Madison's Journey

Chapter 19

The Shipyard family and Madison spent the rest of her first weekend with them adjusting to their new normal. Madison wasn’t able to move herself in the wheelchair yet, so they were using walkie talkies. It was frustrating for her; she had gone from doing everything for herself to not being able to move on her own, but she was trying to be as patient as possible. The Monday after she came home from the hospital was the start of her new schedule; she did physiotherapy one hour every day, exercises three times a day, and a session with her therapist once a week. She was still in a lot of pain, and every movement sent hot waves through her body, but as the doctor said, no pain no gain. She also had to get caught up on her schoolwork. Lisa had picked up the school assignments she had missed, and she knew it would take her some time to get through them all. It was a lot of change and a lot of work, and she felt so overwhelmed by Monday night that she unwillingly began to cry in the middle of dinner.

“Maddie, honey, what’s wrong?” Lisa reached over and touched her arm.

“I don’t know,” her voice was shrill as tears dropped onto her dinner plate.

Lisa squeezed her arm. “What can we do?”

“I just have so much to do, and I’m so behind in school, and I can’t move, and I’m always in pain and I…I...I...”

“I know you’re worried about school, what if we got you a tutor to come in a couple days a week to just help and make sure you’re on the right track.”

Madison eyes were red and puffy as she looked up at Lisa. “Could we? You wouldn’t mind. I can pay for it.”

Bill shook his head. “Of course, we wouldn’t mind, and you don’t ever have to pay us for anything, Maddie.”

Lisa smiled across the table at her husband. Madison managed to smile through her tears at Bill, and sputtered out, “Th-Thank you.”

Lisa squeezed her arm again, and Madison turned her attention back to her. “And what about the pain? Do you think we need to talk to Dr. Collins about that? Is it too hard to manage?”

Madison shook her head and wiped her face with the back of her hand. “No, it’s okay, Lisa. I think it’s to be expected. I was just feeling sorry for myself.”

Bill chuckled. “Well, missy, I don’t know what you have to feel sorry for yourself about, it’s not like you were in a huge car accident or anything.” 

They all laughed, the weight in Madison’s chest lifting. The next day when Lisa came home from Madison’s school after meeting with her principal, she told Madison the name of her new tutor, and Madison’s mouth fell open, gawking at Lisa.

“Kyle Barker! Kyle Barker is my tutor?”

“Um, yeah. Is that good?”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, it’s great! Can you wheel me to my room? I have to go call Amy.” Lisa wasn’t sure what was going on, but she got behind Madison, wheeled her to her room and closed the door as she left. Madison quickly dialed Amy’s number.

“Wait! You’re telling me that Kyle Barker is coming to your house tomorrow!”

Madison’s smile lit up her whole face, excitement coursing through her. “Yup!”

“Holy crap!”

“I know, right?”

“Oh my god, Mads. Kyle Barker is like the most popular guy in our school. And the hottest.”

“Well, one of the hottest. Dylan Barker is pretty hot too.”

Amy laughed. “Fair enough.” Kyle and Dylan were twins, and every girl in the school were in love with one or both of them. They were both excellent students and star baseball players. “Mads, you are so lucky.”

Madison looked down at her bandaged body. “Oh, yeah. That’s me, the luckiest person in the world.”

“Oh, Mads. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean...”

Madison laughed. “I know, Aim. I was just giving you a hard time. I knew what you meant.” The two girls talked for a few more minutes until Bill entered to wheel Madison to the table for dinner.

Madison spent the rest of the night going over her schoolwork. She wanted to be prepared for when Kyle came, there was no way she wanted to look like an i***t in front of Kyle Barker. It was bad enough that she looked like half a mummy with all the white bandages wrapped around her. She also had two nasty scars on her face from the stitches. The plastic surgeon who had stitched her up was sure they would both fade eventually, but right now they were still quite pink and very noticeable. 

The next day, Madison did her physiotherapy, her exercises, and had a nap in the afternoon before Kyle arrived. She was sleeping for several hours throughout the day as she was always exhausted, and the doctor had told her that she needed to listen to her body; she was to rest and nap whenever she felt she needed to. The doorbell rang at three thirty, and Madison felt her stomach churning. She smoothed her hair as she waited in her wheelchair at the dining room table.

Edith answered the door and led Kyle to the dining room. “Here you go, Kyle. I have Madison all set up in here. I’ll leave you two to it. You have your walkie if you need me.” Edith glanced at Madison and nodded as she left the two kids alone.

Kyle greeted Madison with a smile that lit up his whole face and showed off his dimples. She had to bend her head back to look up at him, she hadn’t realized before how tall he was. “Madison, it’s nice to formally meet you. I’m Kyle Barker.” He offered her his hand, and she shook it. She felt goose bumps on the back of her neck, and her hand shook slightly at the touch of his skin.

“Hi, Kyle. It’s nice to meet you too.” She let go of his hand and gestured at her legs. “I’m sorry, I’d get up, but I finally found a comfortable position.”

His eyes took in her whole body, and when they made their way back up to her face, they were full of sympathy. “Are you in a lot of pain?”

She groaned slightly, “All the time, but the doctor said it’s to be expected.”

“Do you mind if I ask you a few questions about it?” He sat down beside her and turned to face her.

She smiled. “Ask away.”

“Well, first of all, I wanted to say that I think you’re incredible. Not too many people would do what you did.”

Her cheeks turned a light shade of red at his words. “Thanks, but honestly, I didn’t even think about it. All I remember is seeing the car heading towards Grace, and then boom, I was on the ground, and I felt like everything was hurt and broken. I don’t remember anything after that until I woke up in the hospital the next day.”

“Wow. So, what is all…” he motioned at her bandages and she laughed.

“It might be easier to tell you what isn’t damaged.” He laughed with her, and Madison felt herself begin to relax. Kyle Barker was gorgeous, but he was also an incredibly nice guy. “Let’s see, I had thirty stitches here.” She moved her finger along her forehead and temple where the scar was, “Stitches, here,” her fingers moved across the scar on her cheek. She held her right arm out, “Three broken bones in my arm and a broken wrist. And I think that’s the worst injury ‘cause I can’t move myself around,” she grinned widely. “Well, I can, but I just go in a circle.” Kyle chuckled, and she continued, “My left ankle is broken, and my left hip was shattered, and they had to replace it, so now I’m part metal.”

Kyle’s eyes were wide, and he shook his head. “Wow!”

“Oh, and a couple broken ribs.”

“Holy shit.” She smiled at that, and his hand flew up to his mouth. “Oops, sorry about that.”

She chuckled. “It’s okay. Gracie isn’t here. If she was, she’d be in here asking you a hundred and one questions.”

His laugh was deep and throaty, like he was laughing with his whole body. “Curious, is she?”

Madison rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah. Bill decided to take her to that indoor play park after school, so she wouldn’t be in our way.” He laughed again, and they talked a bit more about the accident. She had learned that the driver of the other car was intoxicated and was being charged. 

“Wow, Madison. Like I said, you’re amazing.”

She blushed again, her eyes flashing down at the table. “I don’t know about that. I really was just in the right place at the right time.”

He chuckled. “Um, well, if that’s what you call it.”

A serious but soft look crossed her face as she looked up at him, his blue eyes reminded her of the sky as they shone down on her. “Honestly, Kyle, I do. Because every night when I close my eyes, I see that car coming towards Gracie, and my mind thinks about all of the what ifs. If I hadn’t been there, Gracie would be…” Her voice trailed off, and she wiped a lone tear from the corner of her eye. 

He nodded but didn’t say anything. They sat quietly for a few moments, each lost in their own thoughts. After a couple more minutes of silence, he cleared his throat, “So, should we get started? Unfortunately, I only have until four forty-five today, I have to be at work at five.”

“Okay. I have a couple questions about calculus.” She was curious to find out more about him but knew they didn’t have that much time to chat. So instead, she showed him the questions she needed help with. They spent the next hour going through her questions, and by the time he left, she had a much better understanding of the lesson she was working on. They made another tutor date for Thursday afternoon, and Madison’s heart fluttered just thinking about it.

As soon as Kyle left that afternoon, Madison called Amy to tell her all about it. “OMG, Madison. I’ve been sitting here waiting to hear about it. How’d it go? Is he nice? Is he as cute close up?”

Madison giggled, “He is so nice. He asked about the accident and about my injuries, and he didn’t seem to mind all the bandages. And yes, he’s even cuter up close. Those blue eyes and broad shoulders.” Madison smiled dreamily as she thought about him. “And he told me that I’m amazing.”

“Oh my god. Mads, that’s awesome.” The two girls continued talking and giggling about Kyle until Lisa came to get Madison for dinner. 

Madison talked about Kyle and her tutor session during dinner, and Gracie told them about her afternoon with Casey, her best friend, at the play park, but Madison was barely listening; she was daydreaming about Kyle. Thursday couldn’t come fast enough for Madison. She was excited to see him again. And this time, Grace was home, and she answered the door followed closely by her dad.

“Hi. You must be Grace.” Kyle smiled down at the little girl. 

Grace looked up at him, he was tall, and she had to lean her head back to see his face. “I am, and you must be Maddie’s tutor. She talked about you a lot on Tuesday.”

Kyle chuckled and Bill groaned behind her. “Hey there, little lady. That’s enough.”

Grace looked seriously at her dad. “I’m not lying, daddy. Remember, Maddie said that he helped her with cal col cus...”

Both Kyle and Bill laughed. And Bill corrected her. “Calculus.”

“Yup.”

Kyle’s lips curled into a wide grin. “Well, I’m glad I could help her.” He glanced at Bill, who moved Grace by the shoulders out of the doorway.

“Please, come in, Kyle. I’m Bill.”

Kyle extended his hand to Bill, who shook it. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Shipyard.”

“Please, call me Bill.” Kyle strode into the house and followed Bill and Grace to the dining room. Grace was talking a mile a minute as they walked down the hallway, only stopping when they saw Madison sitting at the table.

“Maddie, your tutor’s here.”

Madison turned around, and her breath caught in her throat. He sure was cute. “Hi, Kyle.”

“Hey, Madison. How you feeling today?”

“Come on, Gracie, let’s let these two get their work done.” Grace started to protest, but Bill picked her up and carried her upstairs.

When they were gone, Kyle smiled at Madison. “She’s cute.”

“Yes, she is.” She blushed.

Kyle took a seat beside her. “You look a bit tired today. Are you up for this?”

Madison sighed, and then smiled slightly. “I’m always tired, but I’m good. I usually have a nap during the day, but I couldn’t sleep this afternoon, my hip was bothering me more than usual.”

“Oh, why’s that?”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure. I do physiotherapy everyday, and I have exercises that I have to do. Maybe I overdid them this morning.”

He smiled sympathetically. “Man, I couldn’t imagine not being able to move around. How long do they think you have to use the chair for?”

“Until the ankle is healed, so another couple weeks. But even then, it’ll be very limited movement. But at least then I’ll be able to get myself to the bathroom.” She smiled brightly at that and he laughed.

“It’s the little things, right?”

“Oh yeah. So, do you work today?”

“Nope, not today.”

“Oh, that’s good. I meant to ask you the other day where you work?”

“I’m a lifeguard at the rec centre. On Saturdays, I teach swim lessons.”

“Oh, that’s cool.”

He smiled and nodded. “I think so. I love my job, especially the swim lessons. Dyl works there too.” He shook his head and laughed lightly. “Oh, sorry. Dyl, I mean Dylan, my twin brother.”

Her eyes danced with laughter. “Yeah. I knew that.”

“You did?”

“Um, yeah. Everyone in school knows who you and Dylan are. You guys are superstars.”

She watched his cheeks turn a light shade of pink. “I don’t know about superstars. Well, Dyl certainly is, but I’m not nearly as good as him. Dyl eats, breaths and lives baseball.”

“Does he want to play professionally?”

“Oh, yeah. But we both got scholarships for school, and our parents really want us to do that before anything else. And I agree. You need a fall back, right?”

She nodded, and then they turned their attention to the schoolbooks opened in front of them. Madison met with Kyle on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays for the next three weeks, and she was slowly getting caught up on all her work. She looked forward to their sessions and not just for the working part, she was starting to really like Kyle. In between school work they would talk about themselves a little bit. He was smart, funny and his smile always made her heart race. She was beginning to open up to him about her mom, and he always had fun stories to tell her about the kids in his swim lessons or his life as a twin. Kyle was a nice distraction, someone other than her family and the Fernie’s that she could talk to; it was hard for her not to feel isolated and frustrated with her current situation of being cooped up in the house.