Ambiguity

“I’ll never be able to dance again,” Anastasia said as she laid in the hospital bed. Her dance partner had dropped her during a lift, luckily it wasn’t during one of her shows. David Monroe stood beside her bed and heaved a deep sigh, happy that her daughter decided to go back to Baltimore once she left the hospital but sad because his daughter could never do the thing she loved again.

“Well, sweetheart, you always liked science,” David said, pushing a strand of hair from her face. Anastasia smiled softly, knowing that her father was only trying to make her feel better, “I’m sure you can get into the University of Maryland. You always loved marine science maybe you can do something along those lines.”

“I just want to dance,” Anastasia replied quietly. David let a frown take over his features and sat down in his chair, not knowing how to cheer up his daughter. He honestly did not know what to do, he could not let her fall into a deep depression like she did in high school. “Daddy, it’s going to be okay. I can always teach at dance studio when I go back to school. I mean I wouldn’t have been able to dance forever, my body couldn’t handle too many more years of dance. I have been doing a lot of thinking about going back to school to get a degree in Biochemisty.”

David looked at his daughter, the frown still present on his features but not quite as prominent. Anastasia looked away from her father and stared up at the white ceiling, seeming much brighter now that she wasn’t so hazy from the morphine. “You should be able to get out of here today,” David commented and grabbed her medical charts from the end of her bed to look them over. She shattered her talus, the doctors had to perform surgery with pins to put her ankle back together to her ankle could be aligned. The surgery is minimally invasive but because of the fusion of the ankle and the repairing of the torn ligaments, she would never be able to dance. She would be off of her foot for around five months perfect timing for her to start school again.

“Can’t you just sign off?” Anastasia asked.

“I’m a cardio-thoracic surgeon not an orthopedic surgeon, sweetie,” David chuckled softly. “I’m also not your surgeon, only your surgeon can release you. Hopefully we can get home soon.”

Anastasia was about to reply but her surgeon walked in with a smile on his face, “how are you feeling?”

“Fine,” Anastasia replied. “I want to go home.”

“I think I can make that happen,” the doctor said to her. “Everything is already signed and ready to go, you just need to sign here.” He pointed to a line and Anastasia eagerly signed. The doctor handed David two prescriptions, “you are officially discharged from the hospital.”

“Sounds great,” Anastasia replied, happy to get out of the hospital but not happy about the situation she was in. They already told her after the surgery that she would never be able to dance again and she wouldn’t fully be able to walk again for five months.

About fifteen minutes later a CNA came into the room with a wheelchair for Anastasia and with the help of her father and the CNA Anastasia slid into the wheelchair. She hated the fact that she couldn’t walk and would have to rely on other people to do things. She insisted on wheeling herself through the hospital without any help so her father went down to pull the car up to the main entrance. Her father got out and helped her into the car and then round back over to the driver’s side and headed for her apartment.

“I need to break my lease,” Anastasia said once she sat on the couch. “Once I sign the papers and pay the fee we can leave the city, I don’t want to be here anymore.” David nodded and watched his daughter grab her cell phone to call up her landlord to tell him the situation.

“Your contract is up in four months,” Jim, her landlord told her. “You’ll pay this month’s rent and a seventy-five dollar fee for breaking your contract.”

“That’s fine,” Anastasia replied with a tired sigh. She didn’t want to deal with this right now but she didn’t want to live in this city anymore if she wasn’t doing what she loved. She absolutely hated New York City, it was too cluttered and chaotic for her test. She missed the outskirts of Baltimore and the openness of the area she lived in. She missed everything about Baltimore and she couldn’t wait to go home. “Can you come by today? I really want to get going.”

“Yeah, I’ll be right over with the paperwork,” Jim said before hanging up. It didn’t take too long before Jim knocked on her door.

“Honey, you sure you want to break your contract?” David asked when he got up to answer the door. “Maybe you could go to school here in New York.”

“No, I’m done with the city,” Anastasia replied. “I don’t like New York. I just want to go home.” David nodded and opened the door to allow Jim to come into her apartment. Jim set the paperwork in front of Anastasia and she signed all of the paperwork before writing Jim a check.

“Do you want to just pack a bag and leave? Or do you want to pack up all of your things?” David asked, looking down at his daughter. He knew how much she hated feeling so helpless and he wanted to do everything he could to make her happy but there was almost so much he could do.

“I have a bag packed already in my room,” Anastasia answered. She was planning on a visit to Baltimore before she got injured. Her father nodded and walked into her bedroom and grabbed the few things he knew his daughter would want to bring with her. He returned about fifteen minutes with her laptop bag and her duffel bag.

“You ready to leave the city?” David asked.

Anastasia stood up and grabbed her crutches to follow her father out of her apartment. She didn’t have many friends in New York, only girls from the company and she didn’t really get along with them. She followed her father to the elevator and then down to the car to drive back to Baltimore.

“Goodbye New York, it was fun while it lasted.”