The Road To Recovery

Chapter 6: Late and Awkward

Zhilan finally made it to therapy with Siyang following close by her. As soon as they got there, they were faced with the unimpressed face of her physical therapist.

"Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to show up. You're a teenager right? You have this thing called a cell phone. Did you know that cell phones have these clocks that tell you what time it is? If you look at your phone right now, you'll find that you're almost thirty minutes late for therapy." Anna's voice dripped with sarcasm.

The universe is mocking me isn't it?

Zhilan pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed heavily.

A throat clearing snapped her out of her thoughts and she turned to Siyang.

"I believe I'm the reason that Zhilan is late."

Wait, what?

She and Anna both looked at him in surprise, but he continued.

"I'm Mu Siyang, a new patient here at this hospital. Doctor Martin was kind enough to introduce us to each other and I kept her away. I suppose she lost track of time being with me. I'm sorry."

Seriously, what?

Anna looked between the pair and shrugged. "All right, you're off the hook. Just don't be late again. I'm Anna by the way. I assume you're here to get familiar with everything right? Let me see if I can find someone to show you around."

She disappeared and Zhilan stared at Siyang in complete confusion. He simply glanced at her and messed with his glasses.

Curious.

She stood up and began some of her basic movements until her therapist came back.

Siyang had no idea why he even said anything. He barely even knew this girl that he followed to this center. Yet, he felt the need to place himself as the reason she was late to her physical therapy. When he did, Zhilan stared at him and all he could do was obsessively touch his glasses. The situation between them was already awkward enough and his speaking made it worse.

"Here we go. This is Leon. He'll show you the center while I work with Zhilan. Then, you two can keep getting to know each other."

He simply nodded and followed Leon.

Therapy seemed to pass in the blink of an eye for Zhilan. She got ready to leave when she came face to face with Siyang. Her eyes widened in surprise and she immediately pulled herself together.

"Do you need something?" She asked.

Could you be any worse at this?

He shook his head. "I thought I would wait for you so we could walk back together."

Is this what you want, universe? Want to make me feel bad about hiding from this guy?

Zhilan stood up and gave Siyang a crooked smile. "Thanks. Let's get going."

They walked in silence to the main building. She wasn't sure what to say to him. She didn't even know if it was wise to speak. She decided she was going to anyway.

She cleared her throat. "Thank you for earlier. You didn't have to do that."

Siyang looked at her. "It was nothing."

The awkwardness from earlier still hadn't disappeared as they made it to the elevator.

"What's your floor?" She asked.

"Five."

Great, we're on the same floor. This just keeps getting better and better.

Zhilan pressed five and waited patiently. He let her get off first then he followed. She thought that would be the end of it, but they were still walking in the same direction. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from commenting on it.

Fortunately, her room came up first and she had to keep from breathing out in relief.

"I guess I'll see you around, Siyang."

He hummed and kept walking towards his room.

She entered her room and leaned against the closed door, relieved. "It's finally over."

Zhilan sat down on the couch then realized she forgot the wheelchair back in the center.

Oh, forget it.

Author's Note

*Insert all of the quirky music from the show* I had a little bit of fun with this chapter, but I wish I had made it a little funnier. All in all, it's still not half bad at all. Hope you enjoyed it and that you're doing all right! See ya!
- Violet