrated. He then ran around the playground 'unfreezing' his friends before finally coming back around and 'unfreezing' Winston.

"No fair, Max!" Winston said. "You must've sent your sister over here just to distract me!"

"And it worked!" Max bragged. "It's great when you've got a big sister to help you out!" He turned around only to see Ruby walking back to the building. Louise, Valerie, and Antonio noticed her walking back as well.

"Where are you going, Ruby?" asked Louise. "Recess isn't over yet!"

"I'm just not in the mood for recess anymore," said Ruby. Her friends could tell something was up.

After school, Max was playing over at Lily's house while Ruby sat by herself crafting a new paper maché at the kitchen table. Her mother watched her for a few seconds and could tell her daughter was not enjoying it at all. She came in and sat down beside her.

"Is everything alright, sweetheart?" Mrs. Bunny asked her daughter. "You seem to have something on your mind."

"What makes you say that?" Ruby asked.

"Well, you've been pasting on this thing for about an hour and its getting really soggy," Mrs. Bunny said as she held up the clump of paper and wet paste.

"I guess you could say I'm paper machéing my feelings," Ruby said, resting her head on her paw as she rested her elbow on the table with a bummed expression. Mrs. Bunny took it and threw it in the trash.

"Sometimes it's better to simply talk it out," she said as she sat back down. "What's on your mind, honey?"

"Well, today at recess, Max and his friends were playing Freeze Tag and Max was 'it.' He asked me to help him tag Winston by having me distract him so he could sneak up on him. And while I was distracting him, Winston was all like, 'It must be nice to be able to gain the ability to walk again. Some of us never had that ability and never will.'"

"I get it," Mrs. Bunny said. "You feel bad that soon you will be walking again while he's still in his wheelchair. But I can tell you right now, honey, that he didn't mean to make you feel bad. He was just saying what was on his mind. Being in a wheelchair is all he's ever really known. You know he was born like that, right?"

"I do," said Ruby. "Which is what makes me feel worse about it."

"Well, you shouldn't," said Mrs. Bunny. "It's one thing to feel bad for someone if they lose an ability, but if they never had that ability to begin with..."

"I guess you're right," said Ruby, smiling slightly. "I mean, Winston is still a really nice and awesome kid, and a great friend for Max."

"I can tell you that he has still got so much potential to offer to the world," said Mrs. Bunny with a beaming smile on her face. "And he knows it, and for that, you should not feel even the slightest bit of guilt when you get your boot taken off on Thursday and walk around normally in front of him. Now come on, let's go pick up your brother from Lily's and get some groceries."

That Thursday at the hospital, the doctor undid the Velcro and slid off Ruby's boot. Ruby was so happy her leg was fully functioning again.

"You wanna take your leg for a spin, Ruby?" joked the doctor. Ruby ran around in a circle and was practically jumping for joy that she no longer experienced any pain within her lower leg.