Not Broken, Just Bent

Twenty-Eight: The Big Day

"You know, we waited like a year to do this." Jen sighed.

"And it's perfect, just like you." Colin kissed her forehead gently.

"I'm not perfect." Jen protested.

"Yes, you are. You're the strongest person  know. You're a cancer survivor, you're a badass, you've gone through abuse three times, when no one should even go through it once, and you're still the kindest person I know. You care about everyone else more than you care about yourself. You were ready to die, but if anything happened to Hailee, you'd do everything you could to stop it, you're the definition of perfect." Colin never broke eye contact with his wife. Tears slipped down Jen's cheeks as she leaned into him.

"I love you." She whispered. The door opened, revealing Bex, who was about to go looking for him. Jen was facing away from the door, so that no one could see her face. Bex had forgotten all about the second dress, and she shut the door behind her gently, so no one inside would know she was mad.

"Colin, what the hell?" She shouted. Jen giggled and turned to look at her friend. Bex smiled and shook her head. "I'm an itiot." She giggled.

"You're a good friend, though. If I saw Mark doing that, I probably would've shut the door and told you the next day." Jen smiled.

"You need your chair, don't you?" Colin asked. Jen's shoulders dropped. She was struggling to stand, putting most of her weight on Colin.

"Yeah." She sighed. Colin helped her back to the room where she was before she walked down the aisle, where her chair was waiting.

"If you save your energy now, you'll be able to dance for a bit." Colin smiled, helping her lower herself into the wheelchair.

"You're just trying to make me feel better." Jen sighed.

"Yes, but it's working." He placed a hand on her face, drawing invisible circles on her cheek.

"How do you do that?" She asked quietly, closing her eyes as he knelt next to her and rested his forehead on hers.

"I don't know, I just put my hand here, and you relax. I should just do that when you're mad at me!" He teased, placing a gentle kiss on her lips.

"If you do thar, I'll be even more mad." Jen replied. She smiled as he placed another kiss on her lips. Lana knocked on the open door, inturrupting their moment.

"You can't sneak off at your own wedding, guys. Come eat, Jen needs the strength." Lana smiled, taking the handles on the back of Jen's chair. She knew that if she took Jen, Colin had to come. She left them at the door, shooting them a look that said 'run off again, and I'll hurt you'. They entered after her, and Jen was suddenly aware of the people staring at her. They had a single photographer, and she hated that her wedding pictures would have the wheelchair in them. The eyes of her guests seemed to drill holes in her skin as Colin rolled her to their table. Lana was right at her side, Julia next to her. Colin had Josh, then Jared. In between the couple sat Hailee and Evan, Hailee nearest Jen, Evan beside his father. Jen immediately scooped Hailee into her arms, placing the little girl in her lap.

"Mama!" Hailee squealed. Colin gasped and turned to face the little girl.

"Can you say mama?" He asked her.

"Mama!" Hailee giggled.

"You owe me twenty bucks." Colin smiled.

"Daidí!" Evan whined.

"Yeah, Ev?" Colin asked.

"I'm tired." Evan pouted. Colin smiled and pulled the boy into his arms.

"I know, Ev. I'll get you a soda, how about that?" Colin asked. Evan nodded excitedly, and Jen shot Colin a look.

"Does he need soda?" She asked.

"It'll wear off by his bedtime. We don't want him to fall asleep, then we have to carry him around, we can't leave him alone, can we?" Colin asked.

"Fair. Hailee needs to sleep soon, though, and I'm tired, so we can all rest for a half hour after dinner, then we can cut the cake." Jen explained.

"I don't want to let you out of my sight, though." Colin protested.

"She has to eat." Jen replied.

"Fine, but after dinner. And sit here, I want to hold you." Colin patted the seat next to him. Jen moved over the two seats, leaning her head on Colin's shoulder, with Hailee curled up into a little ball against her chest. Evan wrapped his arms around his father's torso, resting his head on Colin's chest. Colin had one arm around Jen and the other around Evan.

An hour later, it was time for Jen and Colin's first dance. Hailee had fallen asleep after dinner, and Evan was probably going to drift off soon, too. Neither of them had taken a nap that day, and Hailee usualy took two. Colin took Hailee from Jen's lap and looked around for Lana or Julia. Neither one of them was nearby. Luckily, Josh hadn't left the table yet, so he took the baby. Colin took Evan to stand with his parents, and Jen was trying to convince her mother that she would be fine standing, just for a few minutes. She was constantl connected to oxygen, so she wouldn't pass out. She'd been off work for a week now, so she was sleeping plenty, and she'd been sitting down most of the day. When her mother finally agreed, Jen smiled and mentally thanked the tailor that had sewn in the little portable oxygen pouch in both of her dresses. She rolled herself to the dance floor, but stood and walked over to ner husband.

"Told you saving your energy was a good idea." Colin whispered, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"You were still trying to make me feel better about that damn wheelchair." Jen smiled.

"It worked." Colin smiled.

"What worked is that I keep reminding myself that I'll be out of that damn chair soon." Jen replied, sighing with contentment as she leaned her head on his shoulder. The rest of the room dissapeared for a moment, and it was just them. Jen smiled, her eyes shut in an effort to convince herself that she was alone with her new husband. He kissed the side of her head as he felt a bit of her weight shift onto him.

"You're going to have to sit down." He whispered.

"I need to sit down now, I'm going to black out." She replied, a hint of panic in her voice. He picked her up without warning, walking her over to her wheelchair. He set her down, then knelt next to her.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"The temporary oxygen supply isn't working, I need it attached to the tank." She replied, finding the little ppouch on her hip that held her portable oxygen supply. She disconnected it easily, then pulled the end of the tube out of her dress. She handed it to Colin, who connected it to the oxygen tank on her chair. She took a deep breath and leaned back, closing her eyes.

"Good?" Colin asked.

"Yeah. Sorry I ruined that." Jen sighed.

"You can't help that you needed to breathe, baby." He replied. Jen bit her bottom lip and opened her eyes.

"Still ruined it." She shrugged.

"I don't care. All I care about is you." He smiled. Jen nodded, but didn't reply. He knew that meant she still felt bad about it, and she was tired, but he dodn't push it.

"Three more hours." She sighed.

"You're allowed to go upstairs and rest." Colin replied.

"It's my wedding. People want to talk to me. I can stay." Jen protested.

"You have cancer, Jen. Just because you're getting the transplant doesn't mean you don't have cancer right now, and that means you're tired, you're hurting, and you don't feel good. People will understand." Colin's thumb brished her cheek gently.

"I'm tired." She admitted.

"So, let's get you upstairs, and Hailee can come up, too, and I'll stay down here, with my phone on really loud, so when you wake up, you can call me." Colin replied, standing up and taking hold of the handles on the back of her chair.