I open my eyes and the room is dark. I'm still laying on Danny's leg. My eyes slowly adjust and I read the time. 8:30 pm. I feel Danny's chest slowly rising and falling. I readjust my head and I try to fall back to sleep.

    "Hey," Danny says. His voice startles me, I thought he was sleeping. He slowly strokes my hair.

    "Hi." I move my head closer to his body. My breathing slowly starts to match his.

    "I should probably go home, I've been here all day." Danny removes his hand and he waits for me to sit up.

    I slowly prop myself up and with my free hand, I rub my eyes. "Now I won't be able to sleep all night." My stomach grumbles. I haven't eaten all day. "I might as well eat something."

    We stand up and slowly make our way up the stairs. When we enter the kitchen, Danny asks me, "What do you want to eat?"

    I sit down in my chair as Danny opens the fridge. "Just anything. I really don't care."

    Danny closes the fridge and he turns to me. "How about sandwiches?"

    "Sure." I grab the bread off of the counter and hand it to Danny. While he starts spreading the peanut butter, I ask, "How was the movie?"

    "Honestly, I don't even remember what it was. I wasn't paying much attention." Danny screws on the lid to the peanut butter jar. "How was your nap?"

    "Well needed. How was yours?" I hand Danny the strawberry jelly.

    "It was nice. I haven't taken a nap in a really long time," Danny says as he opens the jelly. "I wish I could do that everyday." A silence fills the room as Danny finishes the sandwiches. He hands me mine and I take a bite. There's too much peanut butter, but I don't say anything about it. I take another bite. "I should probably go home now. I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

    "Tomorrow is Saturday." After I said those words, I realize that they're true. I don't have to go anywhere.

    "And?" Danny smiles. "Bye, Lucy." He squeezes my shoulder as he passes me. I don't turn around to see him leave. Even though I don't want to, I need to eat, so I finish the sandwich.

    "What were you two doing downstairs?" I turn to see my dad leaning against the door frame. "You were down there for a long time."

    "I fell asleep." I grab a water bottle from the counter and I take a sip to down the peanut butter.

    "So why did he stay?" His voice gets rough when he says he.

    "Because I was laying on his lap." I place the bottle back on the counter. Dad glares at me. "What?"

    "You need to be careful. Don't be so comfortable around him. He might hurt you." He pauses to look at me. "I don't want him here tomorrow." Dad turns and walks away.

    "What?!" I follow him down the hallway. "He's the best thing that has happened to me this year! He's the only one that comforts me!" My dad doesn't listen to me. He closes the door, leaving me alone. I cry myself to sleep that night.

    My phone rings. "Hello?"

    "Hey. How'd you sleep?" Danny asks.

    "I actually slept all night. How about you?" I sit up in my bed and I lean my head against the wall.

    "I couldn't sleep. Most of the night I did homework. I finally fell asleep around three."

    "Why are you calling me? I mean, why aren't you here?" I hope that Dad didn't send him away.

    "I came about 30 minutes ago but your dad wouldn't let me in, so I called you."

    "Danny, I'm sorry. He got mad at me for being downstairs with you for so long yesterday. I was hoping he wasn't being serious."

    Danny laughs. "Well, maybe I can stay away from you for a day or two."

    "I can't. I need someone to talk to. Someone to help me down the stairs and back up again."

    "You always have Alex."

    "He's no good. All he's been doing is moping around. Besides, you told me to give him space and time to adapt."

    "Maybe he needs someone to talk to. If you don't have me, you might as well try to talk to your brother."

    "Or..." A brilliant idea pops into my head. I can't stop myself from smiling. "We could meet somewhere. I could go for a walk and we could meet up."

    "Yeah, but everything is still a mess. All the trees are down and there's water everywhere."

    "So? We can still meet somewhere." I pause. "Oh, I forgot. I'm getting my crutches today. I guess I can't really go anywhere." I sigh.

    "Well, if you ever want to talk, I'm only a phone call away," Danny says. "Have a good day, Lucy." I don't respond. I end the phone call and I get in my chair.

    I enter the kitchen and I see Dad standing by the sink. "Ready to go?" He picks up a banana and hands it to me.

    I take the fruit out of his hand. "I thought Mom was going to take me," I say.

    "She said she's not feeling well and she asked me to take you. Is there a problem with that?" Yes. I choose not to say anything. "Does this have to do with Danny?" I look up at him. "Lucy. I'm just trying to protect you. Can't you understand that? We need to go. Just get in the car."

    Neither of us say anything on the ride over. When we get there, I wait for Dad to bring my chair to me, but when he opens my door, he is empty handed. I give him a weird look. "I forgot to put your chair in the car." I sigh. I climb out and I lean on him. His structure is different from Danny's. He has smaller shoulders and he is a few inches taller, so it's hard to wrap my arm around his neck for more support. I hold on to his waist instead. "Soon, you'll be able to walk on your own." I nod. I'll still need help with stairs, but that's what I have Danny for. I keep the same rhythm with my feet. Left. Right, left. Right, left.

    Dad sets me down on a chair inside the store, then he leaves to find crutches. While he's gone, I memorize what is on what aisle. Aisle 1 has bread, aisle 2 has candies, and all the way down through aisle 9, cleaning supplies.

    When he comes back he has crutches in one hand and the other is in his pocket. "Let's get these adjusted, shall we? How tall are you?"

    "I don't know. Five something. Maybe five five." I haven't measured my height since middle school, when I was five three. I haven't grown very much since then.

    "Here, stand up." Dad pulls me from my chair and he sizes me up with him. When he's done, he sets me down. "I would say more like five six or seven." I'm a lot taller than I thought. After he sets the crutches to the appropriate height for me, he says, "Try this."

    I stand on one foot as I slide the crutches under my arms. They are the perfect size. I lean on them as I take a step forward. "Yeah. This is good. Let's get out of here."

    When we get home, I sit down in my wheelchair again. "Uh-uh. You need to get used to walking. You can't do that very well from a chair." I stand up and Dad takes the chair and stores it away in the shed.

    I go into my room and I dial Danny's number into my phone. "Hi Lucy."

    "Hi Danny." I set my crutches down on the floor and I lay down on my bed.

    "What's up?"

    "I just got my crutches. You were right. They are such a pain to use." I think back to that day in the hospital. That was the day I learned that I no longer had a right leg.

    "I know, right?! It's amazing how two things of metal can be so obnoxious."

    "Well, I'm stuck with them. My dad put my wheelchair in the shed out back, so I can't use it anymore."

    "Well that's good. I mean, it's a step in the right direction. If you keep doing this, you'll be walking in no time," Danny says.

    "Yeah totally," I say sarcastically. "It'll take a lot longer than that."

    "Don't be so negative. If you keep saying that, then it will take forever. Attitude changes everything."

    We keep talking until my mom comes in and tells me that lunch is ready. "What are we eating?" I ask Mom as I hobble to the table. I look and I see grilled cheese and tomato soup - my favorite food. "Oooh. Yum!" I sit down. I grab a sandwich and I bring it up to my mouth I bite down the bread. The heat of the cheese spreads through me. I swallow some soup and I feel it go down my throat, which gives me chills.