My Way Home is Through You

It was the night before I got to leave the hospital and I was packing my belongings up into a suitcase my parents had brought for me. I was talking to them again; I couldn’t keep them out of my life forever. I kept telling myself that they only wanted to help me, but still a part of me hated them for making me go to the appointments, my first one was tomorrow.

I shoved my homework into the bottom and started to pack all the movies and books Gerard had brought me. He had come on Sunday and we watched almost all of them. It was so nice spending time with Gerard; he made me so at ease. When he was gone, it felt as if my body was all tensed up and I didn’t want to speak to anyone, but I was forced too.

I threw the last of my belongings in the bag and zipped it up. It was a lot easier to move around without the IV stuck in my hand. They had taken it out a few days ago telling me that it was no longer needed, now that I was eating on my own. My body still wanted to reject the food but I ate it just to please everyone.

I made my way back over to the hospital bed, I was happy that this was my last night here. I don’t think I could take one more night in the uncomfortable bed. I hopped up on the bed with my legs crossed and pulled out my word search book and a pen. I had recently run out of things to do, and Gerard had told me that he couldn’t make it tonight but he would see me at school.

I decided that it was late enough and that I could head to bed, hoping that tomorrow once I left this hospital I could have a fresh new start.

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I woke up in the morning feeling somewhat refreshed. I got out of the bed and went to shower. I grabbed a towel and my clothes that my parents brought for me and exited the room and walked down the hall. I entered the shower room and quickly stripped of my clothes and got into the shower. No one was in here, considering that it was way too early.

I quickly washed up and got dressed. I was feeling pretty anxious about getting out of here. I needed to be in familiar territory. I walked out of the shower room holding my towel in one hand and dropped it off in the dirty laundry bin. I passed by nurses and other patients walking down the hall and gave them a smile and a wave when I passed.

When I got to my room I expected it to be empty but as I walked in I heard voices. I opened the door fully revealing my parents and Gerard. This was a pretty awkward situation. I shrugged off the feeling and walked over to my mom and gave her a hug, followed by my father. Gerard stood up from the bed and I walked over to him to say good morning, but instead he pulled me into a hug.

I let out a small laugh as he let me go and ruffled my still wet hair. “Well, good morning to you too.” I said to him. He smiled down at me.

“So are you ready to leave?” My father asked. I nodded my head and went over to grab the suit case. I followed my parents out of the room while Gerard walked behind me, quickly grabbing the bag from my shoulder and placing it on his own.

“Hey, I can carry that.’ I said with a smile on my face.

“I know, but what kind of gentlemen would I be if I didn’t carry it.” He laughed and hurried his pace to match with mine.

“You’re such an idiot sometimes, Gee.” I carried on following my parents while Gerard kept pace with me.

“Gerard and you can go sit in the waiting room while you mother and I fill out these papers.” He grabbed the clipboard from the nurse at the desk and walked over to a set of chairs with my mother in tow.

Gerard and I walked towards a set of doors that were open and sat down on the green coloured chairs. I was happy to see that my parents accepted Gerard as one of my friends, I don’t think I could handle them telling me they don’t want me to see him.

“So are you excited for school?” Gerard asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“Yes, and I still can’t believe you got up this early just to pick me up.” He smiled at me, and I returned one.

“Well you know, I couldn’t come see you last night, I was missing my dose of Mackenzie. You didn’t know but the Doctor told me that I need at least an hour a day of Mackenzie time.” I laughed and slapped his shoulder.

“You’re such a weird person Gerard.” I looked out the window, the view was pretty breathtaking. The sun was almost fully up and the sky was filled with so many colours.

“But that’s why you love me.” He grinned again, and this time he stood up and grabbed the bag near his feet and placed it on his shoulder. “Come on sugar, your parents beckon for us.” I laughed at his chosen words, but then he grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers. The breath caught in my throat and I tried to keep pace with him.

If it wasn’t for my mind being complete mush, I would have realized that Gerard had let go and we were outside standing near my parent’s vehicle. I snapped out of my thoughts and pulled on the door handle and slid into the back seat. I grabbed my seatbelt and strapped myself in. I was trying to clear my mind as my father backed out of the parking space and drove out of the parking lot and onto the road.

Nothing was spoken during the car ride, and we were nearing the school. I quickly grabbed my messenger bag that was seated near me and began to switch my homework from the suit case into my messenger bag. Not really paying attention to much, except when I heard Gerard speaking to my father.

“So you’ll be giving her a ride home?” My father asked Gerard.

“That’s correct, Mr. Woods.” Gerard replied, I could tell that he was trying to be respectful, which was actually a good thing.

My father stopped in front of the school and Gerard and I got out of the vehicle. I waved good bye to my parents as my father drove away.

“And how sir, do you plan on giving me a ride home when you do not have a vehicle present?” I asked as I placed my messenger bag on my shoulder.

“Oh but, Miss Mackenzie I do have a vehicle here, and that is our first stop for today, I need to grab my school bag.” I smiled as we made our way to the parking lot. It seems to me that Gerard isn’t really going to let me out of his sight anytime soon.