Branches Book

BRANCHES

attached it to his ankle. It connected almost instantly. The man who had helped Eric looked at me with a judgmental look. I knew the risks, but I didn’t care. He stood up and tried to walk. It took him a few seconds but he adjusted very quickly. He looked at me and saw I couldn’t stand by myself with my missing foot. He held out his hand and I placed my messed-up hand in his and he lifted me up into his arms. “Thank you. Without you, I wouldn’t be able to surf or skate anymore. I love you.” At that moment, with his eyes looking deeply into mine, I knew I had done the right thing. I was afraid I loved him more than I loved myself. What if he left me, I thought, what would I have left? It was hard adjusting to life with a limp, synthetic foot. Sometimes, I would wake up and forget about it, until I tried to get out of bed and realized I had to adjust my balance. Eric got me some crutches that I could use even with my messed up hand. He became more and more distant as the days went by. He came home late and barely answer my texts. He was always busy with other things it felt as though he’d lost interest in me. I seemed to be a burden to him. I tried asking what was wrong, but he kept telling me everything was fine. So I stopped asking. His birthday was coming up, and I decided to throw him a surprise party. I invited all his friends and co-workers. He came home after surfing with some friends, and we all yelled “SURPRISE!” His face lit up and he smiled wide. It was the smile I’d fallen in love with. It was a lovely evening; seeing him happy because of something I had done felt wonderful. At the end of the night, he thanked me for organizing everything and kissed me on the forehead. The next morning, he woke up early to go surfing, I didn’t see him but he left me a note saying he’d be back later. I was a little disappointed he didn’t want to spend the day with me after I threw him a birthday party. But there was nothing I could do; he was already gone. A few hours later, as I was painting in the garden, my phone rang. It was Eric’s best friend Kevin. I was a little surprised he called me, but I just assumed he had forgotten something at the party. I picked up and realized something was wrong. He told me Eric had been in an accident, “He is being transported to the clinic right now, I’m also on my way, come as fast as you can”. I jumped out of my chair and rushed to my car. The traffic was terrible. Or maybe it just seemed that way because every minute that went by was a minute without knowing how he was doing. When I finally got to the clinic, I saw Kevin and rushed to him. He led me to the nurse who could explain Eric’s accident to me. He looked at me and said, “Your boyfriend was riding his scooter this morning and a car heading in the same direction tried to change lanes and almost hit Eric. As he dodged the car he lost control of his scooter and fell on the rocks on the side of the road. He badly injured the whole left side of his body. Right now what we are

233