You Were Always on My Mind

It’s July 16, and it’s raining non-stop. I usually like the rain while in Washington, but this week has already sucked. I’ve basically been in bed all week feeling horrible. My butt still hurts from the fall, but now my body has this new pain. I was afraid that there was worse damage than I thought following off of the uneven bars, but my dad assured me that nothing is badly damaged. I also feel really hot all the time as if I started menopause forty years earlier than I’m supposed to.
“Sammy!” my dad calls and I hear him start to walk up the stairs.
“I’m coming,” I call down. I slowly get out of bed and make my way down the stairs where my dad is standing, smiling.
“I have your birthday surprise, but first maybe I should give you something to ease the pain,” he says noticing how I wince as I walk.
“Painkiller first please,” I request. For the past week, he’s been giving me this weird tea that helps with the pain and heat. I don’t know how he got it or what it is and I don’t ask.
“Here you go,” he says handing me a cup in the kitchen. Instantly, I feel ten times better.
“So you said something about a present?” I ask smiling.
“Yes, I will guide you,” my dad answers then blindfolds me.
“Is this really necessary?” I ask laughing.
“Of course or else it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
My dad walks me out of the house and carefully down the porch ramp. He unwraps the blindfold and there is a red Jeep Wrangler in front of me. Of course Alex is sitting on the hood of it smiling down at me.
“So?” my dad asks sounding a little nervous.
“It’s perfect,” I assure him. Alex tosses me the keys and I hop into the car.
“I see a car is all we need to make you feel better,” Alex jokes getting into the car along with my dad.
“Maybe you should go change so that we can drive it and you can actually get out of the car,” my dad suggests.
“Sure,” I say jumping back out, “I’ll be back beautiful.”
“Nice ride,” Jake comments walking behind me, “and you look better.”
“Dad’s special tea,” I inform him and he kisses the top of my head.
“You still feel hot,” he comments with a frown on his face.
“I feel better after the tea though, I mean I can walk at a somewhat normal pace now. And no more crutches for you I see.”
“Your dad let me off them yesterday. I probably shouldn’t have ran to you when you fell off the bars last week.”
“I had others there so you didn’t have to run…”
“Well go get ready, you haven’t gotten all your presents yet.”
I slowly head up the stairs while Jake walks back out to my brother and dad. They hang out on the porch with Billy so that they don’t get soaked. I change into a pair of stretchy jeans and a tank top. I grab a cardigan, but I don’t think I’ll get cold. If anything, I’ll get warmer.
“Okay, I have a thermos of your tea so tell me if you need any. We’re going on an adventure and I’ll tell you where to go,” my dad informs me. Jake helps his dad get into the jeep and he sits next to my dad in the front while Jake and Alex sit in the back with Shadow. We drive all the way out to Port Angeles and the car drives perfectly. My dad leads me to the Port Angeles airport where I arrived at.
“Just park as close as you can,” my dad tells me. Luckily, it’s a slow day at the airport since it’s the middle of summer.
“So what are we doing here?” I ask him. No one answers me.
We all pile out of the car and Jake just takes my hand. We follow behind my dad as he leads me to the pickup area. I am genuinely confused as to what we’re doing here. This is the interval we always meet at when I arrive and when I leave, but what could possible be here. Soon, I see someone familiar walking out of the airport, my mom. I run up to her, as fast as someone with a sore body can.
“Hey sweetie,” she greets hugging me. “You’re really warm and really tall.”
I hadn’t really noticed that I grew.
“Washington just makes people warmer to adjust to cold temperatures,” I lie. I don’t know why I’m warm, but my dad says not to worry about it. She hugs Alex next, then my dad, Billy, and Jake. She notices Jake and I holding hands and winks at me.
“He’s a keeper,” she tells me, whispering into my ear.
“I know,” I respond smiling up at him.
I drive us back to the house with my mom squished in the back with Jake, Alex and Shadow who has grown quite a bit. Mom primarily asks Alex about how things are going, then turns on me.
“So what have you been up to for the past two months Samantha?” she asks formally. I watch as she points to Jake with her eyes, then smiles at me through the rearview mirror.
“Your daughter has spent most of her time with a boy this summer Lillian,” my dad tells my mom.
“That can’t be possible, she still thinks cooties are real,” my mom joins in.
“Cooties aren’t real?” I say in false shock.
“Of course they’re real,” my mother assures me and that’s how the car ride goes with my family. I’m glad that my mom and dad are still getting along even after the divorce. We reach the house and I pull into my new parking spot. We all get out of the car.
“So mom how long are you here?” I ask.
“For about a week or two,” she answers carrying her suitcase to the house. I have some tea before leaving the side of the car. Jake makes sure to have an arm around me. I have a tendency to get really light headed since I fell.
“Party starts at 12 if you’re up for it,” my dad says.
“Yeah, I think I can get through it if I don’t have to move a lot,” I tell him.
“What’s wrong sweetie?” my mom asks. My dad whispers something into her ear and she nods her head.
“We’ll go get everything ready, rest in here and have some more tea,” my dad tells me kissing the top of my head.
I drink the tea and watch TV with Jacob. I try not to get too close to him since I know he won’t say anything if it gets too hot. I end up falling asleep and wake up head on his lap, curled up on the couch.
“Hey sleepy,” he greets smiling down at me.
“How long…”
“Only two hours, you still have half an hour until people arrive,” he assures me. “Are you staying in that or changing?”
“Staying in this,” I inform him, “can you hand me the tea?”
I slowly get up feeling the pain and heat again. The tea helps, but not as much as it did earlier.
“It’s cold outside,” he informs me.
“Mind helping me get up?” I ask. He easily picks me up and I hold the thermos with the tea. He takes me out to the back porch. The awning is up which we always use when it’s super rainy and we want to be outdoors. My mom is finishing hanging lights across the awning. My brother and dad are placing all of the chairs under the awning. Billy is cooking right at the edge of the awning so that nothing gets wet, but also so that the smoke doesn’t raise into the awning. Jake puts me down onto the padded porch swing where theres a blanket just in case I get cold; I swear he thinks of everything for me. I have more tea then lean against him and shut my eyes listening to the rain. Soon enough, people start showing up. Sam and Emily are the first to show up. I’ve heard Sam coming over a lot, but he never comes up to see me in my room; he just talks to my dad.
“How you feeling Samantha?” Emily asks greeting me with a hug. She doesn’t make a comment about the heat, but Sam has always been warmer than normal. Sam hugs me next.
“I’ve felt a lot better. My back is still bothering me from the fall,” I answer.
“Lucky your dad’s a doctor so you don’t even have to leave your room,” Sam comments smiling at me.
Next my friends all arrive. They all know I’ve been feeling sick and that I’m in pain so they don’t bother to hug me.
“We need to hang out more after you get better,” Becka says. I haven’t seen her since the first party. She got sick only a few days later and was stuck at home for two weeks. She has this knowing look in her eyes when she sees me now. She smells the tea and smiles at me.
“We definitely will, I’ve just been preoccupied,”I tell her nudging Jake.
“I still can’t believe you two are finally official,” Amy says. She’s not mad though; she’s actually really happy about us together. “You’re just perfect together.”
Nicole smiles at me, knowing everything that happened. Nicole and Johnny are sitting fairly close though and I notice that his hand rests on the small of her back when they walk. I give her a quizzical look and she just blushes a little. I greet people as they approach the edge of the porch to say hi. The elders all seem to understand why I’m not getting up. Guess dad told everyone that my back is still really bad.
“So how bad is your back?” Nick asks.
“Well it’s bruised, but I’m not exactly sure whats wrong with it. My dad didn’t tell me and I’ve been sleeping a lot so I haven’t had a lot of time to ask,” I answer.
“Sleeping too much for my taste,” Jake whispers jokingly and lightly nudges me.
“You think you’ll be fine to go back to gymnastics?” Becka asks, “I seriously miss it and I was hoping we could go to open gym together.”
“My dad said maybe two more weeks. After that, we can definitely go to open gym together,” I tell her smiling.
I try and change the subject off of my problems since it’s more than any of them know. I keep drinking the tea, but it makes me really sleepy and I almost fall asleep a few times. We all eat lunch after everyones arrived; Jake makes me sit at the swing and wait while he gets my food.
“Jake’s always been a good boy,” Quil’s grandfather comments approaching me. “My grandson never behaved as well as Jacob always did. Mind if I take a seat?”
“Go ahead,” I insist. I’ve always liked Old Quil. He told the stories at most of the bonfires and he knew just how to tell them.
“How are you feeling?”
“I could be better, especially on my birthday,” I tell him, but still smile.
“Well seventeen is a rough age, but once you get to seventy, everything hurts all the time, it’s not just a passing,” he says chortling, “so how’d you get stuck with my grand-nephew.”
“You make mud pies with someone for so long, that you decide you want to make them together.”
“Ahhh, see Molly despised mud. She wanted to be a city girl, but I won her over with my good looks. All the girls wanted me when I was your age.” He winks at me. “Speak of the grandson and he appears.”
They didn’t show up to the last party. Although I didn’t remember them from when they played basketball, I remember them now from childhood. Quil’s dad had passed away around the same time that Jacob’s mom had and Old Quil took it upon himself to take care of Quil and his mother.
“Hey Sammy!” They greet heading in my direction. They try and hug me, but Old Quil stops them.
“You boys are soaking wet and it is her birthday. Don’t you boys have any manners?” Old Quil asks shaking his head.
“Happy birthday Sammy,” Embry states bowing then winks at me, “don’t forget, I’m single.”
“Go get some food,” Old Quil says shooing them off.
“Thanks,” I say giving Old Quil a hug.
“Anytime, I’ll leave you be with your friends,” he states patting my hand and heading off my porch as my friends come on.
“Embry and Quil are here,” I inform Jake smiling at him.
“I know. They didn’t know we were dating either,” Jake responds shaking his head.
“Embry tried to make a pass at me, but Old Quil shooed them away,” I tell Jake laughing.
He hands me my food and all of my other friends join us. I eat all of the food quickly and still have room for more. Luckily, no one noticed that I scarfed down my food. We chat about random things for the rest of the party. It doesn’t last until late since it’s so stormy and my dad wants me to be able to rest.
“We’ll have a get together when you’re better,” my dad tells me cleaning up.
My friends left with their parents since they wanted to go in a car with all of the rain. I feel really weak, so Jake carries me back up to my room. I have some tea, then get changed in my closet as quick as I can. I turn on the fan, but curl under my soft blankets. Jake slips off his shoes and sits on top of the covers. I lean against him, not caring about the heat. All I wanted was for sleep to take over my body.
* * *
For the next week, my mom watches over me. She also watches as Jake takes care of me. He does everything to make me feel better and my dad decides to allow him into my room since I feel worse. My mom doesn’t seem too worried about my health, which is good because she’s also a doctor, but she does look sad.
The day she leaves back home, I don’t get the chance to go to the airport. The pain in my body is too strong and my dad won’t let me out of bed. I wouldn’t be able to walk out of bed even if he let me.
“You’ve got a keeper, don’t let him go,” my mom tells me before leaving. She kisses the top of my head and the look on her face tells me that I almost made her melt from the heat.
“I’ll see you soon enough. Try and facetime me when you feel better.”
She leaves along with my brother and dad. Sam and Jacob come over to take care of me while they’re gone. Jake and I watch movies on the laptop and stay in bed for most of the day. Sam makes sure that I drink plenty of the tea. I’m asleep for most of the day, the pain is too much to bare.