Taking Chances (Official Second Draft)

Chapter 16

I feel the blood pressure cuff on my arm tighten as I open my eyes. My room is dimly lit, minus a small light letting off a fluorescent hue above the sink. My nurse stands at the computer in my room typing something softly. I move my hand to my right to feel for Matt but am instantly let down that he is no longer next to me. The nurse notices I'm awake and walks over to me.

"How are you feeling?" She speaks softly, fiddling with my IV bag beside me.

"Everything still hurts." She nods and slowly pushes more medicine into my IV. "We don't want to give you too much medication at once, but we don't want you to be in severe pain." I nod my head. "I never caught your name." I state. "Hm?" She looks up "Oh it's Alecia..I should have told you that when you woke up in the first place." "No, it's okay, I was out of it anyway...what time is it?" She looks at her watch, it's about seven fifteen in the morning. You slept the whole night, the overnight nurse said you didn't wake up once when she was getting your vitals, it's understandable with how tired you must be." She pours me a small glass of water and hands me some pills to take. "This is just a high dose of acetaminophen, it will help with pain too." I thank her and take the medicine. "Do you think I'll be able to see my sister today?" She purses her lips. "I think it will be up to Doctor Narissa. Right now in your chart it has you on bed rest, but when she arrives we can always see, okay?" She smiles. "Doctor Narissa will be here soon so don't worry, we will get an answer." I nod as I hear a small tap on my door. I see Mrs. Pearson walking in the room quietly with a small teddy bear and a rose. She beams when she sees me awake. "I didn't know you would be awake this early darling." She set down the rose and handed me the plushie, "This is from Matt, he asked me to get it for you when he left your room last night. He tried to stay as long as he could, even tried to fight the nurses on his way out." I chuckle softly. "That does sound like something he would do." I hold the bear closer to me. She pulls up a chair next to me. "I'm not even going to ask how you're feeling, because we both know you've been getting asked that a lot...strange that people don't catch on that it will always be the same answer." She gently sets her hand on top of mine. "At least someone understands." I pointed out. "Naiomie, I just want you to know I'm here for you. You may feel like you have no family anymore, but you do have me." I glance at her as she continues, "I know it can be hard to look at my husband right now and not have the memories of that come flashing back. That's why I thought it would be best if I visited you and stayed with you today." The words she said swept my heart with relief, until this moment I didn't realize how scary it was to see Mr. Pearson, after everything. Mrs. Pearson interrupts my thoughts. "I know, I can never replace your mother, nor would I ever want too, but I hope you can see me as someone who loves you unconditionally, and I look at you as my daughter. I always have and I always will." I look to her, such a warm, kind, loving woman. So accepting of a girl with so much baggage. I ponder to myself how lucky I was to have stumbled across such a wonderful family. I turn my head to her. "What you said to me makes me feel the warmest inside than I have in I don't know how long. It feels like all of this has been going on forever."

"Well honey it has, your whole life."

"I know, but nothing felt like it was real until the end, I mean it just felt like something I adapted too." I vallicated. She looked at me with concerned eyes. "You shouldn't have had to go through that, and if we would have known we would have put a stop to it all. I'm sorry our family never noticed...as I talked to Matt he told me that he couldn't tell anyone because you didn't want him too."

"He was respecting my boundaries, he's always been good with that."

"I know, I just wish he wasn't so modest sometimes, but- we did raise him to be."

"You raised a really good son. I really do love him."

"I know you do sweetheart, he loves you a lot." I try and position myself in my bed to sit up. I let out a sigh once I'm able to move a bit.

"I really hope they let me see Lily today, I know it's going to affect me, but I have to see her, she must be so confused. I feel like she may be mad with me for never telling her."

"You didn't tell her for very good reasoning..." She trails off into thought. "But, I do agree that it is time she knows."

"I just...I know she's going to take it very hard. I feel that it's my fault I didn't tell her sooner, or else maybe she would be able to cope with it easier, easier than me just dropping everything on her."

"You have to remember that she has been through a lot, and she is very strong. I've never met someone at her age who is so intelligent and capable of handling so much. She very much mirrors you Naiomie."

"Well..." I ponder. "Before we knew she was sick, I really tried to teach her well. That was before my dad got bad. When we went on a trip to Colorado I was the one who made sure she was always by my side, that trip was the last time I remember being a real family. Even after that trip I tried to teach her good morals, everything that I was as a person, including who I was beginning to be as a person...I guess she actually listened."

"As I was saying, she's intelligent." I look down as I fiddle with the pulse sensor on my finger.

"I just wish she could experience life, more than the hospital."

"Knock knock" Narissa says as she walks into the room. "How are we feeling today?" She steps next to my bedside and looks at my incision.

"I hurt, but that's to be expected I'm guessing." She nods. Grabbing my chart yet again.

"May I please see my sister today?" I ask her. She looks up from the chart with a concerning look.

"Naimoie I don't know about that, I put you on bed rest because I'm worried about your incision and your head."

"But, things could get worse if I just lay in this bed right? I could lose ability in my muscles right?"

"That's why there's physical therapy."

"Please. I'll use a wheelchair, I'll be careful, I need to see her, she must be so confused, it's not fair that she doesn't know." Narissa looks at me with sincere eyes.

"Okay how about this, I'll let you go and see her but you can't walk, and you need to bring a nurse with you...also, you need to eat breakfast. It's important to keep up your nutrition and fluids." I nod my head and thank her. "I'll be around, the nurses will let me know if you need me."

"Thank you doctor." I say sweetly. She turns on her heels and walks out of the room.

"Well let's get your breakfast ordered and then we will see if the nurse can take you." I smile and let out a sigh of relief, but also anxiety fills my stomach. I don't know what is going to be ahead of me.