The Gift
Chapter 35

Being the same age, Brittany and I talk about boys and she tells me she’s afraid no boys will ever like her because she doesn’t have legs.

“Are you kidding?” I ask.

“What boy would?”

“What boy’s going to notice? You’ll be lucky if he makes it past you face and if he does, he’ll be gay if he makes it past those,” I say pointing at her boobs. “And if a boy makes an issue of your legs, then he’s not worthy of you.”

“That’s easy for you to say.”

“Really? Because I have legs or because I have like zero chance of having sex before I die? Unless I decide to do it like tomorrow, which I’m not going to do.”

She looks down at her lap and says, “Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. I didn’t say that to make you feel bad. Only to point out that you have so much, even if that doesn’t include the ends of your legs. You’re smart, pretty, have a big heart and a good bod – mostly. If a boy overlooks all that because of some feet, he’s either stupid or a total foot fetish freak. Either way, he’d be a waste of your time.

“Heck, if I was a guy, I’d hit on you, feet or no feet.”

Brittany looks back up at me to see if I’m teasing her or not. I shake my head no. “That reminds me of a saying I once heard: ‘Remember, the greatest gift is not found in a store or under a tree, but in the hearts of true friends.’

“And it’s true.”

“Who said that?” Brittany asks.

I chuckle and say, “If you can believe it, Dr. Suess.”

“You are a true, true gift,” she says to me. “And a true friend.”

“As are you.”

“I better get going before dinner arrives or they’ll send out a search party for me. They still can’t believe I’m out and about.” She uses her crutches to stand and comes over to me and we hug - a balancing act with the two of us.

Before she raises, she kisses my cheek and says, “I’m not Ben, but thank you. For everything. I needed it and was too scared to do it until you offered to help. Friends forever.”

“Friends forever,” I reply. I help her stand upright, and get her balance again and she heads out, back to her room.

Setting the glass rock next to my phone, I lay back and wait for dinner.

Once it comes, I pick at it, not really hungry and again get ice cream as a bonus, which I do eat. Can’t let that go to waste, now can I?

I turn on my TV and channel surf, stopping at some zombie movie. The Walking Dead, on AMC. It holds my attention for the hour, and I wonder how much of the series I’ve missed.

My hospital phone rings, and I grab at it. “’Lo?” I answer.

“It’s me,” Ben says.

“Hey. Not coming back?”

“They told me tomorrow I can come whenever I want, but to give you a rest for now. You’ve had a long day. I understand.”

I was disappointed since I was looking forward to seeing him again. With him here, I knew I would sleep better.

“After breakfast? You can watch me pick up marbles. Well… No, I guess you could if you wanted to.”

“I just might. It might be amusing to see.”

“Watch it. I’ve got a mean left pitching arm,” I warn.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. So hard the marble was flattened. I have it here to prove it,” I tease.

“Hmm, remind me not to anger you, blue she hulk.”

“Har-har. So, you’ll be here?”

“Absolutely. As soon after breakfast as I can come down,” he promises.

“Good. I look forward to it.”

“Me too. I guess I’ll let you go to bed now.”

“Okay, goodnight.”

“Goodnight. Pleasant dreams,” he says.

“Dream of me,” I say. Ugh. How goopy can I get? Next, I’ll be making kissy noises.

“As strange as it sounds, I have for a while now.”

I wish he were still holding my hand. “Hang up before I drag myself down to your room,” I say seriously,

“Goodnight. Until we meet again,” he says and hangs up.

“Until we meet again,” I say to a dial tone.

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