As I swam across the water hole, to where our stuff was, I kept thinking about when Robert could've seen my scars. Granted I didn't particularly hide them, but the ones on my arm weren't particularly noticeable, and the ones on my thigh are usually covered by my shorts or I wear jeans.
My mum knew, she had seen the scars once in the last couple of months and I broke down. I told her I wanted to be better and stop doing it. She said if I needed help to talk to her, but I haven't done it since that day. No one else knew but her. I couldn't even bring myself to tell Robert, afraid of what he might say or the possible judgment.
Life gets hard sometimes, and being a teenager doesn't make it any easier. I'm not excusing myself for doing it, as I know it's not a healthy way to cope. But I'm doing better and things are going to be okay. I've grown a lot in the last couple of months and I'm hoping to put that behind me for good.
I reached the rocks and climbed up and dried myself off with my towel, being gentle with my wounded leg. Luckily my stitches weren't looking irritated or anything.
Robert finally climbed up and dried himself off as well.
"Look, my leg isn't irritated or anything," I said, trying to make normal conversation again.
"Oh, that's great! You'll be all healed up in no time," he replied, sitting down next to me.
"Ideally, yes. So what did your wonderful mum pack for lunch?" I asked.
Robert dug through the lunchbox. "We got two sandwiches with bacon, lettuce, and tomato. A container of mixed fruit, and a chocolate bar for each of us," he said.
"Yum! Now give me a sandwich, I worked up quite an appetite," I said laughing. He handed me a sandwich and left the opened container of fruit between us.
We took our time eating lunch, laughing, and chatting as we did. When Robert and I were hanging out like this, it was like time slowed down.
I wish I could freeze this moment, I thought.
I thought back to Robert asking if I had hurt myself. I should've told him sooner, but I didn't want anyone to know. I was ashamed and embarrassed to tell anyone about it. I knew I could confide in Robert, but this was a part of me I didn't think he was going to like.
"It's around 3 now," Robert said, his voice breaking through my thoughts. "I got to go by the zoo to pick up something, but I can take you home after."
"Yeah that's fine, I can say hi to your mum and Bindi and Cait and her mum," I replied.
"Yeah, there we go! Should we head home now then?" Robert asked, putting our lunch trash back into his lunchbox.
"Yeah, that's fine. I think we had a good amount of exercise, probably as much as I could do with my leg," I replied.
"Oh yeah, you definitely don't need to do too much more today."
We cleaned up our trash and got our belongings packed up. Both the hike to the car and the drive home was uneventful.
Robert put his vehicle in park. "Your leg hurting at all? I'm just going to the break room," Robert asked.
"It's a little sore, but that's the most exercise I've gotten since the accident," I replied. I appreciated Robert checking on me so often, it shows that he really cares and is concerned for my well-being.
"Are you okay coming to the break room with me?"
"Yeah, that should be fine," I chuckled. We got out of the care and I followed him through the wildlife hospital into the break room.
"Surprise!" I heard a mixture of voices. Standing there in the break room was my mum, Terri, Bindi holding Grace, Chandler, Cait, and her mum with a small cake in the centre of the table.
"What?" I asked, turning to look at Robert.
"Well, this is what I had to get from the break room! Cake!" He exclaimed, going towards the table with the cake.
"Well, Cait came over this morning and suggested it," Terri said.
"I know you didn't want a big fuss for your birthday, with everything that has happened lately, but I wanted to at least do a cake for you!" Cait said.
"Aw, that's very sweet of you guys! I appreciate it," I said, also walking towards the table so I could sit down. My leg was feeling kind of sore, but not hurting too bad but I could tell I needed to sit and probably prop it up on a chair, which I did as Terri started cutting the cake. It was a plain vanilla cake with a chocolate cream filling. The icing was a gradient of blues, dark at the base and light on the top.
After the cake, we all sat around and talked about our days. Robert and I told everyone all about our day, while they filled us in on what's happened around the zoo today, which was the usual stuff without any big or dramatic events or cases.
"Well, would you like to go home now? You can shower and clean up," Robert said.
"Yeah, that would be great. My leg is feeling today a little," I said, standing up. "Thank you so much, everyone! For the cake and the surprise, but I have got to shower and rest for a little bit."
We said our goodbyes and Robert and I got into his car and left.
"Here," Robert said as we pulled in, "I'll walk you inside, I can carry your stuff."
"Oh, Robert it's alright, really."
"No! It would be my pleasure. Plus there are stairs and I wanna make sure you get up to your room alright," he insisted. I knew there was no point in arguing with him- he cared deeply and there was no changing that or convincing him you were fine without his help. That's the kind of person he was.
Robert helped me inside and up to my room. He carefully set my backpack down on the bed as I sat next to it and started taking things out.
"Your leg is a little swollen looking, Ash," he pointed out. I looked down and sure enough, my leg was swollen slightly.
"Oh, would you look at that, it is. I'll take a cool shower and some Tylenol and keep it propped up for a bit and draw or watch TV for a bit," I replied.
"Good, and I'll check on you soon, alright love?" He said, standing in front of me. I nodded simply, smiling up at him. I stood up so he can hug me.
"See you, be safe," I said as he walked out of my bedroom.
I got everything put up from my bag, and tossed my bag on my desk chair. I slowly got up and turned the water on in the shower. I grabbed some clothes, underwear and a loose top and a pair of sweats since I wasn't expecting to go anywhere else today. I set my clothes on my bathroom counter and undressed, tossing my dirty clothes in the laundry hamper. I took some Tylenol before jumping in the shower.
I washed up, making sure to be careful with my leg. I was starting to feel better while showering, and the cool water and Tylenol seemed to help my leg.
I got out of the shower, dried off and got dressed. I checked my phone which was on the counter, and it was already a little bit after 7 p.m. I tossed some more hay in the guinea pig cage and got cozy on my bed, making sure to keep my leg elevated while I played some games on my switch with it connected to the TV.
The sun finished setting, and the pretty pinks and yellows in the sky were fading as I continued playing Animal Crossing.
My phone vibrated next to me, and I answered it without checking who it was, as I figured it was only Robert. My mum had already come home, and I heard Cait and her mum come in earlier as well.
"Hello?" I said into the phone.
"Hey, love. How's your leg feeling?" He asked, his sweet voice going through the phone. I loved his accent, as mine wasn't too noticeable except for when I said certain things.
"A lot better actually, and the swelling went back down. I think it was just a flare-up, " I said.
"That's good, I'm glad," he replied. I could tell he was smiling from the tone of his voice. I tried to picture what he was doing right now- was he laying on his bed looking at his ceiling with his phone on his chest like I was?
"Yeah, me too. I just wish I could be doing more, like at the zoo and stuff. I hate feeling like I'm not doing much."
"Well, do you want to go do something now?"
"What do you mean, Tarzan?"
"I'll be over in a golf cart in 15."
"For what?" I was confused. What on Earth was he dragging me to now?
"You'll see."
"Do I need to change? I'm just in sweats now. Do I need to grab anything?"
"Nah you're fine. And also no, I got everything covered. See you soon," he said finally before hanging up the phone.
I sat up in bed, kind of confused. What has he planned now?
I got out of bed and slipped on my Toms. Since Robert said I didn't need anything I grabbed my phone and went downstairs to find mum.
She was sitting at the kitchen table, looking at some paperwork.
"What are you working on?" I said, leaning against the kitchen counter.
"Oh, I'm just looking at some stuff from the zoo, just some paperwork on some of the breeding programs we're looking into doing. I've got Komodo dragons and rhinos, Terri asked if I could look through them and who we have at the zoo and what I think would be the best pairings for each species," she replied, setting it all down and looking up at me. "Are you waiting for Robert to pick you up?"
"You know about that!?" I asked, thinking of how my mum could know of something that I just found out about a few minutes ago.
She laughed, "Yeah, he asked me if it was alright yesterday."
"Well, what is it?"
"I'm not telling, it's supposed to be a surprise," she said, smiling.
I groaned as I grabbed a drink out of the fridge. I took a sip right as Robert pulled up to the deck in a golf cart.
"Well, I'll see you later mum," I said, going to the back door.
"No, you're staying the night. Love you," she said, smiling mischievously.
I gave her a confused look before going to meet Robert. Thankfully he was also just wearing sweats, so I didn't have to worry about being underdressed.
"Oh you look beautiful as ever," he said, helping me down the stairs and to the golf cart.
I rolled my eyes. "Mum said I'm spending the night?"
"Oh, yeah. You'll see, I got a nice surprise, a good way to end your birthday I reckon," he said, climbing into the golf cart himself.
"Are you going to give me any hints this time?" I asked as we made our way down the trail that connects our backyards to the zoo.
"No, but you'll love it. Don't worry, it's just for the two of us," He said, smiling. I arched an eyebrow, wondering what in the world that could mean.
Robert drove us through the zoo, neither of us talking much on the way. It was peaceful out, with the Australian night sounds and the occasional sounds of the zoo animals.
I noticed Robert was driving us towards Bindi's Island, but I didn't ask any questions since he wanted this to be a surprise and had gone out of his way to do something special for us for my birthday.
"Okay," Robert said, turning the golf cart off, "We have to stop here with the golf cart. I'm sure you figured out we're going to Bindi's Island, so we have to walk across the wooden bridge."
"Yeah, considering you didn't think to blindfold me after picking me up and I can see where you're taking me, it ruins the surprise just a little," I jokingly said, causing him to laugh.
"See I thought about that but I was worried it would seem a little too kidnap-py," he joked.
Robert got out of the golf cart and walked over to my side, helping me out. He held onto my hand as we walked across the wooden bridge and towards Bindi's treehouse. The lemurs who roamed free had to be sleeping somewhere on the little island, while the tortoises and boas were safely in their enclosure. At least I didn't have to worry about being constricted in the middle of the night, I thought.
Robert guided me through the dark tree house, not letting go of my hand so I knew where to go. He carefully led me up to the bottom of the stairs to the third floor.
"Okay, I would ask you to close your eyes as we go up the stairs but that doesn't seem like the safest idea, so just look at the floor until we get to the top," Robert said.
"Oh, Tarzan," I joked, doing as he said while we climbed the last flight of stairs. Once we reached the top, he stood directly in front of me.
"Okay, I didn't know what else to do and I thought this would be a good idea, especially since we've had an eventful day but if you don't like it that's okay just be honest," he said rather quickly, his nervousness evident in his words and how fast he talked.
"Robert, I'm sure I'm going to love it, mostly because you put it together and thought of it and I'm getting to spend time with you, my best friend," I replied, swinging our hands gently.
"That's so sweet of you, love. When I move out of the way, you can look up," He said. I nodded my head.
"1...2...3.." He counted before stepping to the side.
I looked up and Robert had decorated the entire third-story area. There was an air mattress in the middle, with some boxes of pizza next to it, and a basket full of drinks and other snacks. There was a projector and laptop set up on a small table as well, pointing toward the wall opposite of the bed. Robert also had his Nintendo Switch sitting on the pile of blankets. Fairy lights hung from the ceiling and provided light. There were a couple of wrapped presents as well.
I realised what my mum meant about me spending the night. Sure, Robert and I had just turned 19 but us spending the night together wasn't that weird- we've done it for all of our childhood, or there had been times when I went on trips with his family without mine, or vice versa. And I trust Robert, I knew he wouldn't dare try anything. And clearly, both of our mums trusted us as well, seeing as my mum knew this was happening so he must have asked her for permission first.
"Oh, Robert, it's wonderful!" I said, looking around the room in awe.
"Are you sure? I know I could've probably done more but we had an eventful day and I figured with your leg you might just want to lay down and watch movies or epically lose to me in Mario Kart or Super Mario Party," he said, a cheeky grin spread across his face.
"No, it's perfect," I said, reaching up to kiss his cheek. "It looks so comfy and I would love nothing more than to beat you at Mario Kart."
"Well, we have pizza, candy, mixed fruits, water, and other drinks. Oh, and Bindi made cookies," he said, walking over to the bed. I followed him over and we both took off our shoes before getting comfy.
"So, what kind of pizza?" I asked, my tummy rumbling slightly.
"Just plain cheese and pepperoni, with light sauce. I know your stomach can't handle too much tomato sauce," he said.
"Well thank you, I'm appreciative that you remembered. Now hand me a pizza box and pick a movie," I said, laughing.