Believe It Or Not (An Eddie Munson Story)

On the Mend

"They've been doing fairly well," Steve says quietly. "Who knows, maybe they'll be out of the ICU soon."

"I hope so," Dustin pipes up. "We've all missed them."

I nod at that, looking between their sad expressions. It's been hard to not be selfish and wallow in my own self-pity at not being able to see Ripley when I know that I am not the only one missing her. Robin has stopped by to see me a few times and I can practically see the hallow emptiness in the back of her eyes, a constant reminder that a big part of her life is broken.

Steve at least gets to see Chrissy, but he isn't on Ripley's visitation list. Her mom has kindly let Wayne see her in my place, but other than that, she has been safeguarded from everyone.

Ripley's hypothermia has been treated and she has been doing really well in that aspect. She's been able to maintain a normal body temperature and they have been able to taper back on the therapy they were offering. Their biggest concern has been and still is her head wound. When Jason took her from the mall, he hit her on the head with a bat. He struck her so hard he caused an intracranial hematoma. Her mom explained it to me as a collection on blood inside of the skull.

Ripley was rushed to surgery as soon as she entered the hospital. They are hopeful that because she is young and because she was still talking to me inside of Benny's Burgers, her prognosis will be good.

Her mom sat with me the night following her surgery and cried. It was the first time I had ever seen Mrs. Marro completely break down. She wept into my mattress as she hunched over, clutching my sheets in her fists.

"They shaved her hair," she wept and at first, I couldn't understand why they would or why that would upset her. After a moment, I realized she was just crying to cry, trying to feel something in all of this. I placed my hand on her arm, just letting her know I was there.

"She'll most likely never dance again," her mom eventually sighed, sitting up and wiping her face with trembling hands. My heart clenched painfully in my chest at the idea of Ripley waking up to this reality. "I don't know how to tell her. It's been her dream since she learned to walk."

"She always thought you hated the idea," I said softly, worried that I might upset her further. Her mom huffed and shook her head, her eyes puffy.

"It's definitely not the career I invisioned for her, but that was because I didn't want her to ever struggle. When I was younger, my family lived in poor houses. My way out of that was her father, but he turned out to be a different kind of terrible. I swore I would make something for us so she would never have to go through that. I just worry that she will take a wrong turn. It's what mothers do. I do the same thing about you. I would call your uncle every week while we were away to check on you."

My eyes widened in surprise as her gaze lifted to meet mine. I never knew. She lifted her hand to rest it on my cheek and she smiled sadly.

"You can't begin to imagine how proud I am. Neither one of you came to me and told me directly you were dating, but I always knew you loved one another. I knew you would become a lovely young man and I wouldn't have anyone else care for my daughter. You know that, don't you?"

I nod softly, my own tears rising.

"I'm sorry we never told you," I said and she shook her head, waving me off.

"Don't worry about it. In my pursuit of financial stability, I lost sight of what's important and I've drown myself in work. I'm barely home and I've missed so much. When I get both of you out of here, I plan to fix that."

"I think Ripley would love that," I told her honestly and her lower lip wobbled a little, as though she was going to cry again. She leaned forward to kiss my forehead before she left the room.