Disabled.

Thirteen

"How do you know about this place?" Nadia asked the woman before her, who smiled slightly.

"Jackson told me about it once."

Silence surrounded them once again until his mother spoke.

"How are you Nadia? Really?" she asked her. Nadia looked at her on the verge of tears, tightening the grip on her intertwined hands. His mother placed her hand on hers and smiled slightly.

"We haven't been doing well either. It's really hard to forget him. He was such a─" she trailed off as a few tears fell against her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away before chuckling.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to do that," she told Nadia.

"I'm sorry," Nadia said in return.

"What?"

"It's all my fault. It's my fault that he's... that he's gone," she struggled to say as she started to cry. His mother remained silent for a few moments as she cried until she wrapped her arms around her in a hug, gently stroking Nadia's hair.

"Sweetheart, it's not your fault," she tried to reassure Nadia but she shook her head.

"It is. If I hadn't told him about the party that night, he would still be here. Everything is my fault. I shouldn't even be here. He should have been the one to survive and not me." 

Jackson's mother bent down in front of Nadia, holding her head in her hands as she wiped away her tears with her thumb.

"Don't say that. It's not something that you should blame yourself for─"

"It is─"

"No! Listen to me," she said to Nadia, looking at her as she began to cry herself. But even with her tears, she managed to say,

"As hard as it is for me to accept it, that was his time to go. There's nothing that any of us could have done. All we can do now is accept that it has happened and that he's gone. And I know that it's difficult when I say this but we can't let that hold us back for ever. Otherwise would we really be living?" she shook her head, "we need to find a way to keep living but I'm not saying we have to forget him completely─no. What we need to do is to go on with our lives but at the same time, allow ourselves to remember him for the great person that he was. Do you think you can do that?"

Nadia shook her head, causing her to hug her once again. Nadia felt her arm on her back as she wiped her own tears.

"I know that it seems impossible now but you can do it. I believe you can."

But could she really? Could she go on living almost as if that night hadn't happened? As if the only memories that she had with him were happy ones?

"Jackson wouldn't want to see you sulking forever."

- - -

Later that day, as she sat in her room looking out of the window, she thought of everything that had happened in the past few days, especially what Jackson's mother had said to her earlier that very day. And the part which stuck out the most to her was when she had said,

"Jackson wouldn't want to see you sulking forever." 

For a moment, she allowed herself to think as if she was in Jackson's position and he in hers. Would she want him to stay in the same place forever? Not being able to get over her? 

Of course not, she concluded. His happiness meant everything to her and even if it meant the he started to see someone else, as long as he was happy, she would have been happy.

But was it okay for her to think like that? Was she not being selfish for continuing to live when he no longer did? 

But if she was to continue living, she knew that she had to gain her independence back. That way, she wouldn't have to be so dependent on others. Even if it wasn't the same as before the accident, she could at least try to get as close as she could.

And so, with that thought in mind, she pushed herself out of her room and into the living room where her parents were quietly watching TV. When they saw her, her mother dimmed the volume as they both turned their attention to her.

"Did you need something sweetie?" her mother asked, causing her to shake her head.

"I want to tell you something."

"Okay, go on," her father said, smiling slightly. She took a deep breath before speaking.

"Mom, dad, I want to start rehabilitation." 

Her parents exchanged a look of uncertainty before looking back at her.

"Are you sure sweetheart?" her father asked her. She smiled slightly as she nodded her head, saying,

"Yes I'm sure. I want to gain my independence back and go back to living my life."

But as she said that, in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but to wonder if it would really be possible for her to move on after all that had happened.

* * *

A/N:

Thank you very much for checking out another chapter of this story! We have officially finished the "intro" of this story and now things are going to get more interesting, I promise. (I'm sorry that it took so long). I can finally say that we're actually getting into the story now. In the next chapter, a month would have already passed so there'll be a few changes but later on, I'll go back and explain the important parts. 

See you in the next chapter!

~candysweet101