Silence by Rebekah Shimer (summer books TXT) 📕

My mom and I both stood up and walked over to the doctor. I folded my hands together and waited for the doctor’s verdict.

The doctor said slowly, “Edwyn made it through the surgery, but he’s going to have a long recovery ahead.”

I nodded and asked, “May I ask why?”

“During this whole excursion, he was pierced in both legs right?”

My heart dropped when the doctor had pointed that out.

I nodded and he continued, “Well in the course of that happening, the person that had pierced his skin had also fractured many of the main nerves in both of his legs. He will be able to walk again after months of therapy, but he will never be able to run again. I’m very sorry to have to deliver this to you. He’s in room two thirty-eight if you want to visit him.”

My mom spoke for me, “Thank you.”

The doctor walked back towards the hallway that he had come in, but I called after him.

I said, “Wait! Please!”

He turned around sharply and asked, “Yes?”

“Does Edwyn know that he won't be able to run again?”

The doctor nodded and I said, “Thank you.”

He nodded and continued to walk in the direction that he was already going. I motioned for my mom to come with me to go see Edwyn, but she shook her head.

She said, “You need some time with him alone. Trust me. It’s going to be tough. He ‘s going to be mad for a while, but you just have to learn that he’s not going to want to be okay with this fact for a while. He’s going to be very, very mad for a while. Be gentle with him okay?”

I nodded and she sat back down in a chair.

She said, “I’ll be waiting here.”

I nodded again and went up to his room. When I had made it to the second floor, I wondered if he would want me to visit him yet or not. After a few seconds of trying to find his room, I started to decide whether or not to visit him yet or not. Before I knew it though, I was standing in front of his door.

Edwyn

I couldn’t run anymore. The doctor waited for my reaction, but I felt numb. It didn’t feel real. If I weren’t able to run anymore, I wouldn’t have any options for college or my life. My life was pretty much ruined. I knew that I would still probably have my legs if I had just stayed awake during the night while I was at Audrey’s house. I could’ve stopped Bruce before he had hurt Audrey and me. None of this would’ve happened if I had just done my job and stayed awake. That’s the reason that I went over to Audrey’s house in the first place and I had failed. I knew that Audrey was coming to visit, but I didn’t want to see her. Not after my failed attempt to keep her safe. She was the one who had ended up saving me instead of the other way around.

It was pretty pathetic when you had to have your girlfriend save you when you can't even save yourself. I looked around at my room as I wallowed in self-pity. I was in a room with white walls and only one window, which didn’t really have much of a view anyway. I looked up and saw that there was a TV, but I didn’t see a remote for it anywhere. I glanced over at the tray of food that they had set out for me after my surgery, but I wasn’t really all that hungry. I heard a knock on my door and I knew that it was Audrey.

I said loudly, “Come in.”

She opened the door slowly, almost as if she was afraid that I was going to yell at her or something like that. She saw me and carefully walked towards my bed. She pulled the only chair in the room up to my bed and sat down gracefully in it. She smiled at me, but I didn’t have the heart to smile back at her. She looked down and I could see that I had hurt her by not smiling back. I knew that I was supposed to be strong for her in times like this, but how was I supposed to be strong when I was the weakest out of our relationship?

She told me, “The officer said that they’re going to put Bruce behind bars. He’s never going to get out and do this again.”

I nodded, not really knowing what to say to that. I was happy that they were putting him in jail, but Audrey didn’t really look like herself when she said that. She almost seemed joyful at the thought of him rotting in jail. That wasn’t really the Audrey I knew.

She looked up at me and said after a few seconds of silence, “Please say something. Please.”

I said after a few minutes, “Hi.”

She smiled, but then she looked down at the ground, which meant that she wasn’t happy with my response.

I asked her weakly, “What am I supposed to say? I can't talk to you while I’m like this. I’m afraid that I’m going to take my anger out on you and that would just make us both mad. I’m just not wanting to say anything that I’ll regret later.”

She nodded and said, “I know, I know. I just miss your voice.”

I grabbed her hand and gently squeezed it.

She smiled and said, “It took ages to wait for you. They took a long time in there.”

I shrugged my shoulders and said, “A lot needed fixing.”

She sighed heavily and said, “I’m sorry Edwyn.”

I was surprised at her.

I asked her, “Why are you sorry? You didn’t do anything.”

“I put that blade into your skin.”

I gripped her hand tightly and said, “No you didn’t. Do not tell yourself that the person holding that knife was you because it wasn’t. Bruce made you do it. Please don’t blame yourself for that one Audrey. Please.”

She sighed heavily and said, “I know that I’m not supposed to, but every time that I look at you, I think of that moment. The knife piercing your skin, making your own blood come out of you. I did that. I could’ve fought against Bruce, but I didn’t. I guess you’re the stronger one out of the two of us.”

“Audrey. How can I be the strongest one when I don’t even have my legs right now? You’re obviously the stronger one.”

She shook her head and said sternly, “I meant mentally stronger. You are what holds me up so to say.”

I shook my head and said, “I think you’re the stronger one.”

She said jokingly, “Oh yeah. If I could get all of your mental strength and make it physical, I could’ve easily taken down Bruce right away.”

I smiled a true smile and said jokingly, “Honestly? You think you could’ve taken on Bruce? Really?”

My nurse came in at that moment and told Audrey, “I’m sorry but Edwyn here needs his rest. You can come visit him tomorrow if you’d like.”

She stood up and pushed the chair back to where it was before she had moved it. She smiled and waved at me, but I just gave her a confused look.

I said jokingly, “What is that? Come over here and give me a hug!”

She smiled and walked over to the side of my bed. I hugged her tightly and planted a kiss on the cheek. She smiled even more, which made me smile too. She waved goodbye and I did the same. She walked out of the room and the nurse raised her eyebrows at me. My nurse was an older woman who was a little overweight. She seemed to be the kind of person that, if you saw on the street, you’d think right away that she was a grandmother. She just smiled all the time and acted in a way that made you feel like you were one of her own grandchildren. She seemed really nice too when I first met her.

She said, “She seems like a nice girl. What’s her name?”

I said quietly, “Audrey.”

“Really? I was going to name one of my kids that name. Did you know that her name means noble strength? That’s why I was going to pick it, but my husband had other thoughts.”

She laughed her sweet laugh and I smiled. Maybe Audrey was the stronger one of the relationship.

Audrey

I raised my hand to knock on the door, but I hesitated. What if he didn’t want to see me? I shook my head and knocked anyway.

Edwyn said behind the door, “Come in.”

I opened the door slightly, just to make sure that it was the right room. When I saw that it was his room, I carefully stepped in, not wanting to set him off in any way. I grabbed a chair that was in the corner of the room and brought it up to Edwyn’s bed. I smiled at him to lighten the mood, but he didn’t smile back. Maybe he really didn’t want me to visit him. I looked down and pushed back the tears that were forcing themselves on my eyes.

I said quietly, “The officer said that they’re going to put Bruce behind bars. He’s never going to get out and do this again.”

He nodded slowly, almost as if he was disgusted at what I had just told him.

I looked up at him and said after a few seconds of silence, “Please say something. Please.”

He said quietly after a few minutes of deafening silence, “Hi.”

That was all that he had to say? Hi? I was really contemplating whether or not to just leave and visit later when he had calmed down, but a gut feeling told me to stay.

He asked me quietly, “What am I supposed to say? I can't talk to you while I’m like this. I’m afraid that I’m going to take my anger out on you and that would just make us both mad. I’m just not wanting to say anything that I’ll regret later.”

So he really did want me here?

I nodded and said, “I know, I know. I just miss your voice.”

He grabbed my hand and gently squeezed it. I smiled up at him, now that I knew that he really did want me here.

I tried to lighten the mood by saying, “It took ages to wait for you. They took a long time in there.”

He