Faye's Diary

Chapter 23: Talking To Amy

When I woke up, I thought it was the next day, but I was wrong. It was the same day and I had only slept for about two hours. My nurse, who was called Jackie, came in with two crutches and said that a physiotherapist would be in later to teach me how to use them.

True to her word, half an hour later a man in his late twenties arrived with several books and diagrams.

“Hi,” he said to me, running his hands through the jet-black hair that sat perfectly on top of his head. “Sorry I’m a bit late, the traffic was terrible. You’re my first patient today, and I’ve heard that you’ve already had a little wonder around the hospital.”

I smiled and blushed at the same time, “Yeah, I wanted to use the phone.” Wow, I’d actually just talked to a really hot guy without babbling; that was a first. Since Jamaal, I was way better at talking to boys, unlike my mum. I remembered the first time he had come round and I cringed inwardly.

“Faye? You were miles away, right I’ve sorted out my papers now. Have you ever used crutches before?” he asked me.

“Only when my friend broke her ankle and we stole her crutches away from her as a joke and I went all around the tennis court with them until the bell went,” I smiled. Jade really doesn’t like jokes being played on her. She’s great at dishing them out though. If I had a penny for every time I’d said, ‘People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones,’ to her, I would be rich.

“I hope you gave them back to her!” He laughed and I assured him that we did and then he said, “Well, you should be better than most people then, although it’ll be a bit different now because you’ll have actually injured yourself this time.”

For the next hour I learned to use my crutches properly and safely, occasionally falling over, but at least then Matt, the physiotherapist, had to pick me up again. It was harder than I thought because it wasn’t just one of my legs that were hurt, but both of my legs were weak. I think that the morning rampage had helped a little though. If I could scale the whole hospital on my own, then how hard would it be to walk around a room on crutches?

 After I fell over for the third time, Matt did suggest a wheelchair but I declined, knowing that I would never get into Lilly and Dan’s car otherwise. Finally, I thought that I was ready to use the crutches on my own, and I didn’t want to wear myself out before tomorrow. So Matt went away to see his next patient and I got back into bed and fell asleep for the third time.

 ***

When I woke up, Amy was sat on my legs and Aunty Alice was telling her to get down. “Amy, now look what you’ve done, you have woken her up!”

“Me?” Cried Amy innocently, “You’re the one shouting down the whole house.”

“We’re not in a house, we’re in a hospital,” I said smiling. “Hi Amy.”

“Hello Faye! What have you been doing?” Amy got down and I sat up and kissed her and Aunty Alice.

“I have just gotten my very own pair of crutches and I’ve had lessons on how to use them properly. What have you been up to?”

“I went to Princess Palace yesterday, because it was the start of the summer holidays in my school. It was just like my birthday, but only one of my friends came this time; she's called Rhianna! It was so fun, but not as good as my birthday though. Mummy, when is it my birthday again?”

“It’s not for a while yet,” my aunty said.

“What does that mean? Does that mean this much,” she squeezed her fingers together tightly, “Or this much?” She giggled as she stretched her little arms as wide as she could.