Something brand new ~ Chapter 4

Spencer arrived at the hospital about an hour after he said he would. I could hear him from downstairs talking to Laura, the nurse.
"Where is Ande at?" He asked her, pushing open the door to the hospital.
"I helped her into the bathroom about 20 minutes ago. She's in the tub relaxing." She sighed and sat her book down on the counter. "She's in a whole lick of pain and I thought that the water would help with that."
"Will you go help her out and dressed so I can check on her?"
"Of course. I'll let you know when she's done."

I heard Laura coming up the stairs and promptly pulled a towel from the side of the tub and wrapped it around myself. She opened the door with a whole new stack of dry, warm towels and helped me out.

About 15 minutes later I found myself in the downstairs lobby with Spencer next to me. He didn't look real great but he was overly worried about me.
"How are you feeling? Have you had much overbearing pain?"
"It was worse when I called you. It's really starting to die down."
"That's a good sign. We can probably get started with physical therapy in about a week or so. We just need enough time to be sure the pain has gone away completely."
"Thank goodness..." I sighed with relief as I laid my head back on the chair and closed my eyes as I felt more of the pain rush away from me.

~Two weeks later~

"Alright Ande." Spencer said, holding out his hand to her so that she could grab it for support. "Are you ready to walk after almost a year?"
"You have no clue!" I gushed as I grabbed his hand and he lifted me out of the chair. My feet touched the floor and only a little feeling shot up through them. Spencer did tell me how hard it was going to be to wake them up from their sleep.

"I'm going to hold onto your shoulders and you try to walk forward." He wrapped his arms around hers for extra support just in case she fell.
I took my very first step in about a year and suddenly, I yearned for more. I wanted to run and jump but I couldn't. All I could do was move a half step forward. I started to laugh as i stretched my leg out in front of me.

Spencer didn't warn me before he let go, he just did it. It was exhilarating. Putting one foot in front of the other. I finally felt free of the prison I was subjected to for so long. My body was aching for more. For more strength to push into my legs. And that's when I fell.

I fell so hard that the breath was knocked out of me. Spencer pulled me off of the ground and put me back in my chair. "I really think that's all for today, Ande. I don't want you to get hurt or excited. This is just the first step to bringing back what you had before and one day won't do that for you." He smiled shyly at me and I grabbed his hand again.
"Are you okay, Spencer?" I looked at him and felt a frown appearing on my face. "You seem really down lately."
"Eh, I've just been overly tired. I've been working double time and it's exhausting."
"Is that all? Nothing else?"
"That's really all it is."
"You always seem so...sad. Did something happen with Ella?"
"Well, if you count breaking up and then calling me a billion times  to tell me how much she hates my guts." He laughed sourly. "I don't ever pick up. I just let it ring and she rants on my voicemail."
"It sounds to me like she's the one who needs help."
"What about you, Ande. Why are you always so happy? How do you go through life with what happened and always have a smile on your face?"

 I laughed. Noting now that I almost never smile these days except when I'm around Spencer.
"You just don't see the dark side of me. When I'm with you, I remember there is a hope that I'll be normal again. That alone makes me smile." He pulled me up out of my chair again. I had little say in what happened but he hugged me so tight that I felt squished but as soon as he let me go, he pressed his lips to mine. I held back at first but then realized how good it felt and I kissed him back. I realized that this was probably just out of lonely pity for himself but I didn't care and neither did he.

The weird thing is that it actually didn't end. His presence was suddenly something I was used to every morning and every night. He never wanted to be away from me and I never wanted him to leave. We never even talked about it. It just happened and everyone on the island knew what was going on when even we didn't quite get it.

 One night while we were watching a romantic movie about a time traveler and his wife, Spencer looked at me with utter confusion and asked:
"When was the last time you traveled?"