Page 23 of 21 Years of Jane

Silence.

“Can you tell me what you found?”

Her eyes traveled to Nolan for a moment, before she shook her head.

“Oh, if it’s because he’s here, it’s okay. He’s cool,” I said breezily.

“It’s not so much that. It’s just ... Well I remember the first night he was here. It’s obvious that he cares a great deal about you,” she explained uneasily.

Then it’s not good news. Great.

“Nolan, do you want to know? Or do you want to wait outside?” I asked him.

“I would rather know, than not,” he replied quietly.

Debbie sat down on the side of the bed and took my hand.

“When you had your accident, you cracked your femur bone wide open. We think it caused an infection because you spiked a fever when you passed out. We’re going to be keeping you here for a little while. Just to be on the safe side,” she said.

“No wonder I was in so much pain,” I said more to myself than her.

“Is she going to be okay?” Nolan asked.

“We don’t know, dear. That’s why we’re keeping her here.”

What?

“Um, I feel fine actually. If I had an infection, wouldn’t I still be boiling?” I asked.

“While that may be true, we’ll have to perform another surgery on your femur, Jane,” she said softly.

“No.”

“Jane, you don’t understand; if we don’t and the infection spreads --”

“No thank you,” I insisted, cutting her off.

“Janey—”

“Please don’t, Nolan. I don’t want any more surgeries.”

Debbie looked at me for a moment before she stood up and walked out.

“Jane, you have to do this. Please. I won’t be able to live with myself if—if something happens to you because I took you to the aquarium,” he said, his voice breaking.

“Nolan, I’ll be fine. I promise. I’ve had worse things than an infection happen to me since I’ve wound up with wheels,” I said to him.

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Chapter Six

Two weeks later I was able to go home. Just in time for my twenty-first birthday—which was the next day. I hadn’t seen Nolan since because my father refused to leave me again after that. He was especially upset that I signed off on a medical piece of paper saying that I was refusing the surgery.

I spent most of the day lying in my bed, with Rabbit and Nugget curled up on either side of me. We were watching Cartoon Network and it was the greatest feeling in the world.

They were well behaved until the sun went down and Mom came in to tell them that they would have to go upstairs and get in bed. They both protested, saying that they hadn’t watched TV with me in so long. Mom didn’t budge and told them that I needed my rest.