Broken Beginnings: Chapters Seventeen-Nineteen (Final Revisions)

Chapter Seventeen:





Monday.October.08.2018



Somedays physical therapy tends to feel like sheer torture. I had somedays when the simplest tasks seemed mammoth, and days that were far better. It was hard but I knew I had to push through this, I needed to work on getting stronger so I could focus on getting home, and I knew that time would come sooner rather than later. I was not going to be kept in the hospital forever and I was thankful for that, as scared as I was, I knew that I wanted to go home. I wanted to get back to my life, I wanted to go back to classes, and get the degree I had not even really started before the madman ran Nadia and I off the road.





I often tried to be strong for everyone around me, even when I felt completely broken. But my Mother knew me well enough to see when I was hiding something from her, and even Nadia’s Mother knew me well enough to read through my lies. Katarina was the closest person I had to an Aunt, and I was blessed to have Katarina in my life, and Nadia, who was very much like a sister to me, and the pain she was feeling caused me pain.





Babula family sometimes isn’t about blood, it’s those people who when they hurt, we hurt.





I understood now what Bobe meant, because I had lived with dealing with the pain of seeing my best friend hurt. My heart broke because I knew Nadia was hurting and in a very real way, her pain caused me more than my own.





“Sweetheart you are allowed to grieve for what you have lost. Acknowledging your own pain does not make you selfish Naomi.” Mom reminded me gently.







“I know.” I said gently. “I just hate seeing Nadia hurting.”





“Sweetheart, she may not be able to express it, but Nadia does not like to see you hurting either.”







I knew Mother was right. Nadia did not like to see my pain, anymore than I liked to see her pain. She hurt when I hurt, and I knew the reason my Mother was telling me this, was so I would remember to take care of myself.





“I didn’t know this was going to be so hard.” I said softly.



“I know sweetie, and if I could make the pain go away I would.”





I nodded. I knew that my Mother would if she could, my Mother would do anything in her power to ease my pain.







~





“You are going to need to take care of yourself in order to be strong for Nadia.” Mother said gently. And I knew I could not argue with that, if I didn’t take care of myself I would not…