Broken

Chapter 13

After Danny left, I went into my room and I slept again. It's the only thing I can do to keep my mind off of Emily.

I feel someone sitting on my bed. "I told you not to come back, Danny."

"And I told you that wasn't going to happen. How are you doing?" Danny asks.

"How do you think I'm doing? The only girl friend that I had is now dead. My life this year is turning out to be really swell." I sit up and find my way next to him again. "I don't know if I can keep doing this. I'm not a rock," I say, as a tear slips down my cheek.

"Of course you can. I'm always going to be here for you. And so will your family," Danny says. "We should go visit Emily's parents. They need to be comforted." I nod but I don't move. "Come on, Lucy." He lends me his hand and I take it. After I'm situated in my chair, Danny pushes me out.

"Where's Alex?" He should really be coming with us.

"Your mom said that he went on a walk an hour ago and he hasn't come back yet. He needs time alone." Danny opens the door and I go through.

"I can't imagine how he feels. Who knows how long he liked Emily, and he only got to show it for a short while," I say.

"I'm surprised how well you're doing, Lucy. If I was in your shoes, I wouldn't be able to go visit the parents of your late best friend." Danny pushes me across the street.

"Well, at least I'm not alone." If I didn't have Danny to accompany me, I wouldn't be able to do it. As we get onto the driveway, I remember that Emily's house has stairs leading up to the front door. "Just leave my chair here." Danny comes to my side and he helps me up. As I take a step forwards, I put a little pressure on my prosthetic and pain shoots through me. I groan through my clenched teeth.

"Careful, Lucy. You aren't healed enough to walk yet." Danny keeps his arm around my waist as we slowly climb the stairs. I don't put my left leg down again. When we finally reach the door, I'm putting most of my weight on Danny. He reaches his hand out and knocks on the door.

Emily's mom answers the door. "Hi, Lucy. Who is this?" she asks gesturing to Danny.

"I'm Danny Miller." He stretches his hand out and she takes it. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too. So, where's Alex and Emily?" Mrs. Christian looks at me.

I gasp. She doesn't know what's happened to her daughter, her only child. "Umm. Can we come inside?" I ask. I don't want to be the one to break the news to her, but someone has to.

She stands aside and lets Danny and I pass her. I lean my head against Danny as I see more stairs to where we need to go. I don't think I can climb up any more. Danny picks me up and he carries me up the stairs without complaining.

Once we are all sitting down Danny starts to explain what happened. I keep my eyes down while Danny speaks. When he tells her that Emily was killed, I look up at her face. Fear and anger slowly wipe across her face.

"What? She's dead?" Mrs. Christian shakes her head. She's in denial. "This is your fault. Both of you. I want you out of my house."

"You think I would kill her? She was my best friend! Why would I even think about that?!" I yell. "Emily was one of the only people that knew me. I wouldn't just get rid of her!"

"Lucy. Let's go." Danny picks me up again and he starts walking down the stairs. As he walks out the front door, I start crying.

"Why would she blame us? We didn't do anything." I don't know if he understood what I said, but I don't want to repeat myself. Danny sets me down in my chair and takes me across the street.

"We just have to realize what she's going through. She just found out that her daughter is dead. She needs time to get over everything," Danny says.

As we enter my house, Alex is sitting on the chair. I haven't spoken to him since the hurricane started. "Hey," I say.

"Hey." Alex keeps his head down.

"How are you doing?" I move closer to him.

Alex finally looks up at me. His eyes are red and his posture is slouched. "Not very well. I don't know how you're managing."

"I'm not." I keep moving forward until my knees are touching his. "We just visited Emily's mom. She had no idea that Emily..." I can't pull myself to say died. "It would have been nice to have you there."

"Lucy," Danny whispers. He shakes his head. "Don't."

"Yeah. Sorry I left." Alex looks down again.

"Don't be sorry. It's completely fine. Everyone needs time alone now and then. Emily's mom needs time alone right now, too." Before I can say anything else, Danny pulls me away. "What?"

"You aren't being very nice to him. It's just like with your leg. He needs time to heal. Back off of him," Danny chides. I hate it when people scold me. I turn away from him. "Lucy. I'm sorry." Danny puts his hand on my shoulder. I tilt my head away from it. "I just wanted you to be careful what you say around Alex. Like how I'm careful about what I say around you."

"I know." I turn back to him. "Whenever I'm stressed, everything is harder for me. I need to find a way to relax."

"You could sleep. Or we could watch a movie. What do you want to do?" Danny pulls his hand back and slides it into his pocket.

"A movie sounds good. But I might fall asleep."

"That's okay." Danny starts to pick me up, but I stop him. I need to start walking more. I stand up and I lean against him. "Just take it one step at a time." I move my left leg forward. Then I move my right leg forward. I put a little weight on my right as I swing my left forward. "Good. Keep doing that." I ignore the pain and I focus on Danny's tight grip around my waist.

When we finally get to the downstairs couch, I collapse. "At least it's getting easier." I've only climbed the stairs a few times, so I don't have much experience.

"Eventually you won't need me to help you." Danny randomly pulls out a movie and puts it in the dvd player.

"Maybe I always will," I say. "Maybe I'll never heal."

"Don't think like that. Of course you'll heal. It'll just take some time." Danny sits down next to me. "You have to be patient with it."

"What if I don't want to? What if I can't handle everything?" I close my eyes.

"Hey, don't say that. You can do anything." Danny slips his arm around my shoulders.

"Why not? It's not like anyone would miss me." I look at the TV screen. The movie starts playing. I close my eyes again.

"That is not true, Lucy! I would miss you. Your family would miss you. Alex definitely needs you right now. If you leave him, he might leave, too." Danny guides my head down to his shoulder. "I understand that you are under a lot of stress right now, but there is no reason for this."

"I just don't want to have to go anywhere tomorrow, or ever again. I don't want to go to a funeral." I slightly shake my head. "I'm sorry for being such a downer, Danny. I don't know what has happened."

"A lot has happened. Eventually, everything will be alright again. It will take a while," Danny says. I shift myself down so my head is laying on his lap. He keeps his hand on my arm. Before I fall asleep, I feel Danny's lips slightly press against my head.