Chased Dreams (22 page)

Nope. I was wrong. That was the reddest I’d
ever seen her.

Chapter Twenty-Five

It was quiet. I lay in my room; the door
closed, the television off, staring out the window taking in the
lawn and trees. The grass was yellowed with the change of season
and the trees that weren’t evergreens stood stark and bare, brown
dead leaves scattering across the ground beneath them. It had been
June when I woke up, and now it was the end of October.

October. Football playoff month. How many
years had I spent of my life training and working to get to the
Championship Playoffs? Over a year had passed since my accident,
yet I still sat here, in this care center, staring out the same
window. There was a restless itch inside me. I wanted to go
outside, not that I hadn’t been already, but this time I didn’t
want to go in a wheelchair.

I wanted to run down the hall and burst past
the doors. I wanted to smell the crisp fall air, with its hint of
smoke from wood burning stoves and fireplaces. I wanted to feel the
grass beneath my feet right before I stepped back and passed a
football with all my might downfield, straight into the receiver’s
waiting arms. I wanted to hear the fans cheering as another
touchdown was made and I wanted to smack pads with the other guys
on the team.

Sighing, I turned away from the window. One
thing had stayed the same from one reality to the next—the fact
that I seemed destined to lose my ability to participate in the
sports I’d loved so much. In the greater scheme of things, I’d been
blessed beyond measure. I had the things—the people—who mattered to
me. I’d give up sports every day of the week to have them in my
life. Grandpa was doing well on his cancer treatment. Grandma had
agreed to use the ranch to fund his treatments. Nikki was alive and
well, going to college, and making me fall in love with her more
every second we spent together. Mom and Greg were getting married,
and she was happier than I’d ever seen her. Brett was attending the
local college; Brittney had just had her baby, a girl, and decided
to keep it, taking a leave of absence from the care center. Wes and
Chad were working. Everyone had moved on with their lives, working
toward their dreams of the future.

Except for me. I was still stuck in this
spot, progressing from one day to the next with very short-range
goals. True, they were all necessary things and necessary for me to
have a successful life outside of this place, but where would I go
once I was discharged? It really was as if I’d lost all my
direction. There would be no football scholarship to a great
college; heck, I hadn’t even graduated from high school. How would
I finish that? Test out? I didn’t want to go back and finished
another year with a bunch of younger kids. Besides, I was nineteen
now. That would make me twenty before I could start the next school
year. Hello? Awkward. Well, that was one problem solved. I’d
definitely be going the GED route.

What about after all this, though?
It
was my intention to recover back to my full capacity and the
doctors remained optimistic about that being a viable, realistic,
goal. I’d been lucky, much luckier than others with this same kind
of injury. Some of them had so much pressure on their brain that it
destroyed key function centers, making it extremely difficult—if
not impossible—for them to ever return to their former lives. I’d
received treatment quickly enough that I’d been spared most of
those horrors. Being in a coma had been the worst of my mental side
effects. Dr. Kennish said. My brain had shut down everything but
that which was absolutely necessary, while it struggled to
survive.

My memories of minute details from my
alternate life were already beginning to fade away. There were
still key experiences that might never fade enough for me to
believe that I didn’t really live them. Sometimes it was hard to
integrate what I’d believed to be reality into what really was.
Plenty of my mornings still began with the ache of losing Nikki
residing in my heart, only to be replaced with inexplicable joy
when I remembered it wasn’t true. But, just because it wasn’t true,
didn’t mean I still didn’t feel it. It didn’t mean I didn’t learn
the lessons from what I’d gone through. I wanted to hold tightly to
those memories and use them to guide me in my future. I may have
been lying in a bed unconscious for nine months, deteriorating on
the outside; but I was changing on the inside and I would never
take anything for granted again.

The sound of the door opening caught my
attention and I glanced toward it, finding Nikki there. I couldn’t
stop the skip in my heart and the wide smiled that followed every
time I saw her. It was like getting to live the miracle of having
her, over and over again.

“Hey, gorgeous,” I said, every nerve in my
body responding to her being next to me.

“Am I interrupting?” she asked, not coming
any closer, instead leaning against the door, her eyes never
leaving me.

“You never interrupt me,” I replied, my gaze
traveling over her from head to toe. I loved how she’d let her hair
grow longer, it complimented her, making her even prettier than
before—if that were possible. I just wanted to get my hands on her
again. “Quit hanging out over there and come sit with me.”

She shook her head, not moving. “I can’t. I
need to leave.”

My heart fell. “Already? You just got
here.”

She seemed to consider this for a moment. “I
guess you could come with me.”

I snorted. “I wish I could. You have no idea
how much.”

“What if I told you I have a little present
for you, but you have to come over here to get it?”

“Well, under normal conditions, I’d already
be at the door, but I’m not as fast as I used to be.”

“I can wait.” She smiled but didn’t
move.

Carefully, I swung my legs over the edge of
the bed, grabbing my walker and using it to help pull myself up
into a standing position. “You know they like me to tell them when
I’m getting up, just in case I need help. You’re making me break
the rules.” I moved to the end of the bed, merely a few feet away
from her. Setting the walker aside, I took a step toward her,
followed by another, and another, until I reached her, wrapping my
arms around her.

“I see you’ve been doing a lot of
practicing.” She slipped her arms around my waist, laying her head
against my chest. “I’m so proud of you, Chase. You’ve had so much
to overcome and you’ve come so far in such a short amount of time.
It’s amazing.”

I kissed the top of her head, squeezing her
tighter. It felt so good to have her in my arms. I wished I could
stand like this for hours, simply holding her to me, but the
telltale tremble was burning through my calves and thighs,
signaling my need to sit down soon.

As if sensing I was on borrowed time, Nikki
released me. “I said I have a present for you, are you ready for
it?”

“Lay it on me,” I replied, wondering what
she’ brought. Reaching outside the door she bent to retrieve
something before straightening, holding the object in front of
me.

“A coat?” I asked, puzzled, leaning against
the wall for support. I mean it was nice and the weather was
turning colder, but I didn’t get out much. “Thanks. It looks nice.”
I wasn’t sure what she wanted me to say.

“Put it on, silly.” She held it up for me
and I slipped my arms into it. Stepping away, her gaze traveled
over me and she nodded in approval. “There. That looks nice. Okay,
let’s go.”

The door opened wider and Barney came in
pushing a wheelchair and grinning widely.

“Where am I going exactly?” I glanced back
and forth between them suspiciously.

“You’re going home,” Nikki said with a
squeal, clapping her hands together.

Barney grabbed me by the arm as I sank
toward the chair, shock overwhelming me.

“Are you serious?” I was trembling now for
an entirely different reason.

“Of course, she’s serious,” Barney said.

“For how long?” I asked, unable to believe
this day had finally come.

“You get to stay, but you’ll have to come in
for sessions with me every day still. You’re not getting away from
me that easy,” Barney teased.

Nikki bustled around the room, gathering my
personal items and placing them in a little rolling suitcase—a few
changes of clothes, hygiene products from the bathroom, before
picking up Turk, tucking him tightly in the crook of her arm. “I
think that’s all his stuff,” she said, glancing around the
room.

“It’s not like we don’t know where to find
you, if you did forget something,” Barney added. “Are you ready to
get out of here?”

“I was ready the moment I woke up,” I joked.
“Nothing personal.”

“Hey, I get to go home every day,” Barney
said, turning the chair and pushing it out of the room. I didn’t
even look back. “I don’t blame you one bit for wanting to do the
same.”

Several of the nurses stood as I passed the
station. “Goodbye, Chase. Good luck. We’ll miss you.”

“Thanks,” I replied, unable to stop
smiling.

“He’ll be back every day for a while,”
Barney reminded them.

My grin widened as the double doors to the
front of the building opened, exposing Nikki’s red VW Bug sitting
under the canopy at the curb. My breath caught a little when I saw
it because, in my mind, it was still smashed and in pieces.

She opened the passenger door before
hurrying to the trunk to put the suitcase inside. Barney helped me
stand, turn, and then got me seated.

“Can you get your legs in by yourself?” he
asked with a challenge, and I snorted.

“Of course, I can.” One by one I lifted them
into the vehicle and he looked very pleased.

“I’m going to follow you home in my truck. I
want to make sure you get settled in okay and go over a checklist
with your family.”

“Sounds good. See you there.” He shut the
door and Nikki slid into the driver’s seat beside me, grinning from
ear to ear as she rested her hand on my leg.

“I’m so excited for this. I can’t even tell
you.”

“I am, too. It should be wrong to be this
excited about riding in a car.” I placed my hand over hers
squeezing lightly. “Thank you for coming to get me.”

“Well, the rest of your family is getting
things ready for your arrival or they would’ve been here.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

She started the car and I glanced out the
window as she pulled away from the quiet, stucco building, relief
pouring through me. This wasn’t my home any longer. I was going
home, back to the ranch where I was supposed to be.

Driving along, I stared silently out the
window, taking in the buildings that used to be so familiar to me.
“As you can see, the town is pretty much the way you left it. Not
much has changed.” Slowing, she pointed out the window. “That’s
where you rolled your truck. If you look closely, you can see the
bricks in the center of the wall are a slightly different color
than the rest of the building where they had to repair it.”

I could see the change and it was a fairly
large patch. It appeared that I’d taken out most of the wall. “I’m
surprised it didn’t fall in on me,” I commented. “It looks like a
big hole.”

“It was. For a long time, there were candles
and flowers placed down the side of the building that kids from
school brought.”

I snorted. “Yeah, right.”

Her head snapped toward me. “I’m completely
serious. Everyone had a hard time with what happened. Whether you
think it or not, people in this town do actually care about
you.”

Turning, I stared back at the building until
it was uncomfortable to do so.

“You still don’t remember anything about
that night?” she asked, reaching over to rest her hand on my leg
again. I naturally slipped my fingers in between hers.

“No. I’ve tried, but all I remember is what
I thought I was experiencing. I’m positive some of that probably
matches things that were really going on around me, but everything
else is blank. I honestly lived something completely different.” I
squeezed her hand. “Horribly different.”

She nodded, keeping her eyes on the road.
“Well, we’re both going to be okay now. I promise.”

“I want that more than anything,” I replied.
Lifting her fingers to my mouth I kissed each one, counting each
one as a blessing I never thought I’d have again.

Chapter Twenty-Six

“What the hell?” I asked, my eyes widening
as we rounded the bend and the ranch house came into view. The
normally open driveway and area around the barn were packed with an
insane number of cars. I glanced at Nikki. She was biting her lip
and her eyes were watering.

“I might’ve neglected to tell you the real
reason your family didn’t come.”

“What’s going on?” A pillar of blue and
white balloons stretched up tall in the front yard and a massive
sign that read, “WELCOME HOME CHASE!” had been hung across the
eaves of the porch.

“What’s going on is probably half the town
coming to welcome you home.”

“How long have you guys known this was
happening?” I asked, amazed. “There’s no way this was thrown
together last minute.”

“We’ve known since fried chicken night.” She
smiled at me. “Are you mad?”

I shook my head. “No, not mad. Maybe a
little overwhelmed.” As we approached the house, the door opened
and throngs of people began pouring from inside, led by my grandma
who was running to the end of the sidewalk. My eyes searched the
crowd in shock. Everyone was here. My friends, family, Nikki’s
family, kids from school, kids I didn’t know, my teachers and what
appeared to be the entire football team. Nikki parked the car and
my grandpa hurried forward to open my door.

“Welcome home, Chase!” Everyone shouted in
unison. I didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or be embarrassed. I’d
never imagined a homecoming like this.