Anything but Ordinary(11)
“It’s so good to hear your voice,” she said now. Something missing for the past few weeks began to fill up inside her.
“God, Bryce, tell me about it!” Gabby squealed.
“Whe—where are you guys?” She stumbled over her words. She had started to say, Where have you been? But that could wait.
“We just got back into town. From Europe! We went after graduation.”
Bryce felt her forehead tense. “Wow, um, congratulations! So, are you—”
“Listen, Bry, Greg’s phone is running out of battery, and we know you need to chill with your family and stuff, so we’re going to make this quick.”
“Make it quick, then, Gab, jeez,” Greg said in the background.
“Point is, we’re coming to see you! Tomorrow. Can you meet us at Los Pollitos for happy hour? I mean, can you, you know, go places?”
“I think so.” She was twenty-two. She could do whatever she wanted. Right? “No, definitely. I can definitely go tomorrow.”
“Awesome.”
“I want to say bye,” Greg said before coughing into the receiver. “See you, Bryce. It’s so great you’re awake. I can’t wait to see—”
“We love you, Bry!” Gabby had taken back the phone.
“Wait,” Bryce said.
“Ye-es?” Gabby cooed.
“What time—when is happy hour?”
“Officially, five. But we’re gonna make it four.” Gabby laughed and the connection ended, by hang-up or dead battery, Bryce couldn’t tell. It didn’t matter.
She looked out the kitchen window above the sink to her dark backyard, seeing the faint outline of the barn in the distance. She smiled and ran her hands under the faucet. With a splash, she brought the lukewarm water up to her face. She wished it were tomorrow already.
“Tomorrow,” she said aloud, loving the sound of the word. She had a whole lifetime of tomorrows now.
he sunlight hit Bryce’s closed eyes, forcing them open. She swung her legs over the bed and felt the cold tile with her toes. She set her feet on the floor. She braced herself at the edge of her mattress and pushed up. She was standing. But this time she didn’t have a physical therapy bar to hold on to. Good, Bryce thought. If I can do it in therapy, then I can do it here. She teetered a bit, held her arms out beside her, and took a shaky step. She took another one.
Bryce wove across the room, again and again, each step bringing back memories of the life she had left behind. Step: dressing Sydney up as a gold medalist for Halloween. Step: getting ready for winter formal with Gabby. Step: long afternoons icing her muscles, her body feeling as if it were still in flight, slicing through the warm Tennessee air. She went on and on until her steps became more sure, each one steady and deliberate.
She was getting faster, and the smell of bacon was coming from the kitchen.
Now for the stairs.
Bryce stared furiously at her greasy plate. “Come on, Mom!” She was starting to sound like Sydney, but her mother was being ridiculous.
Her mom responded by loading the dishwasher a little too roughly.
“You’re not in any shape to be going out for drinks. I don’t know what they were thinking.”
“I’m not five years old, Mom. This isn’t a playdate. They invited me to a restaurant. It’s not a big deal.”
“It is a big deal.”
“Why?”
Her mother stopped rinsing dishes. She turned off the water, and straightened. She looked like she was about to say something more. But then she closed her mouth and reconsidered.
Bryce narrowed her eyes. “What?”
“Anything could happen, Bryce, and…well.” She wiped her hands on a dish towel. “Some things you can’t just shrug off.”
“Nothing’s going to happen.”
Bryce’s mother looked pained. “Did they mention anything…on the phone?”
“What? Why?”
“It’s just, Bry…” She sat down at the table and looked at Bryce. “Some things have changed. For everyone. Even Gabby and Greg.”
“Obviously, Mom. I’m—”
Just then, Sydney wandered into the kitchen with her eyes half closed, poured herself a full mug of coffee, and began to wander back out.
“Syd, wait!”
Sydney paused, not turning around.
“Do you have a car?”
“Does it look like I have a car?” She resumed her journey to her room. Then she called, “Cars are a waste of money at this point in my life. I just get boys to drive me around.”
“How progressive of you.” Bryce reached into her pocket for her new cell phone. She wished she had Greg’s number so she could just get him to pick her up. But her only contact was Carter. Actually…“What if Carter came?”
Her mother turned around, thinking. Carter had met her parents during a few of their visits, and they liked him. He had a way of explaining Bryce’s procedures to them so that everyone actually understood.
Bryce went on excitedly, “He could drive me to and from, and stay there just in case.” Her mother considered her from the sink.
“It’s just Greg and Gabby, Mom. They know me.” Bryce was still met with her mother’s stern face. What did she think was going to happen? They were going to hug her too hard? Make her laugh too much?