Winners

by Danielle Steel

  At the end of May, Lily finished her course of rehabilitation at Craig Hospital. She discussed it with her counselor, and they agreed she was ready to leave. It was something of a surprise when he said it, and for a minute Lily wanted to say that she didn’t want to go. But in many ways she did, and she knew she had learned what she needed to know. It was just scary going back out into the real world. She had felt so protected at Craig. And she knew she wouldn’t be when she went back to school.

  She told Teddy that night at dinner that she was leaving at the end of the week.

  “Already?” He looked shocked.

  “I’ve been here for three months,” she reminded him.

  “Some people stay for four,” he said sadly, “or for years, like me.” He was devastated at the thought of her going. He had never had a friend like her in the two years since he’d been there. They had bared their souls to each other and been inseparable.

  “I’ll come and visit,” she promised.

  “No, you won’t. No one ever does. You’ll be too busy.” He looked hurt and angry as he said it.

  “I’ll never be too busy for you.” She meant it, and he wanted to believe her, but he was overwhelmed with sadness at the thought of her going. “I’ll come to see you after school.” She was nervous about going back, but she wanted to finish the school year with her class and had been working toward it. She was caught up on all her assignments, and was finishing the year with decent grades. She needed them for her college applications in the fall.

  They sat in her room and listened to music that night, and every night until she left. She thanked all of her instructors, and she developed a workout program with Phil. And she promised to come back and see him too. He had brought skiing back into her life, and she assured him she’d continue to train for the Paralympics as soon as they had snow. He said he was coming to the games. They were going to be in Aspen, which was easy for all of them in Denver, and even made it possible for Teddy. He had already started training in chair rugby, and Phil was working on it with him as his coach.

  The morning Lily was to go home came too soon, and it was agonizing leaving Teddy. She promised to come and see him the next day. They were both crying when she left him. She had given him all her CDs, except the girly ones he didn’t want. He hated some of what she listened to, but he loved the rest.

  “I’ll call you tonight,” she whispered as she hugged him, and then he sped away in his wheelchair as fast as he could. He didn’t want to see her get in the car and leave.

  As they drove away, she got a text from him: “I’ll love you forever, even if you never come back. T.” She cried when she read it and could tell he thought she wouldn’t visit him, but she would. She wasn’t going to abandon him, like his parents. She was thinking about him and quiet on the drive home.

  “Are you okay?” her father asked her, and she nodded, but she wasn’t. She felt like a traitor leaving Teddy and going home.

  The car was full of her belongings, and the things she had collected while she was at Craig, posters, blankets, a pillow, her music, her CD player and computer, a teddy bear. Her father had taken some of it home the day before, but there was more. And Steve had been true to his word. All the remodeling had been completed, and the elevator was installed. The kitchen and her bathroom were finished, and the workmen were gone. As her father unlocked the door, she wheeled herself in, and he waited to see if she’d notice all the changes. She wheeled herself up the ramp next to the front steps, and spun around with a look of pleasure and rolled into the kitchen. She hadn’t been home in three months. Her father hadn’t wanted her to see it, until the remodel was complete. It seemed like forever now that she was there, and she gasped when she saw the kitchen. It was perfect, everything was at her height and accessible for her. She turned to look at her father with a slow smile.

  “It’s incredible. I can use everything here.” She looked amazed. They had lowered everything in the kitchen to work for her. Stove, sink, cupboards, all of it.

  “That was the whole point,” he said, beaming. “It looks good, doesn’t it?”

  “It looks fantastic.” The kitchen was even better looking than before and much more high tech.

  “I’m so happy you like it. Let’s go upstairs.” He wanted her to see the rest. She followed him to the elevator, and he opened it for her, although she could have done it herself, and she rolled herself in. It was big enough for her to turn around in and face any direction. And there was room for two more people in it with her comfortably. They stopped at her floor, and got out, and she wheeled into her bedroom. All her familiar things were there, and she was dying to get on the bed and just lie there and look around, but she peeked into her closets instead, at her father’s urging, and everything was accessible to her there too. She could reach all of it easily, and there were poles to help her get things off top shelves and one high rack, but everything else was at her level where she could see it and grab it comfortably, without bending down or stretching up. She stayed in the closet for a few minutes, checking it out, and emerged with a wide smile again. It was going to be easy for her to dress.

  She went into her bathroom then, and saw the pink marble wonderland Steve had created for her, and she clapped her hands with delight. It was the most elegant bathroom she’d ever seen, with every possible accommodation suited to her. She could take a shower or a bath, whichever she preferred, and get to the sink and the toilet. There were bars everywhere she needed them. And all of her toiletries were laid out.

  “I’m the luckiest girl in the world,” she said softly, and her father shook his head.

  “And I’m the happiest father to have you home.” He bent to kiss her, and she announced that she was going to take a bath and change her clothes. And then he wanted to take her to see The Lily Pad. He had waited for months for this, and it was ready for her now. It was still under construction and would be for a long time. But he had had the grounds tidied up for her, as much as possible, and all the debris from the past owner cleared out.

  He left her alone then to take a bath, and half an hour later she came down in the elevator, went into the kitchen to make a salad, and was sitting happily at the table in her wheelchair when her father came in. Everything had worked out perfectly. Steve had done a terrific job, and Lily was enjoying all of it. Now their home was completely adapted to her, and she was well aware of what a luxury that was and all that her father had done for her.

  They left for the site of The Lily Pad half an hour later, and she was stunned when she got there. It was much more beautiful than she had imagined and looked more complete. He took her through every inch of it and told her all their plans. He showed her the model, and where the pool would be. They went through every building, and the gym. She could already see what a magical place it was going to be.

  “I’m so proud of you, Daddy,” she said, and threw her arms around his neck. She hugged him tight, and then she rolled through the main buildings again, and afterward on the way home, she made him stop at Craig. She had a feeling she knew where Teddy would be. In the art department, painting. He was concentrating intensely on a canvas when she rolled in silently behind him.

  “I like it,” she said softly, and he turned to look at her in surprise.

  “You’re here!” His whole face lit up.

  “I told you I would come. I brought you something.” It was her favorite CD from home, and she had bought him two of the candy bars he loved that they didn’t have at the canteen at Craig.

  “You have to come to dinner next week and check out the elevator. My dad had it put in for me. Now you can use it too and come to visit whenever you want.” Teddy just looked at her and smiled. She had come back to see him. She’d only been gone a few hours. “I’ll come back tomorrow,” she promised as she left, and this time he knew that she meant it and she would. He went back to work on his painting with a big smile on his face.

  Chapter 19

  LILY WOKE UP early on the first day
she was to return to school. She was excited and frightened and she had a knot in her stomach about seeing her old friends. It was as though she were too different now, no longer one of them. She had instantly become an outsider once she lost the use of her legs. They felt sorry for her, but they didn’t know what to say. And no one had known when she would come back to school—there had been a rumor that she was gone for good. She had felt like a forgotten person, and it hurt her feelings. She had cried over it with Teddy and talked to her counselor about it. She had thought they were her friends. Even Veronica treated her differently now, and she hadn’t had a text from her in a month. And now she was going back to class with them as though nothing had happened, but she was doing it in a wheelchair. Her father had offered to have her tutored at home, but she didn’t want to do that either. She wanted to be a normal person, in school like everybody else, with a real life. She didn’t want to become an invalid at home, and she had learned to manage well in public places. She could handle shopping, libraries, public transportation She could do all the things she needed to. But going back to school felt like a minefield to her. She was scared. She texted Teddy twice before she left the house. He told her to “suck it up and be a man,” which made her laugh.

  She was already in the kitchen when her father came downstairs for breakfast, staring into the bowl of bran cereal that she had to eat and hated, but she had to manage her diet now for fiber content, and she had been taught how to do that too. She looked up at him bleakly.

  “Wow, that’s not a happy face,” he said seriously. “Sleep okay? What’s up?” She was wearing a pink T-shirt and jeans, her long dark hair was perfectly combed, and she was wearing pink Converse. She looked the way she would have any other day she had gone to school, except she was in a wheelchair and now everything was different. “Are you feeling okay?” her father asked, concerned.

  “Yeah. I’m fine,” she said but didn’t look convincing.

  “School?” he asked, and she nodded. “I figured. You don’t have to go, you know,” he reminded her. “We can get a tutor.”

  “I don’t want one. And I do have to go.” She had already missed five months of junior year—she couldn’t afford to miss another minute if she wanted to go to college in a year. And she had worked hard to stay on top of the work from her school. She knew her father was worried about her going back to school, and wanted to protect her, but that wasn’t what they had taught her at Craig. They had given her all the skills she needed to lead a normal life and reenter her world—now she had to use them. “I just haven’t heard from anyone there in a while. It feels weird to face them.” It made his heart ache to see her face and the loneliness in her eyes. “I wish Teddy were going with me.” He had become her best friend and soul mate in three months. But the time at Craig had been intense, and the friendships formed there were for a lifetime.

  She had more in common with Teddy now than with her old friends. And she felt as though all of them had let her down, Veronica most of all, even though she’d known her all her life, and they said they loved each other. Apparently not enough to come and visit or even stay in touch, and talk about what was happening to Lily. Veronica had tried to act like nothing had happened, and had been overwhelmed by the reality of it and couldn’t face it, or her friend. And Lily felt uncomfortable about running into Jeremy too. She hadn’t heard from him since their breakup the night before she went to Craig. And now Lily had to meet all of them on their turf, after feeling shut out and forgotten by them for months. She was angry and hurt and it all showed in her eyes.

  Bill poured himself a cup of coffee and made some toast for both of them. They had a new cappuccino machine in their remodeled kitchen, and Lily had already tried it and loved it. She loved all the changes he had made, and she looked at her father bleakly when it was time to go. She silently went upstairs in the new elevator and got her jacket and books from her bedroom. She came down with them in a denim backpack she had slung over the back of her chair, and she had on the fingerless gloves that she used so she didn’t hurt her hands when she wheeled the chair. Everyone at Craig had teased her because she had gotten hers from Chanel.

  Lily followed her father down the ramp at the front of the house and out to the car. She opened the car door and maneuvered herself onto the front seat, and he folded up her lightweight wheelchair and put it in the trunk. And she put the radio on, at her favorite station, so she didn’t have to think. The drive was no different than it had been a thousand times before, except that it was totally different because of what was in the trunk. And she surprised her father by asking him to stop half a block away from school and let her out there.

  “Don’t be silly. Let me drop you off in front.” He looked worried and wanted to be sure she got into the building safely.

  “I want to go on my own,” she insisted. He didn’t like it but did as she requested. He pulled over, and got the chair out of the trunk, and she got into it and glanced up at him with frightened eyes. “I’ll be okay, Daddy, I promise.”

  “I know you will. It’s going to be easier than you think.” Neither of them believed it, but they pretended to as she rolled away. She told him she’d call when she was ready to be picked up at the end of the day.

  A small stream of students were moving past her—she recognized several freshmen and a sophomore. Most of the juniors and seniors drove to school. No one said anything to her as she rolled through the gates and up to the familiar front door. She pulled aside for a minute and rapidly sent a text to Teddy, hoping it would give her the courage to get through the door.

  “I’m scared shitless” was all she said.

  “Fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke,” he texted back just as quickly, and she laughed out loud and looked up to see one of the teachers who was there to watch the students as they came in, to make sure they entered in an orderly fashion, were appropriately dressed, and didn’t misbehave unduly. He spotted Lily immediately and came over to greet her. He was the PE teacher, and she knew he must have had door duty for the week since they took turns.

  “Welcome back, Lily. We missed you,” he said gently, and she instantly saw the pity in his eyes. She wondered if he’d have felt sorry for her if he knew she had been skiing for the past two months, three and four times a week, at breakneck speeds.

  “Thank you, Mr. Liebowitz,” Lily said politely and rolled past him. She had already spotted several people she knew. There were six hundred kids in her high school, a hundred and sixty in her class, and she was starting to see familiar faces all around her. They were looking over and past her and then they did a double-take as they spotted her in the chair. A few of them waved, and some smiled, but no one came over. It was as though they thought what she had might be contagious, or they just didn’t know what to say, “Hi … how’ve you been … sorry you can’t walk anymore.” She knew where her first class was, on the ground floor. It was easy access for her, but she’d have to take the elevator after that to get to the others. At least they had one.

  The principal came out of her office as Lily rolled past and hurried to catch up with her to say hello. Lily was wheeling her chair as quickly as she could in the swirl of students on their way to class, and she didn’t want to bump into anyone and look like a klutz. No one could see it, but she was shaking.

  “Hello, Lily. Welcome home!” the principal, Miss Davis, said with a warm smile, and Lily had to stop to talk to her in the middle of the hall. She couldn’t avoid it, but hated stopping, and she felt like everyone was looking at her.

  “Thank you very much.”

  “We’re so happy you’re back!” She spoke for no one but herself, Lily knew, since she had heard from no one else. She’d had a get well card from all her teachers in the first week after the accident, and heard nothing from them since, other than the homework assignments they sent to Craig. She had been the forgotten person, and felt like it now in spite of Miss Davis’s bright smile, which looked phony to Lily.

  “Thank you. I�
��ve got to go,” Lily said as the bell rang, and whizzed past her toward her class. She had history first period, and had already turned in the required paper, before its due date. She was all caught up. And the history teacher was a young woman who had graduated from Duke the year before and was relatively new to the school. Lily liked her, although she hardly knew her. Her name was Barbara Bailey, and she had a wild mane of red hair and wore clogs summer and winter.

  She nodded acknowledgment when Lily rolled in, and then approached her in a matter-of-fact way. “Would you rather sit in the front or the back or on the aisle?” she asked her as though she’d seen her the day before, and Lily loved it because it made her feel normal and not as though she had just landed from Mars because she was in a wheelchair. She didn’t treat Lily like she was sick, which Lily was grateful for and thought was cool. Miss Davis had spoken to her in a tone that made her feel seriously impaired. Barbara Bailey didn’t.

  “I’ll sit in back,” Lily said quietly, and Barbara Bailey went back to the front of the class to wait for the rest of the students to come in, so she could start. And Lily rolled to a spot in the back row on a center aisle and looked out the window. She could see the last stragglers hurrying into school and saw Veronica laughing between two boys who Lily knew were also on the ski team. Their school was sympathetic to the odd schedules of kids on the Olympic teams, who needed time off to practice and travel to other cities for races and games, and they accommodated them when necessary without penalizing them for it. Veronica hadn’t even called to ask what day she was coming back, or if she could be there to help make it easier for her, which would have been nice. And Lily also knew that without her on the team, Veronica was the star now, and probably the favorite to win the gold. It was hard to swallow, but she didn’t hold it against her. The really hard part was that she seemed to have no room for Lily in her life. It had been a crushing blow.