Chapter 18

The next morning he was awakened by Connie and put through the same routine.  "How is your throat feeling?"

He wrote OK on the pad sitting in front of him.

"Good OK or I need a popsicle OK?  She asked.

Cherry, he wrote.

"Cherry it'll be."  She looked at her watch.  "Besides, it'll hold you over 'til breakfast, fatty."  He gave her a one sided grin and she pinched his cheek before she left.

By the time his father and Isaac arrived, he was dressed in regular clothes complete with the jacket his mother had brought the day before.  It had taken a wide, blue eyed stare or two but he'd gotten the nurses to call Dr. McCawley and get permission to remove the I.V.'s before she got there.  Having all that awful tape pulled off his arm felt worse, he thought, than having it set the time he had broken it.  One wonderful, glorious shower later and he was ready.  Besides, he was afraid the massage lady might come back and he didn't think he could take that.

"Hey man, we got lucky..." Isaac said.  "They got us on a 10:00 flight back to Tulsa."

Tulsa.

The word had never sounded so good.  He just wanted to get as far away from his memories of the last couple of days as he could.

"Has Dr. McCawley been here yet?"  Walker asked.

"Here I am."  She smiled and walked through the door.  "Now how am I supposed to look at your ribs and listen to your lungs with all those clothes on?"

He wrinkled his face up and gave a little stomp of his foot. He reached in his pocket and pulled out the notepad Zac had given him the night before.  They are fine.  He wrote.

She read it and raised one eyebrow.  She then turned to Walker, she handed him some papers. "There's a prescription there for pain and one for an antibiotic."  She looked over at Taylor,  "'cause he still has a fever."  She turned back to his father.  "Part of me wants to keep him, but with so many people around, I'm sure he'll be well taken care of.  Just keep an eye open, we do not want him getting an infection. All pain should subside within ten days so if it hasn't, go to the emergency room...  blah blah blah..."

Taylor's foot was beginning to tap out some unknown beat and everything about him screamed out, "let's go!"  He looked up at Isaac who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Alright Taylor, go home!"  Dr. McCawley walked over to him.  He stood up from the chair he was in and felt a twinge of pain in his side, but he wasn't about to let on.  He reached out and shook her hand and when they parted, she said, "you know, I'm worried about you.  Keep in touch." And she handed him a card with her e-mail address on it.

As they walked past the nurses station, all eyes were on them and lots of good byes and good lucks were said.  Once down in the lobby, Jason was there and he gave Taylor a hug and a baseball cap and directed them to the kitchen where they would make their exit.

~~~~

The stewardesses on the plane made absolutely sure no one bothered them.  Taylor had sat between his parents and had slept through the entire flight.  They had managed to avoid the media at every turn and before they knew it, they were in their own driveway.  Walker's mother had offered to take the younger children home with her for a few days but Diana felt it would be best to just try and get back into a routine as quickly as possible.  Thanksgiving was thirteen days away and she wanted everyone as comfortable as possible by then.  Taylor had lain down on the couch in front of the tv as soon as they'd come in the house. His mother gave him two advil and then everyone set about unloading the van except Zoe and Mackenzie who kept him company there.  Cartoon Network was on the screen.  Dexter's Laboratory.  "Damn," he thought.  "Why didn't they have cartoons on 24 hours a day when I was little?  Then again, I probably never would have gotten into music if they had."  As he drifted off to sleep he thought that maybe that would have been a good thing.

~~~~

Isaac called Lee to tell her they were home and to invite her over.  She was off work so she said she'd like that.  He drove over to her house and picked her up.  When she stepped in the house she was amazed.  To an only child, the scene was totally foreign.  A sleeping Taylor lay sprawled out on the couch with Zoe perched on his stomach, a sippy cup in one hand and a half eaten graham cracker in the other, his black shirt was covered with crumbs.  Jessica was busy painting Avery's nails lime green as they watched "The Parent Trap" on the Disney Channel.

"Hey guys."  Isaac said.  They all looked up.  "This is my friend Lee.  Lee, this is Jessica, Avery, and on top of Ol' Smokey there is Zoe."  He pointed to each of the girls as he said their names.  They all said their hello's and Avery reached over and slapped Taylor on the leg.

"Oh, don't wake him..."  Lee said but it was too late.  His eyes fluttered open and he started to raise up, but with his sister sitting on his sore ribs he didn't get far.

Isaac rushed over "Tay, you shouldn't let her up there right now..."

Jessica spoke up, "I don't think he even knew it Ike.  He's kinda out of it.  Mom gave him something."

"Yeah, he's kinda fuzzy."  Avery added.

Isaac picked up Zoe who protested loudly.  "No Ike.  Taaaaaay!"

"Let's go see Mommy."  He said and he took her to the kitchen.  Taylor sat up and looked at Lee.  Their eyes met and she saw that the sparkle that had been there was gone, replaced with a weariness that was heartbreaking.  Isaac walked back in.  "Tay, you remember Lee, don't you?"

He did remember and he noticed the way she looked at him now was entirely different from the last time. He nodded and gave her a little wave and a sad smile.  Though never a big fan of their style of music, she nevertheless, had always appreciated their energy and that they knew what they wanted and went after it.  She'd never liked to hear people diss them.

"Hey Lee, are you and Ike on a date?"  Avery giggled.

"Nope, I'm just here to meet the folks."  She said.

Zac came in galloping like a horse with Mackenzie perched on his shoulders.  He'd had to go slowly through the doorway to keep his rider from being thrown.  "Whoa boy."  Mackenzie said and Zac snorted.

"Uh, this is my little brother Mackenzie."  Isaac said.

"Howdy there little lady."  He tipped his imaginary hat.  "This here's my horse, Zachary."

Zac snorted again.

"Hey guys!  C'mere."  Diana was calling the troops in and Lee watched dumbfounded as they all sat aside whatever they were doing and headed that way, Taylor taking up the rear as he'd had a little trouble getting up off the couch.  She followed.  "We're gonna order pizza for lunch."  To Lee, the noise was deafening.

"Mushrooms."

"No mushrooms."

"Pepperoni."

"Extra cheese."

It went on and on, everyone speaking at once and somehow their parents made sense of it all.  A loud whistle from Taylor brought a halt to the insanity and they all looked at their brother.  Lee had been wondering when and how he would get his order in.  "Sausage and Pepperoni."  He said to his mother.

"Your usual."  She said and wrote it on her list.  "You ok, baby?"  He nodded and she handed the pen and paper to Isaac who took over without missing a beat.  Lee watched as Diana got up and put her hand to his forehead before leading him back out to the living room.

By the time lunch arrived and everyone had gotten plates, drinks, napkins and whatever else they needed, Lee was suffering from sensory overload and she was relieved when, after they'd finished eating, Isaac asked her if she was ready to head back to her house.  As they went out the front door, she looked back to see Taylor back on the couch.  Avery was brushing his hair with a plastic Barbie brush and Zoe was covering him up with her flannel blanket, the one with the blue bunnies.
 
 
 

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