"And could you please follow this light Zach." The doctor moved the small light back and forth in front of Zach's face. "Ella, how much did he remember…correctly?" The doctor asked me. "He remembered almost all of it. He couldn't really remember what happened right before the accident. But he remembered that we had broken up, and why, and that we had just gotten back together. Is this a good sign doctor?" I stood up and took Zach's hand. The doctor smiled at the two of us. "Consider yourself lucky Ella…most victims never gain this much memory back. And Zach, consider yourself lucky to have a girl like Ella. This girl sat by your bedside everyday."
We left that room and made our way to the elevators. I had scheduled to get my cast taken off the same day. "So you're finally getting that thing taken off?" Zach asked me as we sat in the waiting room. I looked around at the corny Christmas decorations hanging on the walls. "Yeah…I can't wait." "Well at least you're finally healing."
There was a tone of bitterness in the words he said to me.
"Zach." I turned to him, whispering. "You are healing; didn't you hear what the doctor told you?" He didn't say anything. A nurse came out of a door and called my name.
"Ella Parker." "I'm here." I said to her. "Are you coming Zach?" I asked him. He reluctantly stood up and followed me through the door.
My mom had been waiting in the cafeteria, reading a book she had brought with her. "You two kids ready?" She asked us. Zach got into the back seat, and I slid into the front. The rest of the ride to his house was silent. When he got out of the car my mom looked in my direction.
"Is everything ok Ella?" She asked me.
I shook my head. "The doctor said that he was doing great…but I don't think Zach believes him. We were waiting in the waiting room to get my cast off when he told me that he didn't think he was healing. And he sounded bitter."
"Honey, he just needs rest. He's been going back and forth from the hospital for months now…he's probably sick of the place."
That was an understatement. We were both sick of the place.
It was Christmas Eve. My family was getting together with Zach's family, like we always did on the holidays. I had tried calling Zach everyday. But he wouldn't answer his phone.
April pulled me aside when I walked in. She walked me up the stairs. "He won't come out of his room. His dad has been trying to talk to him, but he won't budge. We were hoping that maybe you can get through to him." I nodded my head and turned the handle to walk in. It was locked. April had already walked away, and I didn't want to go and get her. I could deal with this on my own. I took a bobby pin out of the bun in my hair and quietly slid it into the tiny hole. Within seconds I had it open.
Zach was walking out of his bathroom when I walked in the room.
"How'd you get in? The door was locked…" He stopped when I held up the bobby pin.
"I have my ways." I said to him. I put the bobby pin back in its place, and shutting the door, I turned on the overhead light. "You haven't been answering my phone calls." I accused. He got back into his bed and turned on his television. I walked over to the television and unplugged it. "And it's Christmas Eve." He threw the remote across the room, hitting a lamp and shattering it. "I know what day it is Ella! Damn it!" He yelled at me…he yelled at me. He just yelled at me. "Fine Zach. If you want to be like that, fine. I'm not going to try anymore. But you can't push me away…I love you too much to let you do that." I stormed out of the room, slamming the door. When I had gotten outside I sat down with my back towards his door. His parents, who must have heard the commotion, came running up the stairs.
"Is everything ok?" His father asked me.
I tried to get up but couldn't. I didn't have enough strength. "No." I stared into the distance. April grabbed my arms and pulled me up. "Come on honey, let's go talk." She led me into the playroom and we sat down. "What's wrong Ella?" She asked me. I shrugged. "He thinks he's not healing." I told her what he had told me only a few days before. "What?" She questioned me. "That's not true! The doctor says he's doing fine." "I know…I was there." I had been there, and it had hurt. "Listen April, I'm really not up to talking about it right now…he really hurt me." She hugged me. "That's ok sweetie. But don't ever stop loving him. He loves you…he's just not the same Zach he used to be."
Of course he's not the same Zach he used to be! I don't think he'll ever be the same…and it hurts.
I explained to my parents that I couldn't stay for much longer. They told me they weren't happy with my decision to go home and sit by myself, but then April came up and explained. "Oh!" My mother exclaimed. "Ok then. I guess it will be ok. I love you." She kissed me on my forehead and I was on my way…with at least one person's love.
He still hadn't called me after New Years. And amazingly I had managed to not pick up the phone and dial his number. He had hurt me…once again. I know he's going through a lot, but he can't kick me out.
I decided to drive to school the day we returned from Christmas Break. I picked up Hailey on my way. "Hey girl!" I hugged her. "How was Florida?" I asked her, trying to stay away from any topic involving Zach. "It was awesome! And you never called me. Is everything ok?" I guess it was time to face the truth. We pulled into the parking lot and got our book bags out of the back. "Zach and I are kind of not talking right now." She didn't say anything. "Well you better straighten up because he's walking this way." "What the hell?" I said more to myself than to her. I looked up, and sure enough there he was, book bag and all. He walked over to me, head hanging low. Hailey waved to him. "Nice seeing you back here Zach." He smiled. "Glad to be back."
Great, now we were alone. "Hi." I said. "Hi." He stuck his hands down in his pockets. Once more in my life there was a brief silence. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming back?" I asked him, as we walked to my locker. "I wanted to surprise you, I guess." He was being quieter. It was almost a whisper. "Well come on, let's get to class." I always knew his schedule, and since we basically had all of the same classes, it was easy.
"We have English first." I told him, in case he had forgotten.
"Mom showed me the schedule."
"Oh." I said. We were halfway to class when he did something I wasn't expecting. He took my hand in his. "I have a doctor's appointment today after school, can you come with me?" In his eyes I could tell that he wasn't asking…he was telling me that he needed me to go with him.
"Of course." I told him.
We attended a small private school. Our senior class was only about thirty-two people. They all stormed Zach when we walked into first hour. These were the same people who never once came to visit him in the hospital. "Zach!" The guys smacked him on his back. "Oh, we were so worried!" A few of the girls flocked over to him and hugged him. I stood alone in the corner and laughed…an evil laugh. He noticed. "What's so funny?" He asked me, as we sat down in our seats. "They're all hypocrites." Zach's eyes wandered around the classroom. "Who cares…right? I've got you." He winked at me. "Listen I wanted to talk to you about Christmas…" He was interrupted by our teacher.
"It's nice to have you back Zach, but we really must get started. Come see me after school one day this week and we'll talk about what you need to do to make up everything else you missed."
After I had dropped Hailey off at her house, Zach climbed into the front seat with me. Everything seemed normal and right, again. This is how things are supposed to be. Zach sat back in his seat and looked towards me. "I don't know how to explain my actions on Christmas Eve…I'm sorry." I turned off the radio. "No, it's…" I started to say it was ok, I was over it. But Zach stopped me. "You're a horrible liar Ells! But I love you," He leaned in and kissed me on my cheek.
"Zach, I really mean it." I said to him. "It is ok. I have to forgive you. If I didn't, I don't think I could live. You're the only thing going for me right now."
The doctor pulled me aside into a separate room. "Zach's mother told me that he was feeling kind of down over the Christmas holidays, she said it was because he thought he wasn't healing. Is this true?" I nodded my head. "Yes. He just lost control. He threw a remote and shattered his lamp…and he yelled at me…" The doctor jotted what I had just said down onto his clip board. "Ok. I'm going to need to talk to him alone for a few minutes. Why don't you go to the cafeteria and get your self a coffee." I heeded to the doctor's words, waving to Zach as I passed by his room.
Ten minutes later, Zach met me in the cafeteria. "How'd it go?" I asked him. He took a sip of my freshly-refilled coffee. "He gave me the name of my new therapist."
"Well if it helps, that's good right?" I asked him.
"He said I needed some one who I wasn't close to, to talk to." Zach explained to me. "Ok, well let's go then." I looped my arm through his and we walked out to my car, leaving the world of doctor's offices behind.
Author's Note: Thanks to my reviewers! lol! Both of them!! This was a story that i had already started...so i'm starting to run out of chapters! I didn't write it like that...it's just one big story, that isn't over yet! Hope you like this chapter!
Rachel