Walking Straight (The Walking Together Series Book 1)

by T. E. Killian

  Just then, he heard another voice that he knew even better say, “Hal, do you think you could give him a break this time. I really think things might start changing for him now.”

  His dad! What was he doing here and so quick to boot? Quick? Who was he kidding? The way he kept passing out, he had no idea of how much time had passed.

  He didn’t hear what Hal said to that. They must have stepped out of the room. His attention was brought back to the doctor who was still hovering over him.

  “Well, Mr. Livingston. It looks like you have at least a mild concussion. I won’t know for sure until we do a scan but I’ll be surprised if it’s any more than that.”

  Matt remembered the pain he’d felt before in his left leg and he was surprised when he didn’t feel it right then.

  “My leg? I don’t feel it.”

  The doctor smiled back down at him and said, “I gave you several injections down there so you wouldn’t feel it when we set your fibula. That’s the small bone in front on your leg. You were lucky. Since you didn’t fracture your tibia, the big bone down there, you won’t be laid up very long at all. You should be in a walking cast in a few days. And only that for a couple of weeks.”

  He leaned closer. “I also gave you some pain medication by IV. But we’re taking the IV out now that you’re alert. So if you feel too much pain, just ask the nurse and she’ll give you something. But I don’t think you’ll be experiencing much more pain now that everything’s set down there and the cast is on it.”

  Matt was about to ask when he could get out but the doctor anticipated that. “We need to keep you overnight to make sure your concussion doesn’t give you any problems. You should be able to go home tomorrow. Okay?”

  Matt’s first thought came out verbally. “But I can’t drive a truck with my leg in a cast.”

  The doctor chuckled. “No, I’m afraid you won’t be driving anything with a clutch in it for a few weeks, especially trucks . . . and motorcycles for that matter.”

  “My bike. Is it okay?”

  Hal and his dad must have stepped back into the room then as Hal said, “It seems to be okay, nothing more than a bent tail pipe. You must have just laid it down on your leg after you spun out on that ice patch.”

  After that, they took him upstairs to a regular room but he seemed to have slept most of the day. They must really be giving him some powerful stuff, too bad he couldn’t enjoy it.

  * * *

  When Henry and Linda Livingston had rushed out of the diner after the police chief had called telling them that Matt had wrecked his motorcycle, Betty Sue had asked them to let her and Trish know when they found out how he was.

  Trish had been standing off to the side when Betty Sue turned toward her. She could see that Trish was also very concerned about Matt. But she also seemed to be giving Betty Sue a considering look.

  Well, at least Trish hadn’t said anything right then because Betty Sue didn’t know what she could say in her defense.

  Over an hour later, Trish went into the kitchen to answer the phone. When she came back out, she was smiling at Betty Sue who was anxiously awaiting news about Matt.

  “Was it them? Is he okay?”

  “Yes, he is and the look on your face just now told me a whole lot more than even you suspect about your feelings for that big oaf.”

  Then she had the nerve to laugh. But when Betty Sue glared back at her, Trish said, “Okay. He has a minor broken leg and a mild concussion. They’re keeping him at overnight just to make sure the concussion isn’t worse than they think.”

  Betty Sue sank into the nearest chair and put her head in her hands. She didn’t realize she had tears streaming down her face until Trish handed her a tissue.

  She heard Trish muttering as she headed back to the dining room, “Maybe this’ll get him to start wearing a helmet on that infernal machine.”

  Betty Sue couldn’t help but smile at Trish’s comments but as she thought about it, she became a little upset with Matt for not wearing a helmet.

  She had just composed herself and gone back into the kitchen when Betty Sue heard a ruckus out in the dining room. She looked out there and saw Trish surrounded by four teenage boys and she was telling them to leave.

  Betty Sue didn’t know what came over her, but she was out of the kitchen and next to the group in a matter of seconds. She stepped up behind one of the boys who had just shoved Trish into another boy.

  Betty Sue looked down on the boy who was at least six inches shorter than her, grabbed him by the elbows, and picked him up off the floor. Then she said, “I think you boys had better get on out of here before someone gets hurt.”

  The other three boys who were about the same size as the one Betty Sue was holding up off the floor, looked up at her and fled out the door without saying another word. She let go of the one she had and he quickly followed them without even looking back.

  Trish sank into a nearby chair and just looked up at Betty Sue in astonishment.

  “You sure jerked a knot in that boy’s tail Betty Sue. I’ve thought it before, but now I know that I’m certainly glad you’re around here now . . . for more reasons than this one.”

  She laughed then but Betty Sue couldn’t even get a smile out.

  “What happened Trish?”

  “Why those boys ordered stuff they didn’t intend to pay for and then tried to talk me out of making them pay.” She grunted as she rose and headed back to the kitchen. “I’ll just give Hal a call and he’ll take care of those varmints. This was the third time and that’s too many.”

  A short time later, with their relief waitresses already taking over, Trish turned to Betty Sue and said, “I’ll just bet you’d like to go by the hospital on the way home, wouldn’t you Sugar?”

  Betty Sue blushed and timidly said, “Could we?”

  “Of course we can. I want to see that big pain in the neck as much as you do. You know I’m more than just a little bit fond of him too.”

  They didn’t talk much on the way over to the hospital and Betty Sue was grateful for she didn’t want to have to put into words any of the emotions that had been going around in her since she first heard that Matt had been in an accident. She shouldn’t be having feelings like these for someone she barely knew and just met on top of all the rest.

  She stewed on those feelings all the way to the door of Matt’s room. Finally, she decided that she would just go with the flow and see what happened next.

  When they approached Matt’s hospital room, Betty Sue stayed back while Trish knocked. They heard a female voice but couldn’t understand what she said. While they were trying to decide whether to go in or not, Matt’s mom stuck her head out the door and motioned for them to come on in.

  Betty Sue quickly looked beyond Linda to the bed where Matt was lying. If it hadn’t been so serious, Betty Sue would have laughed for Matt’s feet extended past the foot of the bed onto a platform that was attached to it, just for him.

  Then her gaze traveled up, taking note of the cast on his left leg that she could see peeking out from under the sheet, then on to his face. She caught her breath when she saw the large white bandage on his forehead.

  He was asleep and when Betty Sue finally looked up at Linda, she was grinning back at her. Betty Sue blushed deeply and quickly turned away.

  But then Linda touched her arm, held her finger to her lips, and motioned toward the door. Trish followed Linda out the door but Betty Sue lingered just a moment to look at Matt’s face, which seemed so peaceful in sleep. She’d never seen him looking like that and it did something to her. Rather than try to figure it out, she fled from her emotions, out into the hallway to join Linda and Trish who were waiting on her with grins on their faces.

  When she joined them, they walked a few feet away from Matt’s door and Linda gave them all the details of Matt’s condition and what Hal had told them about the accident.

  Betty Sue was surprised when Trish looked straight into Linda’s eyes. “Was he high?” />
  Linda frowned, placed her hand to her mouth, and looked away for a second then turned back. “We think so, but Henry talked Hal into not testing him this time.”

  She turned her gaze fully on Betty Sue then. “He convinced Hal that maybe this time Matt will change.”

  Betty Sue realized then that both women were now staring intently at her as if they expected her to say something. But what?

  Trish smiled that motherly smile she often used on Betty Sue and said, “What she’s trying to say Betty Sue is that we all think that now that you’re here, Matt just might be wanting to change his wild ways . . . for you.”

  Betty Sue knew she was blushing again and had to get away from those two women even though she knew they only meant well for her and Matt both.

  She stepped back into Matt’s room and was greeted by two blue eyes staring almost through her.

  * * *

  Matt opened his eyes, expecting to see his mom sitting in the chair to his left but it was empty. When he looked toward the door, it was just opening and Betty Sue stepped in. Boy was he glad to see her. He’d been thinking about her every time he woke up, when his mom would let him think that is.

  He looked up at her concerned face and tried to smile at her. She just stood at the foot of his bed looking at the contraption they’d attached to the end of the bed so his feet wouldn’t hang off.

  She looked up at him and he could see her mouth quivering like she was trying to keep from laughing. He suddenly saw the humor in how ridiculous his feet must have looked to her sticking out so far.

  They both burst into laughter at the same time and Matt quickly found out that that was a mistake, at least on his part. His head began to feel like it was going to split open and he stopped laughing.

  The expression on Betty Sue’s face changed back to concern instantly. She rushed up to his right side and said, “Oh Matt, are you okay?”

  He placed both hands on his head and squeezed. That helped a little, at least enough for him to say, “I think so. At least now I am. But I don’t think I’ll be doing much laughing like that for a little while yet.”

  He tried to grin back up at her but was interrupted by his mom and Trish rushing into the room.

  “Matt, are you all right?” His mom looked almost scared.

  He tried to smile at her. “Yeah, I just got a little carried away there for a minute. Why didn’t someone tell me that it would hurt so much to laugh?”

  He looked from the concerned faces of his mom and Trish back to Betty Sue and noticed that she was again trying to keep a straight face. That woman was something else all right. He hadn’t realized that she had such a sense of humor.

  His mom and Trish started to go out again to leave Betty Sue with him alone, but he noticed Betty Sue touch Trish on the arm and give her a pleading look. Well, what did he expect? His behavior hadn’t really been that great. He didn’t blame Betty Sue if she didn’t want to be alone with him. But he vowed that somehow he was going to change that.

  The three women didn’t stay very long. His mom said she needed to get home to fix supper and Trish basically said the same thing about her and Betty Sue.

  He did get a chance to grab Betty Sue’s hand when she stepped up to his bedside to tell him good-bye.

  He smiled. “Thanks for coming Betty Sue. I guess I won’t be coming into the diner for a little while. The doctor said that after a few days, I might get a cast that I can walk on.”

  He was afraid she wasn’t going to say anything at first but then she smiled down at him and said, “I think I might be able to get Trish to take me over to your apartment to see you.”

  With that, she was gone out the door behind the other two. But Matt was grinning like a fool now. She’d just said she’d come visit him . . . at home. Great!

  Matt must have been dozing again when he heard a woman’s voice calling his name. Had Betty Sue come back? No, it was only a nurse waking him up because of his concussion.

  When she left the room, he lay there staring at the door until it opened again after only a couple of minutes. He was somewhat surprised to see Jerry slink in with a smile on his face that could only be the result of a high.

  Jerry walked up to Matt’s right elbow and grinned. “Hey Dude, how you doing. Real bummer about your leg.” He pulled a baggie out of his coat pocket. “I got some good stuff here for you.”

  Matt started to shake his head but remembered just in time how much that would hurt. He just glared at Jerry and said, “Man, I don’t need that stuff. They got me on some pure stuff here and I’m feeling no pain.”

  Jerry stuffed the bag back into his pocket, his grin even bigger. “Cool. You think you could get me some of that stuff too.”

  Matt did shake his head that time but caught himself in time to keep it from hurting too much. He suddenly wondered why he had ever hooked up with a looser like Jerry. “No, they gave it to me through an IV before.”

  After an awkward five minutes of Jerry sitting in a chair grinning at Matt, the guy finally left. Matt let out a relieved sigh and wondered again why he hung around with such a looser as Jerry.

  After Jerry left, Matt tried to watch TV but couldn’t find anything worth watching so he turned it off and lay there staring out the window. Window? A lot of good it did him to have a window. All he could see was the sky and it was starting to cloud up out there and looking like snow or something else equally nasty.

  He was about ready to call the nurse in just so he’d have someone to talk to when the door opened and Kent Jackson walked in. Kent Jackson? He hadn’t seen much of that guy for years. They’d been friends in high school, at least their first three years. That was before Matt had gotten in with Jerry and his group of friends. Kent wouldn’t have anything to do with that bunch. And, quickly analyzing where it had led Matt, he could hardly blame Kent for staying away from them.

  “Hey Kent. How you doing? Aren’t you supposed to be working or should I say teaching right now.”

  Kent approached Matt’s bed from his right side and pointed up at the clock on the wall. “School’s been out for over an hour now.”

  Matt laughed. “Yeah, it’s kinda hard to keep track of time in this place.”

  He took a close look at his former good friend. Kent was the same age as Matt, and was fairly tall but still half a foot shorter than Matt. He still kept his brown hair short. In fact, he didn’t look much different than he had in high school ten years ago.

  Kent was the only person Matt knew who’d always stayed away from booze and drugs both and wasn’t even one of those Bible thumpers like everyone in his family was. He figured that was one of the things he’d always liked about the guy.

  They seemed to have trouble finding something to talk about at first, then Matt started talking about back when they had been close and they talked about some of the things they’d done together.

  After Kent left, Matt couldn’t help but comparing Kent and Jerry. Well, there was just no comparison. Kent truly had his life together, not like Matt whose life seemed to be in the garbage right now.

  He lay there thinking for a few minutes and that was when he made a decision. But he wasn’t going to tell anyone about it just yet.

  Chapter Six

  Matt let out a cry of frustration mixed with a little pain as he tried to maneuver his leg and his crutches inside his tiny bathroom to be able to get the rest of his body in there. He kept hitting the door, the wall, or the door facing with his foot or the crutches. The whole problem was due to the fact that he couldn’t bend his knee yet. But the doctor had said that it was only bruised and would soon loosen up.

  Whoever decided that bathroom doors didn’t need to be as wide as other doors should be shot. This was ridiculous.

  He’d never had to deal with something like this before. If he could just put his weight on the stupid cast, it would be better. Man! Of course he couldn’t bend his ankle either. On top of all that, the stupid cast had to weigh at least fifty pounds. Every time h
e tried to move, it felt like it used to when Brianna was little and would wrap herself around his leg.

  Finally, he was able to get in there but then that was only half the battle. Once he was finished, he was going to have to maneuver his way back out to the couch where he’d practically been living since he came home from the hospital yesterday.

  Sure, his mom had tried to get him to stay with them at least until he could start putting weight on his leg. But that would still be a couple more days and even that long with his parents would be pure torture. They would both have him at their mercy day and night. He’d never get any peace and quiet. No sir. He’d much rather rough it on his own here even if it was next to impossible for a man as tall and as wide as he was to move around in this dinky little place.

  He’d just made it back to the couch and virtually fell onto it with his left leg mostly off when the doorbell rang. He’d purposely left the door unlocked so he wouldn’t have to try to get up every time someone came to see him, which was beginning to seem like too often.

  “Come on in, it’s unlocked.”

  He checked his nine millimeter under the middle cushion on the couch, just in case.

  He was surprised to see Larry Jackson poke his head in the door and call out. “Hey Matt, you don’t have to worry about being decent. It’s just Kent and me.”

  Matt was surprised to see Larry but decided he was probably along for the ride with his twin brother, Kent. They didn’t look much alike with Kent having brown hair and eyes and Larry having blond hair and gray eyes.

  He wasn’t too surprised to see Kent though, especially after he’d come to the hospital to see him the other day. But he had to wonder why this guy that Matt had turned his back on when they were seniors in high school, was suddenly trying to come back into his life.

  Then the answer hit him and he couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of it sooner.

  He waited until the two men had taken seats on the only other two chairs in the room. Then he looked at Kent and said, “My little sister put you up to coming to see me didn’t she?”