The days had been going by in a similar manner. Will was still in the hospital to monitor his recovery, and the doctors had been fairly pleased with how things had been going. He hadn't regained any feeling below his waist, but some of the physical wounds were healing well.
After it became clear that Will was going to make it through his accident, Evan had chosen to return to school a few days later. His classes weren't weren't waiting for him, and it was important that he get back with the baseball team. Evan needed to get back to his workouts, and their coach had noted that it would provide the team with a greater level of peace if at least one of the two boys were back on the diamond.
Noah had also gone back to his job on the island, but he still made an effort to visit Will when he had time. Koa and Rachel had also returned to work, although Rachel had only gone back part time as she spent a lot of time with Will and an equal amount of time searching for ways to make her newly disabled son's life more bearable.
All of these changes meant that I spent the most time at the hospital with Will, but I didn't mind. Most days I went out surfing in the morning with Alani before going to the hospital as soon as my hair had dried. Showing up with hair dripping with saltwater didn't seem like the kindest thing to do to someone who lost so much to the ocean.
Today it was later than usual, around one by the time I made my way into the hospital after completing my workout and trip to the store. I walked right into Will's room, prepared to toss him a mango that I had bought, when I noticed his company.
Five girls stood huddled around his bed, all dressed in a variety of short denim shorts and crop tops. Three had long, blonde hair and the other two were brunette but still had their fair share of highlights. Their eyelashes were caked with mascara that didn't necessarily look bad, but wasn't my thing.
Thankfully, Will heard the door open and looked over to see me enter. "Hey, Riv."
The other girls looked back and forth between us expectantly before Will seemed to recover his manners. "Oh, uh, sorry. This is River, we grew up together here on the island. River, this is Morgan, Reilly, Alyssa, Lacy, and Kathleen, they're from Alpha Gamma Delta at UH.
I gave them a slight wave, "Nice to meet you all." They nodded to me and went right back to chatting with Will. I slipped into a chair in the corner of the room and observed the conversation.
They certainly seemed plenty interested in him. I couldn't help but wonder how many girls actually flirted with Will while he was away at college. He never made much of it, but there was clearly something going on with at least the sorority girls.
Mostly I tuned out their conversations, but at one point I did hear one idiot ask him, "So, when do you think you will be back to baseball?"
That comment alone made me look up to glare at the girl, but Will managed to stay composed and gave her a smile, saying, "As soon as I can."
The endless flirting was starting to bore me, and I kept hoping that they would leave so we could go back to watching The Office. Jim and Pam's love life was waiting for us, after all. No sooner had I thought this when Will interrupted their conversation.
"Hey, I really appreciate you coming and all, but I have to do some physical therapy and it's something that I'd rather do alone," he said with a look around the room at all of us.
I gave him a smile to hide my slight disappointment and made my way through the hallways back to my car. The girls followed behind me, making loud comments about how cute he was and how much they just wanted to take care of him. My eyes rolled involuntarily as I pulled my buzzing phone out of my pocket as I sat in my car.
Will: Wait ten minutes and come back up
Will: If you want I mean
I laughed to myself as I read the text before taking a quick look at the gaggle of girls hopping into their car. Eleven minutes later, I was back and knocking on the door of his room.
"Yo," Will said with a grin as he put his arms in the air.
"You're an idiot," I responded, unable to prevent the smile from spreading across my face.
"In my defense, I do have PT in approximately two minutes and I don't need an audience for that. I'll let you slide this time though.
"Also in your defense, you may be an idiot but they were just stupid."
A look of surprise crossed his face, "Hey, I like them."
I raised my eyebrows at him, "You have got to have better taste than that."
He laughed, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I mean seriously, 'when do you think you will be back to baseball?'" Will's expression hardened as he ran a hand through his hair, "They're dumb and I hope that seeing me in a hospital bed convinced them that they can find better places to get what they want."
I moved back into my usual seat beside him and patted his leg. "If you're trying to comfort me through physical contact you could at least do it somewhere that I can actually feel," Will quipped before moving his head to rest on my shoulder.
"Well hey, at least we've learned that sorority girls aren't the ones for you," I noted.
"I never thought that they were," he said before a knock sounded at the door.
Will sat up quickly and called out that the person could come in. A middle-aged man in a pair of scrubs walked in and offered us a smile. I took the hint and moved over to another chair in the room that was farther away from the hospital bed and so the man could occupy my previous seat.
"How are you today, Will?" the man asked, placing his bag on the floor.
"Just as mobile as ever, doc," he responded with a smile.
"Okay, we'll take a look then. Remember, while unlikely, there is still a chance for you to regain some movement. That probably won't come quickly though, as your body is still recovering from the initial trauma and from surgery."
Will nodded and the doctor began to peel the blankets back from the bed. I knew that he had lost some weight while he was in the hospital, but the sight of his significantly weaker looking legs along with the still red cuts on them made me gasp slightly. Will looked up from his legs to me and I forced myself to nod at him. It was a big step for him to let me in here after kicking me out on the first day, and I had no desire to betray his trust.
The doctor started massaging the toes of his left foot and slowly worked his way down the foot and towards the ankle. Every time the doctor progressed Will would say 'nothing' as the doctor nodded.
After a couple of rounds of this, it occurred to me that while the massage was undoubtedly good for the muscles in his legs, it was also a check to see if Will had regained any feeling in them. Each 'nothing' became more painful to hear, and I couldn't begin to imagine what Will was feeling.
The pair progressed to other exercises while I looked on, some of which included the doctor forcibly bending Will's legs back and forth, mimicking stretches. This continued for thirty more minutes before they went back to the massaging to end the leg work.
"And no problems with your arms, fingers, torso? Any tingling or numbness?" The doctor inquired.
"No, praise the Lord," Will answered sincerely.
"You feeling up for anything else then?" He asked casually.
Will perked up immediately. It was pretty clear that they had been doing the same things for the past couple of weeks, and the young man was eager for something new. "Yeah, let's do it."
"I'll be back in just a second," the doctor went out into the hallway, returning a second later with a wheelchair. Will's face paled and he began to chew on his lip, glancing at me quickly before looking back at the chair. "I knew it was coming, and yet I was hoping that it never would," he muttered.
"First I'm just going to lift you up and put you in it so that you can get a feel for it. Then we'll move to showing you how to transition yourself with aid."
Will nodded, and before I knew it, the previously untouchable jock was being raised in the air and seated into a wheelchair. He looked slightly startled by the quick transition and gripped the sides of the wheels tightly.
The man in scrubs gave him the nod and Will gingerly pushed his hands forward, moving the chair ever so slightly. Gaining some confidence, he moved forward again, a little more quickly.
Just as he reached the door he attempted to turn by pushing one wheel and not the other, but this resulted in him sliding towards the door. The therapist quickly reached out and grabbed the handles in the back, preventing him from hitting it. "We'll wait for practicing turns for just a bit, maybe tomorrow. It's important that you're extra careful of where your feet are because they could undergo injury without you noticing. And we want to keep those intact for the future," he said with a wink.
Will nodded and allowed himself to be pushed out into the hallway. "Can River come?" he asked the therapist quietly, so that I almost couldn't hear him from inside the room.
"If you are comfortable with that, I don't see why not."
"River, let's go!" I heard him call, and with a smile I stood up to follow. The doctor pushed him out of the ICU so that there would be fewer people in the hallways, and we ended up outside in the corner of a parking lot.
The therapist let him loose, and Will proceeded to wheel himself in straight lines down the side of the parking lot, only stopping to allow his aid to turn him around. The wind blew through his hair and a smile was spread wide across his face. I hadn't seen him this happy for more than a minute since the accident, and it was impossible not to grin while watching him.
Never one to back down from a challenge, he eventually convinced the therapist to let him practice his turning skills. There was clearly a long way to go, but he didn't roll himself into anyone's car, so that was a start.
The three of us spent around twenty minutes out in the sun before Will cruised up to me, panting. "Okay, I'll admit that I'm a bit out of shape. Push me back?" he looked up at me hopefully.
"Sure thing, hotshot," I made my way around him and grabbed the handles of the wheelchair, pushing him back towards the hospital. "And I'm not worried, I'm sure I'll have to up my running game to keep up with you soon."
"You always were the slowest one, and you'll return to your rightful place soon enough," he joked.
It was amazing how much the chance at some freedom had boosted his spirits. Even if he never walked again, today gave me some hope that it would be okay. Will would be okay, and we would all be okay with him.
Thanks so much for reading and commenting, they make my day :) also no hate to any sorority girls hahaha, I'm sure that there are plenty of great ones out there, they just didn't happen to be in this chapter!