She Said, She Said

The walk to Mia Gyles’s room was quiet and awkward, despite the actual conversation Caleb and I had had in the room just a while ago. Caleb was trying to pretend it never happened, so I let it be that way – for now. The hall stretched out in front of us, long and abandoned. I glanced at all the doors as we passed them by. It seemed as if they each had their own despairing story to tell. The secrets behind them were trapped inside, and I wished desperately that the doors would open, and all the unsaid words would come flying out so the patients wouldn’t have to carry such a burden.

“Would you stop moving your head?” Caleb growled from behind me. I had the sudden urge to turn around and punch him in the gut.

“Why?” I wasn’t going to give up so easy. He had no right to just use me whenever he needed to talk, and then turn into some kind of lunatic. And anyway, why’d he care if I was moving my head around?

Moron.

“Because it’s distracting.” Pause. “Pardon me, it’s annoying.” He stretched the word out, letting it sink in. Uh-nooo-yiiing.

I didn't say anything, and I think it bothered him a little bit, but I wasn't sure as I couldn't see his face. I stared straight ahead, and, when we reached Mia Gyles's room, I knocked. A musical voice told us to "come in" and I rolled myself in first, hearing Caleb's loud footsteps following my lead.

Mia Gyles was a short, dark woman with long black hair. She had a kind face and big brown eyes that twinkled every time she smiled. I immediately liked her. It was hard not to with what her gentle voice and her soft, affectionate words.

"Hi, I'm Mia Gyles," she said, her eyes fluttering.

I smiled. "I'm Valerie."

She nodded. "I know." Her gaze moved behind me where, I assumed, Caleb was standing. "Thank-you for bringing her here, Caleb."

Caleb grunted, and then went over and sat on the red couch in the corner of the room.

"Well, Valerie, as Caleb might've already told you, I'm your Physiotherapist." I nodded, and she continued. "I'll be helping you, well; cope with what it'll be like having Prosthetics. And regaining your strength, and whatnot." She cleared her throat, and motioned for me to come closer to her desk. "Now, if you ever feel uncomfortable telling me about something, Caleb can always leave." She glanced at him, then back at me. "Would you like him to stay for now or leave?"

Did I want him to leave? I wasn't sure. But then again it wasn't like I was going to talk about something personal, so there was no point in telling him to go. On the other hand, I would get rid of him, and, as pleasant as that sounded, it wasn't going to help the situation of becoming "friends" with him.

I shook my head.

"Alright, then," she said, smiling.

I wondered about her. Did she have kids? Was she married? Did she expect me to call her by her first name or her last name? Would she tell me about her life? Maybe I would tell her about the accident. Would I be able to open up to her?

The session passed quickly. She asked me questions about my school, my friends, what kind of grades I got, what I wanted to be when I grew up, and some other simple questions.

"Okay, well, you're done for today," she stated, filing through some papers on her desk, "so, you can leave." Glancing at me, she smiled, and nodded, like we were sharing some big secret no one else knew about.

"Okay, thank you." I forced a weak smile.

I turned around, and headed outside. As soon as we stepped into the hallway (which, unlike before, was bustling with people), Caleb grabbed the wheelchair and steered me towards the cafeteria. The large clock on the wall told me it was time for lunch.

We met Sylvia sitting with Lacey, and Noel at our usual lunch table. I wanted to ask Caleb to join us, but before I could, I found out that he'd disappeared.

"So," Sylvia mused, her mouth full of a chocolate chip cookie. "How come Caleb is here today?"

I slurped from the small box of chocolate milk, and sighed, feeling the cool liquid slide down my throat. "What do you mean?"

Noel suddenly spoke up. "The boys at the BRC are usually allowed to go home on the weekend." He paused, swallowing the food in his mouth. "Unless, you know, they've done something particularly bad that prevents them from doing so."

Why hadn't Caleb gone home? Had he done something that got him into trouble? I would ask him later, I decided.

"Oh." I stared at the soup in the bowl sitting in front of me. "Well, what about Nathan and Samuel?"

"Nathan is gone home to spend time with his girlfriend," Sylvia assured, staring at me. "And Samuel is spending some time with his Mother."

I nodded, wondering yet again about Caleb. If I asked him, would he tell me why he was in the BRC? After pondering over the idea, I decided that he probably wouldn't.

"Noel," I addressed, a question suddenly popping up in my head. "How come you don't have a partner?"

He chewed on his food for a while before he answered. "Because I didn't want one."

Simple enough.

"Actually," Sylvia interrupted, glancing at Noel quickly. "He did have one, but he left the BRC a few weeks ago, before you came."

"How come he left?" I wondered aloud.

"Because his 'punishment' was over," Noel muttered, making air quotes with his fingers.

We were quiet for the rest of the lunch period.

*

I leafed through Sylvia's book, and frowned, not finding the plot interesting. After lunch, I had come back to my room. Sylvia and the others had asked me to come join them in the Resource room because they were going to watch movies, but I had felt a headache coming on, so I'd politely said no, and left. As for Caleb, I had no idea where he was, and, at that moment, I didn't really care, as selfish as that sounds.

Just as I was about to go and grab another book, I heard a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" I called.

"It's me," a voice informed me. I rolled my eyes. How was I supposed to know who 'me' was? Shrugging to myself, I rolled over to the door, and opened it. When I saw who was standing there, my lips formed a little 'o' in surprise.

"Aunt Debra?" I muttered, trying to smile. Ushering her in, I shut the door, and turned around to face her. "H-Hi, when'd you get here? Nobody informed me that-" Aunt Debra interrupted me before I could continue my rant.

"Valerie," she whispered, staring at my face. "If you don't want me here, I could leave. I just thought I'd surprise you by coming here, that's all."

I shook my head violently. "No, no, it's not that. I was just . . . Never mind, how are you?"

She smiled weakly at me, taking a seat on my bed. The last time she'd been around, we hadn't gotten along so well, but, over the week, I had thought about it, and really, why was I being so disrespectful towards her? She was there for me when I needed her the most, and all I'd done was push her away. And, quite frankly, I really needed her, even though it took me a little bit of time to realize it, I really needed her to be there for me.

" . . . and I was just going to ask you to come over," she continued. I hadn't even noticed that she'd started talking to me.

I nodded, trying to cover up my ignorance. "Yeah, sure." I didn't even know what I was saying. "So you want me to come over . . . ?"

She didn't catch on. "I mean, before we have to put it up for sale, I thought you'd want to come and visit one last time, and see if you want anything . . ." Her voice trailed off.

I was finally getting what she was saying. She wanted me to go visit my home, my actual home, where I'd grown up, where a thousand memories took place. It felt as if my throat was lodged with a frog. I couldn't speak, so I just shook my head, and then nodded. Did I want to go back there? Yes. No. I didn't know.

"I understand if you don't," Aunt Debra strutted, her eyes filling with unshed tears.

"No, no," I croaked, trying not to cry. "I think I'll go."

She didn't say anything, just sat there, with her hands folded in her lap. After a few minutes of silence, she got up abruptly, and, trying not to trip over her own feet, told me she had to get somewhere. I said goodbye to her, and, just like that, she was gone, her scent lingering in the air.

I rolled myself towards the door to close it when Caleb suddenly appeared. He was surprised to see me there, and a look of confusion crossed his face. It looked as if he didn't know what he was doing there, standing in the doorway, his foot scratching the back of his other leg.

"Hi," he mumbled.

I nodded my greeting, and turned around, quickly dabbing at my cheeks to wipe away any tears that had silently slipped down my face. I motioned to the bed, and he sat down hesitantly.

Before I could help myself, a question popped out of my mouth: "How come you didn't go home this weekend?"

He looked at me for a second, then, as if in a daze, opened his mouth to speak.