Chapter Twenty-seven

Dr. Graham stands in front of me. "So, I have good news," he says, his face unreadable.

Mom sits beside me, her hand squeezing mine.

We've been sitting out in the waiting room for almost half an hour, called in unexpectedly after my physical therapy appointment this morning. I'm quite surprised and anxious.

"Is everything alright?" she asks, her voice rigid.

Dr. Graham nods. "Yes, however, I have been speaking to a specialist and he has offered a surgical procedure to Emma."

I wince at the idea of surgery. "But I thought you said nothing could be done," I say, confused. "You said my leg would be heal on its own."

"I don't understand," my mom sighs. "Surgery isn't an option, is it?"

Dr. Graham shifts his feet. "Dr. Shoffer is a very highly trained surgeon and has dealt with many cases like yours, Emma. The surgery may be able to save the nerves in your leg and you could be walking again in six weeks."

That lifts my hopes but frightens me also.

"What are the risks?" my mom asks, glancing at me.

Dr. Graham frowns. "That's the bad news," he says, looking from my mom to me. "There are risks to every surgical procedure; infection is the most common. With this surgery there is a risk that it might damage the nerves in your leg, permanently."

"What does that mean, for me?" I ask, hoping its not what answer I have in mind.

He sighs. "You'd be unable to walk properly for the rest of your life," he says, picking up my file. "However, keep in mind, you are already faced with that chance now."

My mom shrugs her shoulders. "I think we'd have to discuss this with James," she says, referring to my dad.

I agree with her, thanking Dr. Graham before we leave his office.

On the way out to the car, my mom looks down at me. "Don't worry about it right now, Okay? Just have a good time tonight at the basketball game, and we'll discuss it tomorrow with your dad."

"Emma! Are you ready?" Aidan calls up the stairs. I wheel Frank over to the mirror, undecided on what to do with my hair. Up or down? "We really can't be late!"

I decide to leave it down, grabbing my purse from the edge of the dresser.

Ben pops his head around the door. "Are you ready?"

I nod. "Yeah," I say and he enters, dressed in his basketball jersey and jeans. He lifts me from Frank, carrying me down the stairs. Quinn is behind us, lugging Frank behind him. Once we reach the bottom, Quinn unfolds Frank and Ben sets me in the seat.

He huffs. "We're going to have to start charging you for moving you everywhere," he says, laughing.

I scoff. "You're my brother, you should be honoured to carry me around the house like a queen," I say, smirking.

Quinn laughs. "Maybe Mom and Dad should buy a bigger house so there's room for your ego," he says, sarcasm flowing through his teeth. Ben fist bumps him, laughing with him.

I groan, crossing my arms. "Okay, fun's over," I say, pointing to the door. "Let's go!"

Ben pushes me out the door, Quinn trailing behind us. He's coming with us, apparently to see his friends.

Aidan is already in the old beater, warming it up. Ben helps me into the backseat then shoves Frank into the trunk of the car. Quinn sits in the back beside me, staring out the window. Once Ben gets in, Aidan backs out of the driveway, heading to the school.

"Put on some music!" I say, tired of listening to my brothers talk game stats.

Aidan reaches over, the radio blasting out a Christmas song.

Quinn moans loudly, plugging his ears. "No Christmas music, please!"

I roll my eyes. "Shut up, Scrooge," I say, poking my little brother in his side.

He turns, glaring at me. "Don't call me Scrooge, Princess," he retorts.

Before we can get into a full on bicker fest, Ben shifts in his seat.

"Shut up, both of you! We're here anyway," he says and I look out the window.

There are cars parked in the usual empty spaces, well, at this time of night at least, and people hurrying into the gymnasium. Aidan parks near the front, where there is reserved lots for team members and Ben helps me into Frank, wheeling me in.

I didn't realize how many people there would be. Friends and familiar faces from school are all around me, and it makes me uncomfortable and self conscious. Quinn takes over pushing me through the halls, Ben and Aidan going to see their coach and teammates. Austin is probably in the locker room, and I wonder if he will come and say hello before the game starts.

"Emma!"

I look through the crowd of people for my best friend but don't see her.

Eventually, I see her weaving herself around people, jogging towards us.

"Hey, are you here to wish your boy friend good luck?" she says once she is beside us, smiling.

"Yup," I say, Quinn pushing begins to push me again. "Have you seen him?" I ask, as we enter the gymnasium. There are lots of people inside. The bleachers pulled out on either side of the court.

Quinn pushes me to the center, behind the boy's bench, positioning me at the end. Andrea sits beside me, nodding. "Yeah, he's right there," Andrea gestures to the doors. I look over and see the entire team walking out in their uniforms.

Austin meets my eyes, smiling.

He walks toward me, earning a glare from his coach. "Emma, you made it," he says, grinning wider.

"I wouldn't have missed it," I say and we kiss.

Andrea pretends to gag and I elbow her in the ribs.

"I have to go but I'll see you at half time," he says, heading towards his head towards his coach.

Andrea sighs in awe. "Oh, I just ship the hell out of you guys," she gushes.

I roll my eyes. "Stop." I say, glancing around and notice Quinn is gone. "Where is that little shit head?" I look above us and see him sitting with his friends.

Andrea and I talk until the game starts and the boys are out into the court, facing off our rival high school. The Phantoms.

It is funny that throughout the years that my brothers have played basketball, I have never paid attention to Austin like I do now. Now, he's all that I can watch, as cheesy as that sounds.

"Oh, that was close," Andrea says, covering her eyes with her hands.

The Phantoms have the ball, taking a shot but the ball bouncing off the rim. Austin catches it, throwing it to another teammate who runs down the court.

Andrea turns to me. "I need some snacks, do you want anything?"

"A bag of pretzels would be nice," I say, smiling. Andrea leaves and I focus on the game again.

Aidan shoots for the basket, the net swooshing as it goes in.

The crowd cheers and I wave my hands. Beside me, I feel someone sit down.

"That was fast," I say, assuming its Andrea.

I glance over, doing a double take when I see Carla Dean sitting beside me.

She smiles. "Hi Emma," she says. "I heard about the accident. That sucks."

I fake a smile. "Yeah, it does."

She begins to ramble on Austin and how cute he is.

Its times like these I wish I'd just stayed home. You know that feeling when all you want to do is punch someone but you're too kind for your own good and you end up losing your mind instead?

Well, I'm in the middle of losing my mind. Sometimes, you might even think that you can block that narcissistic, arrogant, self-loving voice of your arch nemesis out and continue on with your day until she proceeds to include you into the conversation.

"Can you just shut up? Can't you see that I want to be left alone?" I hiss in a loud voice, hoping someone might hear and intrude on this lovely conversation. Of course sitting next to Carla is anything but lovely and she is starting to get on my last nerve, so to speak.

Carla smiles innocently. "Oh, I'm sorry, am I bothering you?"

As if that's the last thing she is trying to do. I smile back with a forced smile.

"Yeah. You are. So please, shut the hell up." I turn back to my English questions, gripping my pencil lightly so I don't break it. "I mean, you remember what happened last time, don't you? How is your nose anyway? Looks like the plastic surgeon did a pretty good job repairing it."

Nice. I pat myself on the back. Figuratively of course.

Carla's eyes widen. She opens her mouth, clinching her fists.

"I believe she said to leave her alone," Quinn says from behind me. Carla looks up, her eyes narrowing. "Beat it bitch."

Carla leaves without another word, walking out of the gymnasium.

"Are you okay?" Quinn asks.

I nod, smiling. "Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks," I say. He leaves again, back to his friends.

Andrea comes back, her smile disappearing when she see's my face. She sits down, handing me a bag of pretzels. "What happened, did I miss something? Are we losing?"

"No, Carla came over and sat next to me while you were gone," I tell her. "Tried to stir up shit."

Andrea's face morphs into disgust at the mention of Carla. "Are you okay?"

"I think I just need some fresh air," I say, beginning to roll away from the benches. "I'll be back."

I leave the gymnasium, going out into the hallway.

"Wait, Emma," Carla calls from behind me.

I groan and keep rolling down the hallway, pretending not to hear Carla call my name. Half way down the hall, a hand grabs my shoulder. It stops me, Carla coming stand in front of me.

"I need to tell you something. It's important," she says, looking at her nails and biting them.

I sigh. "Whatever it is, I don't want to know,"I say and turn to leave.

"It's about Austin."

Austin.

Of course it's about him.

"I don't want to hear your bullshit. I've got more important things to deal with," I say, rolling my eyes. "Can't you just let it go? He's with me, I'm with him. I love him, he loves me. Not you. Get over yourself."

Carla laughs. "Get over myself? Please I have higher standards in what I look for in a guy. I'm surprised you even like Austin, considering he's hiding something really big from you," she says, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

What the hell is she talking about? Has she really gone crazy? Apparently so.

"Austin isn't hiding anything from me. Why would he hide something from me?" I ask, knowing not to believe anything Carla says. She's just trying to interfere with our relationship.

"So, he hasn't told you then?" She asks, "You truly don't know?"

"Know what? What is so important that he hasn't told me?" I throw up my hands, tired of this banter. Carla takes a step back, looking down.

"Emma," She says, looking back up at me, "Diane, Austin's mother, is the one who hit Tyler that night."

It takes a moment to process what she just said. I narrow my eyes at her, furrowing my eyebrows. "Okay, this has gone way too far. You need some professional help. Where the hell did you even make that up from?"

Carla shrugs. "If you don't believe me, ask him yourself," she says and smirks, nodding behind me.

I twist around to look behind me and see Austin standing a few feet away. His eyes are full of regret and sorrow. He steps forward, reaching toward me but I instantly take a step back.

"Well, I should run along. Looks like you two have some talking to do," Carla says, practically skipping away, and I would say something to her but I'm too immersed in my thoughts.

Instead I focus on Austin.

"Emma, I-" he starts.

"Is it true?"

Austin rubs his face, "Emma, I can-"

"Is it true?" I repeat, not knowing whether it is or not. For everyone's sake, it better not be. However by the agonizing expression on my boyfriends face, the odds are not in my favour.

"It's true, my mom is the one who hit your brother that night," Austin says, his voice cracking. "Emma I was going to tell you but..."

"But what? You couldn't find the time to tell your own mother killed my baby brother?!" I shout, my voice raising with each word. My hands are shaking, trembling, "I can't even right now. I have to go."

I use my strength to push myself past him, waiting, wanting anyone to jump out and tell me this in one big joke. No one does.

"Emma wait," he tries to stop me but I shrug out of his grip.

"I need to be alone right now," I mumble, which is basically code for I don't want to be around you. Austin walks away, heading back towards the gymnasium.

Tears run down my face, soaking the sleeve of my sweater when I wipe them away.

"Emma? Is something wrong?"

Andrea comes out into the hallway, hurrying over to me, peering to see my face. "Who the hell made you cry?" She snaps once she sees my tear stained cheeks.

Once I've calmed down, I face her.

I wonder if she knows. I wonder if my brothers know, and my parents. I wonder if they all knew except me and no body said anything. Andrea looks at me expectantly, waiting for me to explain before she goes and terrorizes every person in the halls to see if they know what happened.

Andrea is my best friend, she would have told me if Diane is the one who hit Tyler.

"Did you know Diane, Austin's mom, is the one who drove into Tyler?" I ask, watching my best friends face, anticipating her reaction. When she widens her eyes, and her mouth is left gaping in shock, I know she hadn't known either.

"What!" Andrea hisses, then her eyes soften. "He didn't tell you, did he?"

I shake my head sadly, fresh tears rolling down my cheek.

"What an asshole. Do you want me to beat him up for you?" She offers, smacking her hand on the counter to emphasis on how serious she is. The simple thought of Andrea standing up for me is comforting.

"No, I just want to go home. Can you drive me?"

"Of course I can, what are best friends for?" Andrea grins and she begins to push me out of the school. I fumble with my phone, sending a text to my brothers that I'm not feeling well and Andrea is taking me home.

"Tomorrow will be better," Andrea tries to reassure me. "You just have to talk to Austin and-"

"No," I interrupt, tears threatening to spill again. "I am never talking to him again. He had his chance and he fucking blew it."