Claire & I

Chapter Six: On Our Way

 "Keira Gregor," Claire addressed as she walked in. I sat up on the bed. "Claire," I acknowledged. "Claire Stone, yes," she told me. "Oh excuse me," I exaggerated, "Ms. Claire Stone."

She smiled, clapping her hands together for a moment before speaking. "You know, I have learned so much about you in the past half hour than I really want to know," she told me.

"Have you now?" I questioned. "Yes," she answered as she fished around my closet, "But I don't wish to bore you with all the details."

"Please do tell," I went along. "I've been talking with your parents," Claire informed. That made me raise an eyebrow, but it didn't surprise me. "Oh dear," I said, sighing and rolling my eyes, "What did they tell you?"

"Oh anything and everything," she replied, still preoccupied with my wardrobe. "What are you doing?" I asked curiously.

Claire came out with a pile of clothing items in her hand. "We need to get your bag ready shortstop," she said. I laughed, "The bag will be small."

I looked down at the magazines my mother had given me. Earlier, I had read as much as I could, but there was so much to take in. "There's a lot of walking to do in London," I said outloud.

Claire had taken out my pack, and she was stuffing items into the compartments. "You'll be strong enough before we go," she calmed. I sighed as I stared down at a monument. She said 'we' so casually.

"How do you feel about all of this?" I asked. She was thrown into my wish without her consent. Surely, she had an opinion. There was a pause, a heartbeat of silence that filled the room for a split second that caused a spark of question.

Claire seemed to choose her words carefully, "I think it's nice that you are using your wish on what you want." "That's not what I meant," I told her. I wanted to know how she felt about going across the world. Did she want to go? I wasn't sure I trusted her. Maybe the feeling was mutual.

"It's a great opportunity," Claire carefully expressed. I had a feeling that she wasn't telling me something. For a moment, I thought about pressing on to Claire, but I decided not to.

"Why aren't you asking for drugs right now?" I questioned curiously. Claire looked up from her work. She shrugged, "I don't need it at the moment." Then she added, "I'll ask for it later."

That caught me off guard. We continued talking for a short while. Not once did she ask me about my incident, or how my leg was doing. She obviously knew from her comment about me being strong enough to walk around London. It was nice.

***

A week later, Dr. Helminstein believed that I was capable of moving around. However, I wouldn't be able to move as much, and I would need lot of breaks. Still, he agreed to the fact that I needed to work on my left leg to regain comfort once more.

Dr. Helminstein was also coming in case of another incident. I didn't argue.

The airport was havoc. People were walking in a million directions. The air was hot, and the atmosphere was lively and comfortable.

I had never been on a plane, so I made sure to get the window seat. Claire sat next to me. From the looks of it, she had never been on a plane either. She held to the seat when we took off while I couldn't help but smile and enjoy the experience.

The world looked so much smaller from the sky. For the first hour or so, I did nothing but look outside. I couldn't grasp the fact that we were up in the air. We passed through clouds like it was no big deal.

Claire and I watched a movie for the rest of the first plane ride. We left an airport in Boston, and finally, we came to London's airport.

Exiting the plane, I felt exhausted. I stretched outside of the bathroom as I waited for my family. The air was completely different from Florida's. Though it was humid due to the abundance of people, it was much cooler than Tampa.

Throughout the taxi ride, I adverted my eyes from everything around me. I wanted to see it all the next day after we went to the hotel. Claire tried to uncover my eyes, and I screamed at her when she started to describe things.

It was when we came to our hotel did I dare to open my eyes. The accents were unfamiliar to all of us, but I couldn't help but try and imitate. Claire and I were sharing a room while my parents shared their own room.

I crashed onto my bed. "Goodbye standard hospital sheets," I said outloud, snuggling into the velvet. Claire sat on her bed next to mine. "We should sneak out," she told me. I changed positions to face her, the smooth blankets comforting me.

"We just got here," I breathed, closing my eyes to take it all in. I was in London. I was in a completely different country, and all I could seem to care about at that moment was the bloody sheets. I breathed in deeply, snuggling once again. Sleep called to me.

"Fine," Claire sighed, rolling into her blankets. I kept my eyes closed as I spoke, "We'll explore everything tomorrow."

I yawned, so I rolled over, facing the window. The night sky looked beautiful. I wondered about other people. I wondered about the poor souls snuggling in Florida, and I especially wondered about the other patients that were still at the hospital. I wondered how they were doing. Were they in pain? Did they wish to be in my place? Did they ever have a chance to know life before they came there unlike me?

I tried to stop wondering and allowed myself to go into a deep slumber.