Chapter 16 - The Rain Came Back
The anniversary of the crash arrived with a storm.
Of course it did.
Rain battered the porch.
For a long time, I stood inside watching it.
Then I opened the door.
Dad called from the kitchen.
“What are you doing?”
“Something stupid.”
“Need help?”
“No.”
I stepped outside.
Rain immediately soaked my hair.
The porch had been rebuilt.
A ramp now descended toward the driveway.
I walked down it.
No wheelchair.
No Vivian.
No mud.
At the exact place where I'd fallen one year earlier, I stopped.
I remembered lying there with both legs burning.
I remembered Vivian towering above me in Mom's coat.
I remembered believing survival meant simply not dying.
I knew better now.
Survival was rebuilding.
It was physical therapy.
Courtrooms.
Nightmares.
Learning to drive.
Learning Dad.
Learning myself without Mom.
Learning that strength wasn't refusing help.
Sometimes strength was knowing which hands were safe to take.
Dad came outside holding an umbrella.
I looked at him.
“Put that away.”
“It's pouring.”
“I know.”
He closed it.
We stood in the rain together.
Then I started laughing.
He laughed too.
Neighbors probably thought we were insane.
Maybe we were.
May you like
For once, I didn't care.
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