Today, Masha turned eighteen, officially entering adulthood. Yet, she didn’t feel any different; she was neither happy nor excited about getting older. She welcomed her eighteenth birthday with utter indifference, thinking it wasn’t anything special. Just another day like any other before. It wasn’t like last year, when she went out to have fun with her loved ones, playing around in Montreal all day long.
As the thought crossed her mind, a sweet bitterness overflowed her heart.
Her legs were still functional, straight, and beautiful back then, allowing her to walk on her own two feet. The weekend had been busy, so much so that she didn’t have time to take a breather, but it had also been wonderful. She had visited Le Jardin Botanique de Montreal and La Ronde, places she had wanted to see with her own two eyes for a very long time. She rode every roller coaster on the last day, laughing and screaming her lungs out together with her mother and Camille. But now, both were gone. One died to protect her, whereas the other cut her out of her life, not showing her any mercy whatsoever. It was hard not to feel depressed at the thought.
“Don’t think about it,” Masha winced, burying her face in a big teddy bear. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”
Rubbing her cheek against the belly of the stuffed bear, she tried to chase away the bad thoughts, and they slowly wandered to that plush in her arms. It was the one her brother had won for her at the amusement park, a year ago. Although the teddy bear was bright pink and a bit on the ugly side, she kept it in her bed in plain view, snuggling against its belly whenever she felt down. It always made her feel a little better, and over time, it had become a habit, not to say a conditioned reflex.
Thus, when Gabriel opened the door after knocking, he saw the young woman entangled with the big teddy bear in her bed. It was quite an odd picture if one considered that she was butt-naked. At one point, she had tossed the bedsheets on the floor in her sleep, and her pajamas were nowhere in sight, probably lost somewhere between the blankets, the floor, and the bed, if not underneath the pillows.
“Why aren’t you wearing anything?” Gabriel asked with a sigh, closing the door behind him.
“’Cause it’s damn hot! And it’s not like it matters, anyway. You’re gay.”
“And what would you have done if it had been your brother instead of me?”
“He’s a child. Who cares if he sees me naked?”
“And what about Yuki?”
“She helps me take my bath! She sees me naked all the time,” Masha mumbled, her cheeks slightly flushing in spite of herself. “But who cares about that? Why did you interrupt my sweet time with my teddy bear?! What bad manners!”
Gabriel’s mouth twitched, but he didn’t dwell on the matter any further, or else he feared his IQ would fall into the negative. So instead, he said, “Did you see the time? It’s about time you get out of bed.”
“...?” Masha frowned before glancing at the clock on the nightstand. Instantly, her eyes grew wide as she realized that it was already the middle of the afternoon. “So late?!”
“Well, you had your physical therapy yesterday. When you returned home, you were exhausted, and when I came this morning to wake you up, you were still dead asleep. So, I decided to let you rest a little longer.”
Because Masha still hadn’t thrown the blankets aside when he first checked up on her, Gabriel hadn’t realized she was naked underneath. He just glanced inside the room and called her name a few times, but there was no answer. Her loud snoring told him she was alive and well, so he decided to close the door and come back later instead of forcibly waking her up. He was well aware of how tiring and stressful physical therapy sessions could be, and it was thus better to let her rest.
“Even so…” Masha sighed, rubbing her eyes to wake herself up a bit more.
One thing Masha hated about physical therapy was that the next day, she would be half-dead. Her body was sore all over, and she always discovered new muscles she had no idea existed. Fatigue overcame her, and she felt like doing nothing, which was why today, like every other day, she lingered in her bed after waking up and got lost in thought.
Despite urgently needing to go to the toilet, Masha curled up around her teddy bear and pretended she hadn’t noticed her bladder screaming in agony. Climbing into her wheelchair was quite a challenging task right now. Although the pain wasn’t as worse as the day following her first physical therapy session, her body was nonetheless uncooperative, her limbs as heavy as iron—it was difficult to move about in such a pitiful state.
More than once, Masha thought of giving up the rehabilitation program during these past few months, but she knew she had to go through it if she wanted to regain strength in her legs and restore a bit of flexibility in her knees. Even if it could never be like before, she wished to recover as much mobility as possible. It was for herself but also for her family. She didn’t want to be any more of a burden than she already was.
Over these past months, Masha met many people at the hospital, each going through different rehabilitation programs adapted for their own needs. The various interactions she had with them broadened her mind and encouraged her to continue the treatment, no matter how hard and painful it was.
For instance, there was this man whose brain was severely injured in a car accident. The policeman brought him home at his demand instead of the hospital, and thus, they didn’t notice the internal bleeding in time. Because of this, he almost ended up in a vegetable state. The sciatic nerve had also been damaged, meaning that his legs were in pretty bad shape, although the injury wasn’t visible to the naked eyes. Not only did he have to relearn how to walk, but he also had to relearn daily things as simple as putting on clothes and washing his teeth.
After listening to his story, Masha felt like her situation wasn’t as hopeless. Besides, that man wasn’t the only one who made her feel that way. She also heard about people who got better, even better than expected. It made her feel hope. Now she had a feeling she could and would get better, though it would take effort and time.
“How long are you going to laze in bed? Get dressed and come down,” Gabriel said, urging her to get out of bed.
“Hmph,” snorted Masha, who nevertheless did as told, quickly putting on a long dress that hid most of her legs. “I need to get to the toilet first, though.”
“I don’t think you need my help anymore to do that, right…?”
“I’m not sure I can reach it fast enough,” Masha smirked, making Gabriel pull a face.
A second later, he took her in his arms and brought her to the second-floor toilet. Then, after Masha had done what she had to do and washed her hands, he carried her to the stairs and started to walk down.
“…?” Masha tilted her head, staring at the young man’s face with question marks flashing in her eyes, but before she could ask why he didn’t put her in the stairlift, the living room entered her line of sight, and she instinctively swallowed back the words on the tip of her tongue.
On the sofa sat Stephan, Alexey, and Yuki, whereas three children sat directly on the floor, cross-legged. They were whispering who knows what to each other, a mischievous look plastered on their small faces. Like often, Dereck had brought his dog with him, and he was currently hugging it, kissing its head now and then. He knew Masha was very fond of it, so he would take it with him whenever he came to visit, letting her pet it as much as she wanted.
But their presence wasn’t what drew most of her attention. No, what mostly caught her eye were the colorful birthday decorations that wished her a happy eighteenth birthday and the small mountain of gifts piled up in the corner of the living room. Of course, Masha knew they wouldn’t forget her birthday, but she never thought they would gather to celebrate it with her, especially not her brother’s friends, whom she had become familiar with over the past few months.
“Oh, the guest of honor finally consented to show up,” chuckled Stephan, who was the first to notice Masha’s arrival. “And in a bride carry to boot! What an entrance!”
As soon as Misha heard him, he swiftly turned his head toward the stairs before leaping to his feet and running to his sister. Gabriel didn’t even have the time to put her in her wheelchair that Misha was already by their side, broadly smiling as he said, “Happy eighteenth birthday, sis’!”
Once the boy said it, everyone echoed his words, wishing her a happy day and whatnot, all in a disorderly manner. From the corner of her eyes, Masha could see Yuki nodding at her, pointing at Misha with a tilt of her head to let her know that this surprise birthday party was his idea.
‘Well, in the end, it seems like my birthday will be lively this year too,’ Masha thought as she stretched her hands to bring her little brother in her arms, tightly hugging him and thanking him in a soft voice.
Why was it that Misha always knew how to surprise her and make her forget her worries? Ah, goodness. How lucky was she to have such an adorable brother?
Edited by Clozed! ♥
