Paralyzed Love ✓

twenty

Ava plays with the anchor charm on her bracelet, she lets go of it and it lands back onto her wrist. Jesse gave this bracelet to Ava on her birthday, and a corner of her lips is tucked up.

She is sitting on the sofa, eyes glued to the black television screen. She remembers asking Jesse a question that night on his bed:

"How did you overcome all these?"

Jesse recalled for a while and said, "family. No matter what happens, they're always here for you. They gave me hope."

Ava blinks as she returns to reality. She stands up and goes into the room at the end of her house. She breathes deeply before she knocks.

"Yes?" A woman's voice sounds opaque behind the wooden door. Ava pushes open the door as her mom's eyes go wide. "Ava? What's- what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Ava whispers. "I um, just want to talk."

Ava's mom puts down her book onto her bed as Ava sits onto the floor. She looks up and examines her mom's face. Lines crease the corner of her eyes while wrinkles form all over her face, Ava is taken aback by how fast her mom ages.

Ava clears her throat and stares at the floor. "I feel like... we haven't talked properly for ages."

Ava's mom inhales in disbelief and nods. "Yes Ava, yes." She stares down at Ava. It's never easy for a mom to see her daughter suffering.

"Don't look at me like that, mom." Ava stretches her body with her arms propping on the floor. "Change the way you look at me, I don't need sympathy."

"I didn't mean that," Ava's mom says. "I just want the best for you, you're my daughter after all."

"I know."

Ava and her mom stay silent.

Minutes later, Ava starts again, "I fall in love."

Ava's mom sighs with relief, as though she has let go of something. She takes Ava's hands. "That's why you have been changing."

"Changing?"

"Yes, changing. I have never seen you so... happy." Ava's mom smiles.

Ava glances up at her mother again and frowns. "You... agree with me being in a relationship?"

"Of course!" Ava's mom raises her volume. She says softly again, "anything that can make you happy lights me up too, Ava."

"But you have to know... that he's paralyzed. He needs a wheelchair." Ava's voice weakens as she clenches her fist in her lap.

Ava's mom raises her eyebrows, but she replaces that with a smile. "It's going to be hard, but you two can figure it out together," she speaks to Ava in a firm tone.

Ava never knows how much she needs this, but the words from her mother settle all her unnerving thoughts down. "Thank you, mom."

"I'm so proud of you, Ava." Her mom gives her a hug and kisses her forehead. "I will be here for you. This will always be your home."

Ava nods with her glossy eyes.

-

"Hey babe." Jesse lights up as Ava enters his room. He is sitting on the floor in his room, a guitar behind held in his hands.