Chapter 12: Rachel returns

Rachel was awake when we arrived at the hospital. Her leg was in a cast that ran from her ankles to the center of her thigh. The black and blue spots had begun to fade and I was sure that in another week or so they would be almost completely gone. The hospital staff was already pushing her to exercise the rest of her body so she wouldn't get stiff.

Cindy and I spent as much as possible with Rachel. When we went out for lunch I took the opportunity to call my employer. I had already missed two days without even calling in and I thought I might not even have a job to go back to.

I don't know what I would have done if the company I worked for hadn't been so understanding. They were aware of the problems that had beset me during that fateful summer and had allowed me to take as much time as I needed. They guaranteed that my job would be there when I was ready to come back ... even if it took a year or more. To make things even better, they gave me my three weeks vacation pay and ten days of sick leave. That added to the savings I already had would easily carry us through the end of the year or longer if necessary.

We fell into a pattern. We would go to visit Rachel in the morning and early afternoon and come home and work on restoring the old Chevy until usually eight or nine o'clock. Amazingly, the work on the Chevy went well and by the time Rachel was at the rehab center after three weeks in the hospital it was complete.

With only ten days left before the start of school, Cindy took and passed her driver's test. She had passed that major milestone with ease. It was still a student license which meant she couldn't yet drive after dark but still it gave her some flexibility.

I will never forget the smile on her face when she walked away from the examiner and it got even wider when she walked for the business office waving the license in her hand. The smile never left her face when I told her to drive us to the hospital to see Rachel.

When we got to the rehab center, Rachel was working on walking between the parallel railings working at putting some weight on her injured left leg. Cindy hadn't lost any of the exuberance she had had since getting her license. She ran between the railings and threw her arms around Rachel, almost knocking her over. Cindy went, "ugh". Rachel went, "OUCH". The trainer went, "Oh my god."

Cindy suddenly realized what she had done, "Oh, I'm sorry Rachel. I wasn't thinking. Are you okay?"

Rachel gave her a lopsided grin, "I think I'll live and I'm really glad to see you too. I take it you passed."

I chuckled, "What would ever give you that idea?"

The trainer, a pretty brunette probably in her twenties looked bewildered. They hadn't taught what to do in a situation in school. She instinctively knew that there must be something she should do but wasn't sure what. Finally, she shrugged and said, "Well, that's enough for today anyway. Be back tomorrow morning at ten." She looked daggers at Cindy and me and added, "Alone."

Cindy ducked under the railing and Rachel changed to a wheel chair and we went to the visitor's lounge to talk. Cindy was pretty subdued after the spectacle she had made of herself.

It didn't keep her down long though and soon she was chatting excitedly with Dana while Rachel and I talked. I heard her say, "That's a good idea. I'll ask." She turned and looked at me, "Can I borrow the car tomorrow so that Dana and I can go see Chris?"

I looked at Rachel. She was trying hard to hold in a smirk and wasn't doing a very good job of it. I wondered what to say. And then it hit me. "Well, I don't know," I said. "I may need the car tomorrow myself."

She looked crestfallen and I let her stir for a few seconds before I hit her with a surprise, "But if you promise to drive slowly and be back by five in the afternoon I don't see any reason why you couldn't take your car."

She looked at me with a confused look on her face. "What car."

I chuckled. "We've been working for almost a year putting it back together and you're asking me 'what car'?"