Nothing Lasts Forever

Genevieve Anderson sat in the hospital room, not knowing what to do. They had officially just released her, after having spent the last few days in the hospital with a fractured tibia and fibula and a sprained wrist.

She could still remember exactly what had happened five days ago, as if it had just happened an hour ago. She had been driving home from the rink, having just finished ice skating for over two hours. She was ready to just go home and collapse in bed, she was that exhausted.

She turned onto the interstate, and she moved into the left lane, trying to pass a small car that was going extremely slow. She turned her turn signal back on to go back into the middle lane, when all of a sudden, a semi decided he was going to get over at the same time. He crashed into the passenger’s side door, ultimately causing Genevieve’s small car to turn over a few times before slamming into the side wall.

At least, that is what everyone had told her had happened. She couldn’t remember anything past seeing the semi coming towards her. The next thing she knew, she woke up in the hospital, not being able to feel her leg, and looked down and saw it was in a cast. She looked at her wrist, which was in a brace, and her eyes went wide with shock as the memory of the car crash came rushing back to her.

A few minutes later, her friend, Nikki Burish, who lived two floors below her in the apartment building they shared, appeared at her doorway. She rushed in, crying, “Gen! Oh my god! You’re awake. How are you feeling? Are you okay? Do you remember what happened?”

Genevieve stared at her in a state of shock from being bombarded by questions. Nikki looked at Genevieve, her eyes going wide. “Oh my god! Gen, can you talk?”

“Yes,” Genevieve croaked out, surprised that her voice was so soft from not being used in a while.

“Yes what? Yes you can talk or yes you remember what happened?” Nikki asked her.

“Yes, I can talk,” Genevieve said with a small laugh. “And, no I don’t remember what happened. What did happen?” she asked. “And, why can’t I feel my leg?”

“You can’t feel your leg?” Nikki asked worriedly. “Let me go get the doctor,” she said, rushing out the door and tracking down Dr. Richmond, the physician who had done the surgery to Genevieve’s leg.

“Nikki says that you can’t feel your leg right now?” Dr. Richmond asked, and Genevieve nodded her head.

“Is that normal?” Genevieve asked.

“Well, not completely, but it’s also not uncommon,” Dr. Richmond told her. “Let me do some tests and see what we’re dealing with,” he had told her. Four hours later, and what felt like a million tests later, Genevieve had her answer. Dr. Richmond said that there appeared to be nothing wrong with her, and that the numbness should go away soon.

However, he was keeping her in the hospital a few extra days, just to observe her and to make sure it wasn’t anything serious.

Now, it was finally time for Genevieve to go home, and she was extremely excited. At least until she thought about her situation: she lived on the third floor of an apartment building that had no stairs. How was she supposed to get up to her apartment when she had a cast on her leg?

Nikki entered her room and saw the distressed expression on Genevieve’s face. “Gen, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you running out of the hospital right now?” she asked. Genevieve looked down at her casted leg. “Oh, sorry. So not what I meant!” Nikki said, suddenly realizing what she had just asked Genevieve. “I was just wondering why you weren’t in a hurry to get out of here,” she rephrased.

“Nik, let’s think about this for a minute. I am in a full leg cast right now. I live on the third floor of a building that has no elevator. Do you see my problem?” Genevieve asked, explaining things to Nikki.

“Ooh, I see your point,” she told her. “Wait, I have the perfect solution!” Nikki exclaimed, and Genevieve gave her a look that told her to continue. “Why don’t you just move in with me?” she asked.

“What?” Genevieve asked.

“Well, I do live on the first floor. It’s perfect!” she cried. “Plus, I already know all about caring for a broken leg,” Nikki reminded her, referencing a few years ago when she and her brother, Adam, had gotten into a car accident. Adam had also broken his leg back then.

“Nikki, I can’t do that. I can’t just move in with you,” Genevieve told her.

“Why not?” Nikki asked. “I have the room. I mean it’s a two-bedroom, and I’m the only person living there. Come on, Gen, what else are you going to do? It’s not like you can make it up to your apartment anyways,” she pointed out.

“True,” Genevieve admitted. “Are you sure you’re okay with me moving in?”

“Of course!” Nikki cried. “Come on, let’s get you moved in,” she told her as she pushed Genevieve’s wheelchair out of the room.

By that evening, Nikki had moved everything that Genevieve would need down to her apartment. “And, there’s the last of it,” Nikki smiled, carrying in some more of Genevieve’s clothes.

“You know,” Genevieve told her. “I have no idea how I’m ever going to repay you.”

“You don’t need to repay me,” Nikki said with a smile. “Seriously, I know how bad it is having to deal with a broken leg. I mean, Adam hated it,” she said, remembering back a few years.

“Still, I owe you,” Genevieve told her.

“Oh, hey, I forgot to tell you. Adam’s coming over tomorrow night for dinner. He’s finally back in town. He went back home after the season ended, but now he’s moving back,” Nikki said, smiling. It was obvious that she and Adam were extremely close.

“Oh, cool,” Genevieve said. “I’ll finally get to meet this brother of yours. You know, it’s amazing, I’ve known you for like a year, and I’ve still never met Adam.”

“Yeah, that is weird,” Nikki said with a small laugh. “But, I’m sure you’ll get along great. I mean, especially since you two now have something in common.”

Genevieve looked at Nikki with a questioning look, but she understood when Nikki pointed towards her cast. “Yeah,” Genevieve said sadly. “We now have something in common.”

“So, what do you want for dinner?” Nikki asked. “Pizza or Chinese because we both know that I can’t cook to save my life!” she joked.

“You know, I can cook if you’d like,” Genevieve offered, but Nikki immediately shot that idea down.

“No, no, no! Gen, you were just in a car accident. You have a broken leg. There is no way I’m having you go in there and cook. So, which will it be? Chinese or pizza?” she asked again.

“Pizza,” Genevieve said quietly. She was grateful that Nikki was helping her out so much, but she didn’t want to be pitied or to have people think that she couldn’t do the simplest of things, such as cooking.

“Good!” Nikki exclaimed as she punched the number to the pizza place into her phone and ordered their dinner.