The Steps to Step Again- Chapter One

         "C'mon! I wanna get pictures before it melts completely!" I grabbed his hand and ran forward, dragging him behind me down an icy road.
         "I don't think it's safe. The ice is already melting and dropping everywhere. You might get hit."
         "We'll be fine. I've done this before."
         "But the branches are brittle with the ice on it and they are breaking off as well."
         "Relax, Jacob! I'll be fine. Now, take my picture!" I hand him my phone and pose for the camera. He takes a few pictures.
         "I want to leave, please," Jacob says in an anxious tone. "I can just feel something wrong is gonna happen." He starts to head for the car.
         "Okay. If you're that worried then we'll leave. I'm just going to snap a few more pictures of the trees by themselves." I turn around and admire the ice-covered branches through my phone camera lens. I call out that I'm ready to go once I take the last picture. He had already started his car and the exhaust is pumping out of the tailpipe. I make my way towards the car when a huge gust of wind causes me to lose my balance and fall onto the ice beneath me. As I am getting up, I hear Jacob calling out from the car:
         "Taylor, watch out!"
         I turn my head to see the largest tree around us crash down on top of me. I hear multiple crunches and feel an enormous amount of pain flood my body. My vision blurs and I fall into darkness.

*****

         Just the opposite happens as I wake up. My vision is dark at first and slowly becomes clear. I am surrounded by three walls and the fourth wall serves as a massive window. I see a little clearer and notice the large amounts of flowers and cards all over my room. Though it was strange because nobody is in the room with me. This makes me think the sympathy was fake and I haven't even seen anyone yet.
         The thinking wears me out and I fall into a deep sleep once again.

*****

The next time I wake up, I hear a rush of footsteps and a frantic voice saying "she's awake!" over and over again. I suddenly feel a hand against mine. I would normally flinch at the unexpected touch but my whole body hurts. I open my eyes and see my mom and dad at my bedside along with one of my best friends, Jaqueline, and my sister standing in the back corner of the room. Before it even felt like I could take in a breath, my parents bombard me with questions.
         "Are you okay, honey?"
         "Are you feeling better?"
         "Does it hurt?"
         "Are you hungry?"
         Just as they say the word hungry, I feel my stomach grumble. I think to myself, who knows how long it has been since I've eaten? I look out the window-wall and what I see shocks me: Flowers have bloomed and the trees are clothed with leaves. It's springtime. I went down in the winter.
         "How long have I been out?" I interrupt my parents and look at them with wide eyes. They don't say a word and stare at me. I ask the question again and still, no answer is given. My mom is the first to say something but it is not an answer. She only asks if I'm hungry again. My stomach calls out once more. My father stands up and leaves the room, saying he is going to talk to the doctor. Why an excuse to leave?
         "What's wrong? I just asked a question. Surely it can't be that hard to answer a simple question," I say, staring directly into my mom's eyes. She still doesn't answer me. Her eyes shift down so she is no longer looking at me and her eyes cloud with tears. It's not my mom who answers the question I have asked multiple times, but it's Jaqueline.
         "Five months, Taylor. That's how long it's been. Nobody thought you would make it since being in a coma for so long is very dangerous. But now it's May and it's exactly one month from your seventeenth birthday and you're still here." My mom gets up to leave the room as well. My sister follows her. "I'm getting you snacks," I hear my mom say from the hallway. Once their footsteps fade away, Jaqueline continues talking.
         "We all thought you were going to die. Not only did you go into a coma for that long, but almost every bone in your body was shattered when the tree fell onto you. Jacob told us 911 was shocked you didn't bleed out on the trip to the ER. They thought you could die at any second. The surgeons worked the rest of the day and through the night to save you. I'm so thankful God didn't take you because he could've at any given moment," She then starts to cry. "I thought I had lost you for good, Taylor! I don't know how I would've survived if that happened!"
         "Aww, Jackie!" I call her by her nickname and open my arms to embrace her. It hurt tremendously to move. "I'm still here! There's no need to worry about losing me. I'm a fighter and you know that. Nothing can stop me." Jackie cries into my shoulder.
         "I-i-i kn-know," she stutters. "I w-w-was j-just so sc-scared!
         "I bet you were but I'm here now and it's okay," I say to comfort her. "Everything will go back to normal soon enough." Jackie pulls away from me and words spill out of her mouth. What she says sounds impossible.
         "But how can everything be normal when your legs are paralyzed?"