The Opposite of Falling Apart [Formerly Three and a Half Good Legs]

7 (free sample)

J O N A S

By the time the weekend had passed and Monday rolled around, Jonas was in a bad mood, that he couldn't come up with one single source for. It was more of a medley of frustrating things.

For one thing, his leg was still sore from using the prosthesis last week. When the amount of phantom pain he usually had increased due to over-exertion, his mom lectured him about how he needed to build up to using the prosthetic leg more slowly. Because he hadn't told her about the accident and the resultant walking, she just assumed he'd walked around more than he said he had when he took Taylor her permission slip.

He sat and half listened to her lecture, growing more frustrated by the minute. It wasn't as if she knew anything about missing half of one of your limbs, so how would she know how it felt?

Jonas almost wanted to put the leg on again and walk all the way around his neighborhood, just to spite his mom (who was just trying her best really, he conceded eventually) and his own body (weak, weak body that couldn't cooperate with what he wanted to do).

His bad mood wasn't helped by the arrival of two letters from Washington University, one with his housing assignment and one bearing the news that the labs for the Anatomy and Physiology class he had tried to sign up for were full and he had been put on a waiting list. Regarding the A&P letter, he wasn't that upset. He supposed it was what he got for signing up for classes long after everyone else had. He'd just take A&P the next semester, if he took it at all. He still hadn't decided what he was going to do, now that he'd given up on being a doctor. The housing assignment itself also wasn't that bad, but the big deal that his mom made over it was. There were tears, lots of them. His mom had been excessively overprotective since the accident, and she hadn't been too sure about him going to a college that was out of town, even if it was only a few hours away (far enough to be away but not far enough that it was unreachable should there be an emergency). The letter brought on a whole new round of her trying to convince him that it might be best just to stay home (I can take care of you, Bird), and Jonas insisting that he'd be fine (I'm not your little Bird anymore, mom) and then him trying to comfort her because he hadn't meant it that way, he just needed away from anyone who knew him before, because then maybe he could become someone else without the pressure that came with having everyone from before watching him now...

Eventually his mom had just broken down and kissed his cheek and hugged him, saying how proud she was of him, while ruffling his hair.

Now Jonas was back in his room, watching Star Wars Episode IV.

Someone was banging on his door.

He paused the movie.

"Who is it?" he yelled, his voice tinged with irritation.

"Taylor!" came the timid voice on the other side of the door.

Of course it was her. His parents had probably left for work by now, and Rhys was, as per his usual, gone.

"What do you want?" He tried to make his voice a little less irritated.

"My library books are due today, and dad said you could take me to return them!"

"Stop yelling and open the door!" Jonas huffed. Frustration was creeping back into his voice.

Taylor opened the door. His little sister was fourteen, and had been the apple of their parents' eye, until Jonas had lost a leg, because apparently that was enough to take him from unnoticed middle child to doted upon, most envied sibling status.

"Are you going to take me or not?" asked Taylor, keeping her head down. "Because I know your leg has been bothering you. Dad said to take me, but I'm ok if you can't."