3. Chapter Three ~ Brayden
Chapter Three ~ Brayden
After three days of lying in a hard, uncomfortable hospital bed, I was cleared to go home. I was still in loads of pain and needed an at home nurse to help with physical therapy and wound care, but that was alright with me as long as I was out of that goddamn hospital.
Uncle Joe already had everything set up for me at the cabin. He had my bags packed, he’d already chosen the best home-care nurses and physical therapy doctors, the place was stocked with food and beer. Everything I needed was there. The only thing that wasn’t there already was me.
I told myself that I would enjoy my three months' leave. I had no choice but to. I was bed bound, pretty much fired from my job, and would be spending the entire three months couped up in the mountains. I couldn’t do anything but make the best of it.
“You ready for some solitude, kid?” Uncle Joe asked as the hospital staff wheeled me through the lobby like luggage.
“What other choice do I have?” I grumbled.
Uncle Joe ignored my attitude and helped the staff get me into his car. It was a gruesome task to say the least. Even the tiniest movements almost sent me into shock. Every twist and bend of even a finger made me wince in terrible pain.
“Ah! Damnit!” I barked. “Be careful! I’m not some rotting sack of potatoes. You should have just come with the truck and laid me in the bed.”
“Alright, buddy, calm down,” Uncle Joe enthused. “We have to get you into the car and you’re no help right about now.”
After what felt like minutes of agonizing pain and torture, I was in the car and on my way. I could barely catch my breath for a while after because I was in so much pain, but when the pain pills started to kick in, I felt like I was on the highway to heaven.
“Feeling better?” Uncle Joe asked.
“What’s it to you? You guys were treating me like a bag of waste back there.”
“You know, you’re one of the most dramatic fuckers I've met in a long time,” he laughed. “Had you used your brain instead of your ego, you wouldn’t be in this predicament right now. You only have yourself to blame.”
I knew he was right. Uncle Joe was right a lot of the time. I thought about that on our drive to the cabin. My ego had gotten me into a lot of trouble over the years and I figured it was all finally catching up to me. Under the effects of the medicine, I committed to figuring out my life while I was on leave; getting to the core of my issues with my mom, my anger, Nate. I even wanted to figure out my love life while I was away. Mia came to mind and how much I cared about her in the past. But that was the past. I had to move forward.
“The nurses shouldn't be too far away to help get you inside,” Uncle Joe said. “Don't give them a hard time. They're the ones who’ll have to take care of you while you’re here.”
“As long as they don’t give me a hard time, I won’t give them a hard time.”
“Do you always have to have some snarky comeback?” he grunted.
As we took the long uphill driveway to the front of the cabin, I had a sudden feeling of nostalgia. That nostalgia quickly morphed into an unbearable feeling of anxiety when I saw a woman approaching the door of the cabin. She wasn’t wearing scrubs or had any company with her, so I knew she wasn’t hospital staff.
“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you,” Uncle Joe said. “Mia’s in town. She'll be staying here too because everything’s booked for the summer.”
“What! Why didn’t you tell me this before!?”
I felt hot, flooded with anger and anticipation. I couldn’t believe my uncle had set me up for such a surprise. He knew how bad of a breakup I had with Mia, and he sprang her on me like one of those jack-in-the-box toys I had when I was a kid.
“Uncle Joe, I can’t stay here with her,” I said. “We practically hate each other's guts, and you expect me to live under the same roof as her for three months? I'm sure she’s going to flip when she realizes I'm here too.”
In the midst of the confusion, my nursing staff pulled in behind us and the scene turned into a treacherous reunion that I was sure would boil over into a dumpster fire the minute Mia saw my face.
“Mia, you made it.”
Uncle Joe got out of the car and approached her. I was sure his greeting was to soften the blow of my presence but when she saw me, she looked anything but soft.
“Hey, Uncle Joe.” She sounded confused and bamboozled just like me. “What’s all this?”
“Ahh,” Uncle Joe grunted as he wrapped her in a hug. “I forgot to tell you that Brayden would be staying here too. He got into a nasty accident at work so he’s on leave this summer. That won’t be a problem, will it?”
Her smile quickly faded as she and I locked eyes momentarily. She looked at Uncle Joe as if the world might end if he said one more word. I knew she was pissed beyond measure; Uncle Joe was the only one oblivious to the fact.
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Uncle Joe,” she said. “You know Brayden and I don't get along. I wish you would have told me this earlier, I would have just stayed at my mom's or gotten a room out of town somewhere.”
“Aw, come on Mia, don't be that way. Brayden won’t bother you at all, and this place is big enough that you won’t even have to see each other if you don’t want to. I’d hate for you to have to travel so far out of the way to take care of whatever it is you’re here for. Just give it a shot and if it proves to be too much, I'll find a room for you.”
She looked past Uncle Joe to get a look at me again. I kept my gaze forward because I was in no mood to be around her either. However, the few glances I did sneak of her didn’t disappoint.
Mia was gorgeous. Her frame had filled out even more with age; hips, breasts, curves everywhere. She grew her hair down to the middle of her back and even her lips were fuller. I wasn’t sure if they were naturally full or if she’d gotten them fattened with the money she made from writing.
“Why can’t he stay somewhere else?” I heard her say. “Last I heard, Brayden was banned from coming here.”
“That was years ago, Mia,” Uncle Joe said. “You guys were still kids. He's grown. A little. Besides, I figured you could talk some sense into him, you know. You're a writer, you have a way with words. Maybe you can get him to see the light.”
“Exactly, Uncle Joe. I'm a writer. Not a therapist, and certainly not a caregiver. I think it’s best if I leave. Brayden can stay here, and I'll find some place else to crash.”
I grew sick of listening to them talk about me like I wasn’t there. When Mia headed back to her car, I rolled the window down to give her a few choice words of my own.
“Don’t act like you’re so perfect,” I said. “You’ve got your flaws just like anyone else.”
“Excuse me?” she scoffed and looked at me with disgust.
“You heard exactly what I said. Nice of you to come back to Big Bear and act like one. What, because you’re sitting on this imaginary throne these days you think you're better than I am? Remember, you dated this not so perfect screw up once.”
She looked back at Uncle Joe with a smirk and shook her head, while he glared at me with the meanest look of disappointment in his gaze. I didn’t care. I was over Mia and her attitude before my stay even started.
“I’m out of here,” she said. “Thanks for the invite, Uncle Joe, but there’s no way I'll be able to put up with that all summer long. Good luck with him. Seems like some things will never change.”
My ego took a blow I'd never felt before. Or maybe I had, and I was just too full of pride to consider it. Being off my feet and bound to a wheelchair seemingly weakened all of my defense mechanisms because I had no comeback for what Mia said. She was halfway right.
“Mia, please.” Uncle Joe stopped her just before she got into her car to peel out of the driveway. “Just give it a shot. What can it hurt? I know Brayden’s a piece of work, but I know you both care for each other somewhere deep inside. You were friends; family before anything. Think of that.”
Mia's frown slowly faded. There was still anger in her eyes, but not as much. If we were face to face, she probably would have raised her fist to my jaw. I can’t say that I didn’t deserve it either. Sometimes I went too far. Instead of being receptive to the truth being cast in my direction, I avoided it at all costs.
“Come on,” Uncle Joe pleaded again. “Do you really want to drive the distance back and forth? I mean, look at this place. It's even more beautiful than when you guys were kids. You'll have your own side and won’t have to see him unless you want to.”
Her guard came down more and more. She looked back at the cabin, then at the scenery all around. It was a beautiful place. Quiet, full of nature and beautiful views. When it rained it felt like all the world stopped and nothing mattered but that space and that time. Uncle Joe’s cabin was a magical experience that no one could pass up. Not even a woman as strong as Mia.
“Fine.” She put her hands on her hips and looked directly at me while she spoke. “But if he gives me a single ounce of trouble, I'll leave here so fast no one will ever know I came.”
“Alright!” Uncle Joe clapped with excitement. “That’s fair. So, Brayden, that means be on your best behavior. He'll be too busy with nurses and physical therapy to bother you anyway.”
A look of concern crossed her face as the nurses and Uncle Joe came to help me from the car and into my wheelchair. I didn’t look at her much during that time. I was too embarrassed having to be helped into my chair like I was a child who never learned to walk.
I was angry with Uncle Joe too. I couldn't believe he chose her side over mine. Of course, my anger wasn't everlasting, nor was it justified. I’d done a lot of wrongdoings to Mia when we were together, and she had every right to be angry at me.
“Don’t screw this up, kid.” Uncle Joe quietly lectured me once Mia had gone to open the door for everyone. “I know how you feel about that woman, and this is your one chance to man up and do the right thing to get her back. You have no idea of the strings I had to pull to even get her here in the first place.”
“Whatever, Uncle Joe,” I winced in pain as he and the nurses plopped me down in the wheelchair. “You might’ve been right about my feelings years ago, but you have no idea how I feel about her now.”