Harper woke up Anna as soon as they announced that they were landing. "Aunt Anna, you gotta wake up, we're about to land," she said, gently rubbing her arm.
Anna slowly opened her eyes any yawned. "What time is it?"
"2:30 am," Harper replied. "They're gonna give us a limo ride downtown and we can pick up the rental car tomorrow.
"Oh ok." Anna sat up in her chair. "Was there a lot of turbulence?"
"No, actually! I didn't sleep at all, but I'll probably sleep in the limo."
A few minutes later, the plane landed, and Harper was helping Anna into her wheelchair and getting their carry on bags. "You ready?"
"Yep!" Anna said. She followed Harper out of the plane and to the baggage claim. Once Harper got their bags, they walked outside and waited for the limo. "Gosh, it's warm here."
"It's a little warmer than New York," Harper said. "Oh, here's the limo!"
"Ooh it's nice!" Anna said excitedly as she rolled up to it and slowly got in.
Harper climbed in next to her and helped her slide over. "Do you know what hotel we're staying at?"
"Some nice place downtown, I guess. It's supposed to be really fancy and there's a pool and a hot tub and the room looks nice too."
"Ooh fun! We'll have to go in the pool tonight after the show!" Harper said. "Did you bring your swimsuit?"
"Yeah, I thought there might be a pool. I think the last time I was in a pool was over the summer when the lovebirds were at Norah's graduation."
"The lovebirds, I love it." Harper laughed. "How do I have so much energy? It's 3 am."
"I don't know, weirdo," Anna replied as the limo came to a stop in front of a building. "Ah here we are!"
Harper climbed over Anna out of the car and got her wheelchair out before helping her into it. "I'll get our bags."
"Thanks Harp!" Anna replied before leading her into the hotel and checking them in at the front desk and going up to their room. "Oh my gosh this is so nice!" Anna said excitedly.
"It's great!" Harper replied, collapsing on one of the beds. "I call this one."
"Noooo Harper," Anna complained. "I can't be against the wall because I need room for my chair to be next to the bed," she explained.
"Oh ok, I understand," Harper said as she moved her stuff to the other bed and collapsed. "Need anything or any help before I crash?"
"I should be alright!" Anna said happily. "Just get some sleep because we have to be at the studio in 5 hours for styling and makeup."
"Ooh fun! Alright, I'll get some sleep!" She said before plugging in her headphones and dozing off.
********************************
"You look perfect!" Harper said when she saw Anna after they had gotten in their dresses and fancy hair and makeup. "Like swipe right material."
"Yeah....in case you missed this in the past 14 years you've been alive, I'm married," Anna said with a laugh.
"I know, I know, but if you weren't," Harper said, laughing.
"Well thank you madam, you look perfect too," Anna said. "Oh we're about to go on!"
"Oh crap he just said our names, time to go out!" Harper said excitedly.
Anna and Harper went out to the floor and Harper sat down in a chair next to Anna. "Hello ladies!" Steve said excitedly.
"Hey!" Anna said excitedly. "It's so great to meet you!"
"It's so great to meet you too!" Steve said. "When I saw your article in Women's World, I was so inspired and amazed, I just had to have you on the show."
"Aww thank you, that's so nice!" Harper said happily.
"Now for those that haven't read the article, why don't you give us a bit of a background on what happened, Anna," Steve said.
"Well," Anna started, "around 16 years ago, I broke my leg and I never went to physical therapy or anything, so it never really went back to normal. And then 4 months ago, in June, I went to the doctor because it was hurting, and he gave me a shot that was going to get the nerves working again. I guess they didn't sterilize the needle, so I ended up with a bacterial infection, and then I went into sepsis 2 days later, on Harper's 14th birthday. They told me that the infection ruined the nerves that were in and around my spinal cord and that I'd probably never walk again."
"So Harper, what was that like for you?" Steve asked.
"It was shocking, honestly, I never thought something like this would happen. She was perfectly fine the day before, and by looking at her earlier that day and the day before, you never would've thought that a horrible bacteria was trying to paralyze and kill her. She was so healthy. I managed to come to grips with the situation before I got to the hospital, so at least I could talk to her without breaking down and making her feel worse. All I could manage to say was that I knew she was going to walk again. She's always been so determined, it wasn't even a question."
"Anna, had you been sick like this before, or was this new to you?"
"Oh it wasn't new at all. I've always been one of those people who's really sickly. I had pneumonia at least 10 times as a child and I had cancer when I was in my early 30s. What was so different about it was how rare and what a freak accident it was, and also the fact that my life would never go back to normal."
"Has it gone back to normal since then?"
"It didn't at first, it took about a month to even slightly to get used to it, and then I had surgery and I was back at square one."
"Now, Harper, from the article, you really seemed to step up and help out Anna after her surgery," Steve said.
"I guess I did a little bit. I mean she's my aunt and my biggest inspiration. I wanted to help her out a lot. One night her stepsister called me and she was like 'Anna's crying because she just realized she doesn't look or feel like herself' and it just made me so upset because not only is she absolutely gorgeous," Harper paused and she laughed. "I mean isn't she, she's like so pretty, but she had been through so much and didn't deserve to feel like that. So I just kinda ranted about how beautiful she is, inside and out, and I told her she should be a model."
Anna smiled at hearing that part of the story. "It was honestly the nicest thing anyone ever said to me. I never really felt pretty, even before I got sick, so hearing that was amazing. I always thought I was too skinny to be pretty, and usually that's all a girl wants, but I hated it. Harper made me love myself. She made me realize my beauty."
Harper smiled at the audience. "Clap for her! She deserves it!" Harper gave Anna a hug when the audience started clapping. "See! They love you!"
Steve smiled. "So tell me about the rest of your family."
"Well we have my husband, Ben, and we've been married for 14 years now, and then my two best friends, Beca and Chloe, and they started dating 3 months ago. Beca is Harper's mom, and Chloe is Harper's best friend and my niece Cami's mom. So we're not biologically related or anything, but we're really close. Harper has a little brother named Michael, who's 10. Then there's Norah, she was Chloe's former student, and now she's teaching with her and living with them, and finally we have my stepsister Courtney." Anna paused to take a breath. "It's a lot, I know," she said with a laugh.
"Ahh we love all you guys!" Harper said, waving at the camera.
Steve laughed. "That's a ton," he replied. "Ok, so one last question for both of you: how are you guys doing now?"
"I honestly couldn't be better," Anna replied. "I have no pain anymore, except for a little discomfort in my wrist because I fell out of my chair and broke it, but I'm fine, and it's honestly nothing compared to everything else. I can get around everywhere I want, my husband got the entire house remodeled. It's honestly the same life for me, just on wheels."
Harper smiled. "I'm great too! It's actually kind of nice how close we are now, and her positivity hasn't changed, so mine hasn't either. I don't treat her any differently besides helping her when she needs it, so honestly, we're both doing great."
"Aww that's so sweet!" Steve said. "Now I have gifts for y'all, try not to get too excited." He handed Anna and Harper each envelopes and Anna opened here first.
"A modeling contract? Seriously?!" Anna said excitedly. "This is amazing! Wait Harper, open yours!"
"Now Harper, this was a special request sent in by Anna because I asked her what you would like," Steve said.
Harper winked at her aunt and then opened the envelope. "Oh my god Beyonce Tickets!" She said, sarcastically sounding surprised. "How did you know?"
"Oh, you've only been talking about them for 2 months," Anna said with a laugh.
"She was so excited about this," Steve said. "Alright ladies, it was great having you!"
"Thanks so much Steve," Anna said before she and Harper walked off the stage. This truly was a great day.