"So, he's okay now? Oh, thank God for it!" Nancy cried out on the phone. I had called her once I had reached my room and explained to her that Taylor was alive and well.
She was so happy that she began crying right over the phone. 'You have new mail' popped up on my computer screen while I was talking with her.
"Hey Nancy, I'll have to call you back later okay?"
"Alrighty. Buh-bye. Oh, tell Taylor hi for me."
"Okay, Buh-bye. Email me." I hung up and jumped into the computer chair while pulling up my inbox at the same time.
There were three new messages. One from Tommy, one from my online bud Amber, and one from Alex. Tommy was asking for answers to our math homework. Yea, right! I told him to work them out himself and clicked on Amber's message. After replying to her, I read Alex's email. I hadn't heard from her in a while.
Hey Jen!
What's up? Ike emailed me a while ago and told me about the
accident. I was NOT expecting that! What's happened so far? I'm
sorry that I haven't mailed you in a century, but my parents
grounded me for a bad grade on my report card. Sometimes I
really wish there wasn't any school. NEwayz, write back soon
or meet me in our chat NOW!
Peace, Love, and Water-Proof Skittles,
-Alex:)
Instead of going to our chat room, I decided to write back for once. I clicked on compose.
Hey Alex,
Tay is FINE! He's okay! I'm sooooo glad! Meet me in chat.
-Jen:)
Okay, so it was short, but I didn't feel like writing to much. I entered the chat room's address and waited until she showed up. After explaining everything to Alex, I updated my Hanson page and logged off.
Everything stressful in my mind was beginning to clear out. Tay was asleep in his bed at the hospital, far from harm and I knew now that he would be alright. My parents decided against grounding after they found out the news. They even said that I was allowed to visit Taylor in the hospital tommorow.
The doctors had scheduled a day to release Taylor from the hospital. He would be allowed to come home in just two days. They wanted to make a few more tests just to be sure he was perfectly okay. That had been good news to everyone, but also depressing to me. Don't get me wrong, I was glad he could leave finally, but that would mean that the Hansons would be leaving my house soon after. I wasn't ready to lose Tay again.
After talking with Isaac, I found out that they would be leaving by the end of the week. Instead of leaving to tour somewhere, they would be traveling back to Tulsa for a short vacation that would last through Tay's fifteenth birthday. Isaac would be out of his brace and Tay would still have his casts. Even so, they would do a few concerts here and there with a back-up keyboard player and Taylor singing as usual.
"I'm just busy wondering how the fans are going to handle the fact that Taylor was hurt," Ike told me.
"Yea, they'll probably freak out and send him lots of gifts and flowers," I replyed.
"Geeze, he's already got enough!"
"No kidding!"
Basically, everything went back to normal that night. My family had dinner together with the Hansons. We were all happy and the conversation topic was, of course, Taylor. Everyone couldn't stop thinking about him. We were all practically jumping for joy.
* * *
The next day at school, I couldn't wait for the bell to ring. I was going to leave straight for the hospital. My Taylor would be there for me. He was waiting.
School was let out and I raced towards the bus stop for the public bus heading towards the hospital. I could have walked if I really wanted to get there fast, but I decided to wait. Luckily, it was a short ride.
Once at the hospital, I checked in at the front desk and made my way to room number 189. Taylor was busy reading one of his books when I came in.
"G'afternoon Tay," I said cheerfully when he looked up and smiled.
"Hey Jen. Glad you came."
"I'm just glad you're alright," I told him and went over to sit on the bed.
"So, what have you been up to lately? Like, while I was sleeping."
"Basically I stayed up all night worrying about you."
"Aww, I didn't know you cared?" he told me sarcastically. We smiled at each other for a few seconds and I wondered what to say next.
"I wrote a song for you," I said and interupted the silence that passed between us.
Taylor sat up straight and looked surprised. "You... you did? Wow."
I reached into my backpack and pulled out a small notebook. "I'm in my own band, you know." I flipped through the pages until I came to Taylor's song.
I passed the page of lyrics towards Tay's direction, but he pushed it away. "Can I hear you sing it instead?"
I blushed. It wasn't that I didn't want to sing. It was just that I always felt like an inferior compared to Taylor when it comes to music. My voice isn't as good and I'm not as good of a song writer either. "Um, sure... I guess," I said softly.
Taylor leaned back in the bed and waited for me to start. I prayed that a faulty note wouldn't slip out or anything like that. I hoped I wouldn't make a fool of myself.
I sang the first few words of the song and Taylor closed his eyes and looked peaceful. The notes flowed out and I released the slow, sincere song with all my heart in soul put into it.
"...Sometimes at night I wondered just about you... I knew you'd be strong, you could pull on through... the thing that kept me going when you weren't near... were those millions of memories that I hold so dear..."
I paused for half a second to glance at Taylor who was listening closely with eyes closed, barely swaying back and forth. I continued through my long song as if it meant the world. It was about waiting for Taylor to wake up and remembering everything that had happened so far.
"...Now at night on my knees I pray... to save you baby, to save you this day... and when the light comes upon your eyes... Angels fly down and realize.... you're the one for me..."
"My a million memories I hold so dear... keep me close and keep me near... they saved my loved one and pulled me through... now this love can be shared by two..."
The song was slow and I sang it soft, but clear enough for Taylor to hear and understand perfectly. I continued on until I had reached the end. I finished the last note and Taylor opened his eyes and looked at me.
"What did you think?" I asked him, getting shy.
"It was beautiful," he said in his perfect voice.
"Oh, come on. It was not."
"No, seriously, that meant a lot to me," he cooed without a hint of fibbing in his voice.
I tore out the page with the lyrics to my song entitled: A Million Memories, and handed it to Taylor. "Here, I want you to have it," I said and forced it into his hands.
"Thanks," he said, "I'll keep it forever. Who knows, maybe it might end up on one of our albums someday."
"Tay, I'm sorry all of this had to happen to you. If only I could have looked into the future. I never would have let you come here."
Tay shook his head. "I'm glad you couldn't because if you did, I never would have met you." I got even more shy and knew I was thinking the same thing.
"So, how are you feeling?"
"Well, how would you feel in my situation? I'm just a tad sore here and there, but I'll live. Don't worry," he looked down at my cast. "How's your arm?"
I laughed. "It's fine. Probably a little less painful though."
"Hmmm... I see that my bros have signed it. Well, I guess that means I should too," he added and reached for a pen resting on the table beside the bed.
He reached over and wrote a small note on my cast along with his name. When he wass done, I took a quick look at it. He signed: Dear Jen, Despite the few depressing incidents, I enjoyed visiting and getting to know you better. I just want to let you know that I'll never forget you and I hope we can still keep in touch. Love Ya, Taylor.
After a small moment of silence, Taylor tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention. "Guess what?" he said excitingly.
"What? Did you win the lottery?"
"Nope, better. I walked today," he told me with a short sigh of relief.
"On that ankle?"
"Well, sort of. I used crutches, but it still counts. The doctors told me I should stick with my wheel chair a bit longer," he said and pointed to his little wheely chair parked in the corner.
"I'm glad you did, Tay. That means that you won't have any problem when you get to use crutches."
"Yup."
Tay didn't look as beat up today as he had on other days. His hair was it's natural blonde again and the dried blood was washed from his face. He looked normal again except for the few bandages and casts he was wearing.
"Taylor," I told him, "do you think we'll ever get together again sometime?"
"Oh, yea, sure. At least I hope so," he said while twidling his fingers. That made me feel relieved. I had begun to wonder if this was a one time thing. I wasn't sure whether I'd ever see him again after they left.
"You know what? I'm in the mood to do something," Taylor said while staring out the window. I crossed my arms and waited for him to say more.
"I know. Do you want to go for a small walk around the hospital? You can push me in the wheel chair!"
It sounded like a good idea to me. "Cool!"
I hopped up and dashed over to Tay's chair and wheeled it over to the bed. Then I slowly helped Taylor into it while he tried as much as he could to climb out of bed and into it.
I wheeled him out into the hallway using my free hand and shut the door behind us. "You know," said Tay, "they keep the wheel chairs in that little storage closet down the hall. Go get one so we can both race or something."
I smiled at the thought. It sounded like fun so I wheeled us over to the closet. It was unlocked and I easily borrowed a chair from the ten or twelve of them. I parked it next to Taylor and jumped into it.
"Mine's electric," Tay bragged and pushed a small button that sent his wheel chair going at a slow pace.
"Hey! No fair!" I said and struggled to catch up by only one hand.
We raced down the hallways and laughed. Nurses and doctors dropped their papers and dodged out of the way in surprise as we rushed on by. Taylor's hospital outfit looked so cute on him, I might add!
"Taylor! Wait up! Stop going so fast!" I called to him from way behind. He was heading for the hospital cafeteria. A thick aroma of food came at me. Yum!
I followed Taylor down the hall until he disappeared from sight behind the swinging doors. I rolled along until I pushed open the doors and zoomed over to the lunch line. There were a few other people there and they were all staring at us like we were crazy kids. Okay, so we were, sue us.
"Why'd you come in here?" I whispered to Tay from behind him.
"I'm hungry. A guys got to eat."
I rolled my eyes at him as he picked up a tray and some utensils. It was a buffet type set-up and there was lots to choose from. Taylor picked out some chicken legs, a hamburger, fries, a chocoalte pie, and a milk carton. I looked at him like he'd lost his mind.
"I didn't have breakfast or lunch," he told me and rolled up to the cash register area. That explains it, I thought.
I decided to grab a salad and a coke while I was there. I had already eaten lunch a while ago so I wasn't as hungry. After paying for his food, Taylor wheeled himself over to a table and managed to help himself out of the wheel chair and into the regular chair. I followed and sat down easily.
We left the cafeteria soon after and went back to Taylor's room. Only after another hour and a half, my dad came to get me. Taylor told me it was perfect timing because he was about ready for some peace and quiet. He was also tired.
"Well, I guess I'll see you tommorow after school," I told him while my dad waited for me in the hall.
"Yea, I can't believe we're leaving on Saturday. I'm going to miss you, but I'll be glad to go home again."
"Yup. Besides, I'm not your only friend. You've got tons of them in Tulsa and all. Still, just two more days..."
Taylor reached his arms out for a hug. I gave him a quick goodbye hug and turned to leave.
"See ya, Tay," I said and waved.
"Ta ta," Tay called and waved back.