Love is Blind

by Shayna B

  “Why’d you come into my room?”

  “I heard you screaming,” he said agitatedly.

  “Sorry,” I murmured.

  “It’s hardly your fault, Hales. What were you dreaming about?” Jared asked.

  “The crash. It was so clear, like it had happened yesterday.”

  Liam reached out and grabbed my hand. “What do you think brought on the nightmare?”

  I closed my eyes briefly. “Marcus sent me a text last night. That must have brought it all back.”

  Liam swore vividly and my eyes popped open. My uncle almost never swore. “Is that dickhead still bothering you?” he asked.

  “Not really, but he apparently changed his number or something so he could text me again. Jared said I might have to change my number, so I’ll think about it.”

  “Let me know what you decide,” Liam said.

  My eyes started to drift shut again as the painkillers slowly took effect. I heard Liam and Jared both stand up and then each of them pressed a kiss to my cheek. “Send Tonto when you wake up again. I’ll help you into your chair,” Liam said.

  I nodded and then allowed the darkness to consume me.

  When I woke up a few hours later, my back was still on fire, but I was able to move my legs again, much to my relief. I couldn’t move them much, but the fact that I could move them at all was a good sign. I sent Tonto to get Liam and a couple of minutes later, Liam and Jared came in with my wheelchair. I glared at the thing hatefully, but I knew that I had no choice today.

  Jared helped me get up and into the chair and then he backed away a few steps. “Do you want some breakfast?”

  I shook my head. I was in no mood to eat. “I just want to be left alone.”

  Jared sighed. “Hailey, don’t do this,” he said in a pleading tone.

  I just turned my head away from him. I couldn’t help that I felt this way every time I had to use the chair. “Just go.” I waited until I was sure they were both gone before I let the tears fall.

  I was sitting in my room a few hours later, since I refused to go to school when I was in a wheelchair. I was staring out my window when I heard my door open. I assumed it was Jared or Liam checking up on me, so I didn’t turn around. “Hailey?”

  I jerked up in my chair and quickly spun it around so I could stare at Blake. “Blake? What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at school?”

  He took a few hesitant steps towards me. “Jared called me.”

  I swore under my breath. “I’m going to kick that idiot in the ass one of these days.” I rolled my chair forward until I was in front of him. “Why did you come?”

  “You came to me when I was having a bad day. I figured the least I could do is return the favor.”

  I let out a sigh. “Blake, there’s nothing you can do for me. I always get like this when I have to use this stupid chair.”

  “Well, why don’t you tell me why you need to use it today?”

  “Why?” I asked snippily.

  “Come on Hailey, I’m just trying to be here for you. This isn’t easy for me either, you know.”

  I closed my eyes and took a few calming breaths. “You’re right, I’m sorry.” I rolled over to the bed. “At least come and sit on the bed so I don’t have to look up at you so much. I hate feeling short.”

  He smirked a little as he moved to the bed. “But you are short,” he replied.

  “Ha ha,” I said sarcastically. “Not everyone can be over six feet tall, you know.”

  “I guess not.” He sat down. “Now, tell me what happened.”

  So I did. I told him about Marcus calling a few weeks ago, about the text last night, the nightmare, and then the pain when I woke up. “I hate having to use this chair,” I said after I finished my story.

  “I know how you feel.”

  “I think you’re the only one who actually would know why I hate this thing so much,” I told him.

  “It makes you feel helpless, right?”

  “Yeah. You know how that feels.”

  “All too well.” He got off of the bed and felt around until he found the handles of the chair.

  “Um, what are you doing?” I asked.

  He grinned down at me. “Having some fun. How often do you think we’ll crash into walls with you giving me directions while I try to steer this thing?”

  “Probably about a hundred?”

  “Perfect. That’s what we’ll aim for then,” he replied. And with that, he started pushing me forward.

  “Wait! The door isn’t-” Thud. “Open,” I finished with a laugh after we’d run into the it.

  “Oops, my bad. Can you open it for us?”

  I chuckled and reached for the rope that was attached. The rope was to allow Tonto to tug the door open when I needed him to, and it also helped me when I was in the wheelchair. I pulled the door open and managed to direct Blake enough to get us into the hallway. A few moments later though, he took a corner too sharply and we crashed again. “I said go right!”

  “You did not! You said go left!”

  “I said right!”

  “Left!”

  “What the hell are you two doing?”

  My head snapped around to see Jared standing in the hallway. “Um, teaching Blake to drive?”

  Blake snorted. “Like I’d get you to teach me anything,” he retorted.

  “Hey, it’s not my fault that you can’t follow directions.”

  “I can follow directions; you just suck at giving them.”

  “I do not. When I say go right, I mean go right!”

  “That’s fine, but you said go left!”

  “I said right!”

  “Left!”

  “Right!”

  “Children, stop arguing,” Jared said in amusement. “I’ll leave you two to whatever you were doing. Try not to break anything.” He disappeared back down the hall.

  Ten minutes later, Blake and I were both laughing hysterically as he tried to get us out of a corner. “No, you need to back up and go right a little. No, your other right!” I screeched just before he thudded into the wall again.

  Blake was leaning heavily on the wheelchair, struggling to stay upright because he was laughing so hard. “We suck at this,” he finally managed to say.

  “No you suck at this. If you’d listened to me, we would’ve been in the music room ten minutes ago.”

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just tell me how to get us out of this stupid corner.”

  When we finally made it to the music room, we were both breathless from laughing. “Finally, we made it!” I crowed happily. “Now just follow me as I roll to the piano. I don’t want you to crash us into it.”

  He agreed and held onto the handles as I maneuvered the chair towards the piano. He pushed the bench to the side a little when I asked him to and then sat on it while I positioned myself in front of the instrument. I ran my fingers over the keys lightly, loosening up. Then I started playing. It wasn’t a vocal piece, so I just concentrated on the melody. My eyes drifted close as the music enveloped me and the familiar feeling of peace settled over me.

  When the song was over, I looked at Blake. He had a small smile on his face and his eyes were closed as well. “So, what did you think?”

  His eyes opened. “You’re pretty good. But can you sing?”

  “For that, you’ll have to wait. I’m not in the mood to sing right now, but maybe next time you’re here I’ll let you hear me.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Jared appeared in the doorway. “Hailey, I want to give you a massage now. Hopefully your back won’t be as inflamed and I’ll actually be able to work with the muscles.”

  “I should get going anyways,” Blake said.

  “No, I want to show you what to do,” Jared told him.

  We both turned to him in surprise. “You do?” I asked.

  “Yeah. You two spend a lot of time together, and I’d feel better if he knew the basics of what to do in case your back acts up when I’m not around
.”

  I looked at Blake. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

  “No, it’s okay. I wouldn’t mind knowing what to do. It’ll make me feel… useful,” he responded.

  I smiled. “Well in that case, I’m all for it.”

  “Great,” Jared said. “I’ll take you to the room Hailey. I don’t want to get old while I wait for you and Blake to argue while he attempts to follow your directions.”

  I scowled. “If he would just listen, there would be no problems.”

  “And if you just gave better directions, we wouldn’t have crashed so many times,” he retorted.

  “Behave you two,” Jared said as he started steering me out of the room. Blake followed right behind him so he didn’t get lost.

  When we got to the therapy room, Jared put the brake on the chair. “Okay Blake, come and pick her up out of the chair.”

  I was about to protest, but the look Jared gave me caused me to shut my mouth. He obviously wanted Blake to do as much as possible. Blake hesitantly reached for me and managed to get one arm under my legs and the other around my body. “You’d better not drop me,” I warned him.

  He smirked a little before straightening up, lifting me as if I weighed nothing. “Good,” Jared said. “Now walk forward two steps and set her down on the table.”

  Blake obeyed him and put me on the table gently. Then he followed Jared’s directions so that he got me lying on my stomach. “Why can you follow his directions so well?” I muttered.

  “Because this time I knew if I didn’t listen, I’d really hurt you.”

  “Ha! So you admit that you just weren’t listening earlier.”

  “Just let it go, Hailey,” he said in exasperation.

  “I will, because we both know that I was right.”

  I heard Jared chuckle from beside me. “You two are like an old married couple.” He ignored both of our protests as he grabbed the hem of my shirt and pulled it up so that my back was exposed. “Blake, give me your hands.”

  Blake must have obeyed, because a moment later, I felt his hands on my back. Tingles raced through my body, but I stubbornly pushed them away. This was definitely not the time for that.

  I listened as Jared instructed Blake on what to do. Blake’s fingers worked my muscles and I flinched a few times, but it wasn’t too bad. I gradually felt my muscles start to relax and I let out a breath of relief.

  After they were done, I tried moving my legs and I nearly cried in happiness when I was able to move them properly with no pain. My back was still sore, but at least it no longer hurt to move around. I slowly sat up and then just as slowly, I stood. My legs were a little shaky, but they held.

  “How do you feel, Hales?” Jared asked.

  “Much better. My back is still sore, but I can walk again,” I said happily. I turned to Blake and put my arms around him, hugging him tightly. “Thanks.”

  He wrapped his arms around me and laid his cheek on top of my head. “I’m glad I could help.”

  “You helped in more ways than one, Blake. This is the first time I’ve ever laughed on a day that I was stuck in that chair.”

  “Well, today was the first time I really let loose and have fun, so thanks for letting me crash you into the walls.”

  I smiled as I pulled back a little so I could look up at him. “No problem.”

  Chapter fifteen

  My back was pretty sore for the rest of the week, but not as bad as that first day. I was able to go to school, but I had to be very careful. Blake helped me as much as he could, but there was only so much he could do.

  By the time the weekend rolled around, I was physically exhausted. I spent Saturday morning lazing around, watching TV and generally doing nothing. When Blake came over in the afternoon I still had no energy, but I made the effort to entertain him.

  We were sitting in my room, listening to some music, when he suddenly stood up and pulled me to my feet. I groaned as I stood up. “Why are you making me move?”

  “Because you’re being boring. So you’re going to sing something for me.”

  “I am?”

  “Yes, you are. I want to hear what you sound like.”

  I grumbled a little, but agreed anyways. We walked to the music room and I had him sit down on the bench beside me. “What should I play?”

  He shrugged. “Whatever you want to.”

  I thought back over the last few days, and how the pain in my back had all started due to a text from Marcus. A smile played over my lips as I started playing Pray For You by Jaron and the Long Road to Love.

  Blake started chuckling when he recognized the song, and he joined in the singing when I started the chorus.

  When the song was done, Blake turned to me. “What brought that song on?”

  “I was thinking about what happened this week, and it was all triggered by Marcus. This song just sort of portrays what I feel about him now.”

  Blake nodded. “I can understand that.”

  “People suck, don’t they?” I asked.

  “A lot of them do. But not us. We rock.”

  I laughed and then stood up from the bench. “You hungry?”

  He stood up as well, but instead of answering me he grabbed my arm. “How are you feeling?”

  I sighed. How was I feeling? Angry, frustrated, confused. “You want the truth?”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t know. Physically, I’m tired and my back is still bothering me more than usual. Emotionally, I’m just as tired and I keep dreaming about the accident.”

  He pulled me into his arms and held me gently. “It’s just been a bad week, hasn’t it?”

  I nodded. “It really has.”

  Blake brushed a hand over my hair lightly, and I leaned into him. So many emotions were running through me that I couldn’t make any sense of them. The only thing I was sure of at that moment was that I wanted more from him. I hadn’t felt this since I first met Marcus, and that paled in comparison to these feelings.

  “What are you thinking about?” Blake asked.

  I chewed on my lip. “Nothing,” I lied.

  He sighed. “Hailey, I know you’re thinking about something, so don’t lie to me.”

  I debated on what to say for a few moments. “Why haven’t you kissed me?” I finally asked quietly.

  He tensed. “What?”

  I blew out a breath. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked you that. I mean, if that’s not what you want from me then you can just tell me.”

  “It’s not that I don’t want to, I just didn’t think you wanted that.”

  “Why would you think that?”

  “Well, considering what your last boyfriend was like, I figured you weren’t looking for anything romance wise.”

  “I’m not stupid enough to think that all guys are cheating assholes, Blake. It’s true that I haven’t been with anyone since Marcus, but that’s because until I met you, I wasn’t interested in anyone.”

  He laid his cheek on top of my head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that you wanted anything more from me. I’m not exactly the kind of guy girls go after anymore.”

  I couldn’t prevent the snort that escaped me. “You’re joking, right?”

  “No. Why would you think I am?”

  “Well, there was the waitress at the restaurant that was checking you out, and the girls at the park.” I pulled away a little so I could look up into his face. “Plus, some of the girls at school check you out sometimes too. They’re just too scared to come up to you.”

  His lips pulled up into a smile. “Really?”

  “Yeah. It’s kind of annoying, actually,” I muttered.

  His smile widened. “Are you jealous?”

  “What? Of course not,” I scoffed.

  He chuckled. “Oh, you’re jealous alright. It’s kind of cute.” His face turned serious and he raised a hand to stroke my face. “You have nothing to be jealous about, you know,” he murmured.

  I shivered slightly. “I don’t?
”

  “No,” he replied as he slowly lowered his face to mine. “You’re the only one I’m interested in.”

  A smile tugged on my lips. “Are you going to kiss me now?”

  “If you’ll shut up long enough, then yes.”

  I moved my hands up to his neck and he lowered his head the last few inches until our lips brushed together. A current raced through me at the contact and I stretched onto my tiptoes so I could press my lips to his fully.

  His reaction was immediate and his arms tightened around me, pulling my body flush against his. He tilted his head slightly so he could change the angle and deepen the kiss. When his tongue swept across my bottom lip, I didn’t hesitate to part my lips and give him access.

  Tremors raced through my body as his tongue explored my mouth. One of his hands left my waist to trail up my side and over my arm, stopping once he reached my face. He slid his hand around to cup the back of my head, his fingers tangling in my hair.

  By the time we finally broke apart, we were both breathing heavier and he rested his forehead against mine. “Whoa,” he panted. “I haven’t done that in two years.”

  I took a moment to catch my breath. “It’s been more than eight months for me,” I replied. Then I realized what he’d said. “Wait, you mean you haven’t been with anyone since the accident?”

  He shook his head. “No. My girlfriend at the time left me when she realized I had gone blind. She couldn’t handle me having a disability.”

  Anger coursed through me. “What a bitch,” I stated.

  He nodded. “Yeah, she really is. After that, I just couldn’t bring myself to be interested in anyone. I couldn’t handle knowing that any girl I was with would pity me.”

  I pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “If anything, I think you should pity me.”

  “Oh really? And why is that?”

  “Because I have to put up with your cranky ass all the time,” I replied with a smirk.

  He chuckled. “You’re probably right.” He pulled back a couple of inches and cupped my cheek with one hand. “Where does this leave us?”

  “Where do you want it to leave us?” I asked a little nervously.

  “You’re the only person I like being around, Hailey. I care about you, more than I thought I’d ever care about anyone again. So I want to be with you.”