Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 69610 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69610 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
And that’s only the start.
Not only did he suffer third-degree burns to thirty percent of his body, most of which is thankfully on his torso and stomach, but he had spinal damage which took the function of his lower legs. With intense therapy, he has been able to use a walking frame for a few hours a day, but after that he is utterly exhausted. The doctors are confident over time he will walk again, but the road is long, and painful, and requires dedication.
Dedication he doesn’t have.
And I don’t blame him.
I got away lucky.
They still aren’t sure how or why the car caught fire, they said it was so incredibly rare, but something must have broken the gas line and sparked it. They never could tell us what. I lost consciousness for a while; I don’t know how long, and when I came to for a second time, help had arrived, and I was pulled from the vehicle. I was mostly uninjured, outside of a few deep gashes and some broken bones, and of course the damage to my ears, a combination of the explosion and hitting my head so harshly.
Caiden wasn’t so lucky.
When I was freed, I helped the people who stopped to help us pull him out. I remember being dazed, struggling to hear, and being in so much pain I don’t know how I ever assisted them. But I knew we had to get Caiden out. I, like everyone else, could smell the gas and knew how dangerous the situation was.
We’d only just gotten half of him out when the car caught on fire. Caiden caught a big burst of flames as we pulled him back, burning his skin as we struggled to fully free him from the car before it exploded. By the time we got him free, he was already so badly injured. We pulled him out just in time, because minutes later it exploded into a fiery mess on the side of the highway.
I have some burns to my stomach and legs, but nothing, nothing like what Caiden lives with daily.
“How did your therapy session go this morning?” I ask, trying to ignore his anger.
“Why the hell do you keep coming back, Amalie? Nobody wants you here, so why do you come?”
I exhale, and a run a tired hand through my hair. “Because I owe it to you, to support you, even if you don’t want that.”
“You didn’t support me when you caused that accident.”
I flinch.
“If you didn’t try to break up with me, in a car, none of it would have happened. Now you want to do the right thing? You couldn’t wait to get away from me then, I don’t know why you’re bothering to stay now.”
I swallow. Take a deep breath.
Arguing with him will only make it worse.
I need to be the calm one in this situation.
“I’m sorry,” I say softly.
Because what else is there to say?
“So you tell me every single day. I don’t want to hear it anymore. Your actions caused this, and now I have to live here, trapped and damaged, while you’re out there enjoying your life.”
That frustrates me, and I snap before thinking. “I’m hardly enjoying my life.”
His eyes shoot daggers into mine. “You’re free, aren’t you? You look the same, you sound the same, you can still play music. What’s the worst you got? Hearing damage? So what. It’s fixable.”
It is.
My doctor has told me they can restore a portion of my hearing with some fairly intense operations.
I simply won’t allow it.
If Caiden has to live like this, then so do I.
For a while, I just told people I was born like this, so they’d stop asking me about it.
Then I didn’t have to try and explain why I refused to make my hearing better.
“I understand why you’re angry at me, believe me I do, but nothing you can say to me is going to stop me coming here, Caiden. I know what I did. I know I ruined your life. I also know I’m the only person you have left outside of your mother and father.”
He flinches, and his jaw gets tight. “So you’re here out of pity?”
I exhale and breathe deeply.
“Have you thought about joining an online community? Talking to other people? You’re not the only person out there living like this. You might meet people.”
His face goes red, and I know right away I’ve said the wrong thing. “Meet people? Join a group? What, so you can get rid of me and not have to feel guilty every day? You ruined my fucking life!” he roars. “I wish I never fucking met you, Amalie. Get out of my house.”
“Caiden ...”
“Get the fuck out!!”
I swallow the pain bursting forth in my chest and I turn, rushing out of the house, head down. Tears explode and roll down my cheeks, and my hands tremble. I run into Theo at the door, and he takes me by the shoulders, looking down at me. “You do not deserve this, Amalie. That accident was not your fault. I wish you could see that.”