Continuing the serial release of The Plainsrunner under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license – (CC-BY-SA).
Tallgrass has to face Seagrass’s mother.
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Chapter Thirty-Six – Luck
Seagrass recovered, though never completely. It took a long time and a lot of physiotherapy to get to where he could walk almost normally, but he did it. He had a lot of help. In the beginning, all of the rest of the crew members came to the hospital every day to visit him and his three fellow patients. Those three also came back to visit him after they were released. Eventually, though, the visits became less frequent as his recovery dragged on, and as they got caught up in their training once again. The hard truth was that he was no longer part of the crew, and they had a lot of hard work to do.
Tallgrass was the exception. He continued to come every day. He helped Seagrass with his physiotherapy. He brought him books and treats. He read to him, fiction and entertainment at first, then texts and papers related to the project. Seagrass made a point of requesting the work-related materials. Soon they were devouring and discussing ideas just as they had before the shooting, and Seagrass made sure that Tallgrass didn’t find out who was really helping whom.
Immediately after the shooting, when his mother brought Seagrass’s parents down, Tallgrass couldn’t face them. He didn’t understand why – with therapy he would, in time – but he felt guilty. He couldn’t talk to them. He could hardly look at them. When Seagrass’s mother hugged him, it made him uncomfortable. His own mother talked to him, but for the first time in his life it did no good.
Finally his friend’s mother got him alone and made him talk to her. The first thing she said was, “Thank you for being such a good friend to Seagrass.”
That hit him like a kick to the stomach, and he began to cry with hard sobs. He didn’t resist when she took him in her arms and cradled his head under her chin. She held him that way until the sobs subsided, then she let him go.
“I’m not,” he said, his voice still shaky. “I’m not a good friend.”
“Tallgrass,” she said, “you’re the best friend he has. Has ever had.” Her eyes were glistening, but her voice was firm. “Didn’t he prove that?”
Tallgrass looked away. “But I didn’t …” he began. “I didn’t do anything. I didn’t see anything. Not like him. If I had, maybe …”
She reached out and turned his head to face her. She said, tears running freely now, “If you had, then you would have saved him. But this time it was his turn.”
He wasn’t so sure. He had no idea how he would have reacted if their roles were reversed. All he knew was that his friend reacted instinctively to save him, and he wasn’t sure he deserved it. But he nodded and said, “I guess so.”
“I know so,” she said, nodding firmly and wiping away her tears. “You boys have always been there for each other. I’ll tell you this, he won’t tell you, but Seagrass is proud of what he did. And glad. He has no regrets. Now, what you can do is make sure it was worth it. You go on this mission now for both of you.”
He gasped. “You’re right,” he said. “I’ve got to now. For both of us.” He looked around, as if there might be something he could do then and there. When he looked at her, he was almost smiling. “Thank you,” he said. “I won’t let him down. I won’t let you down.”
“Good,” she said. “You work hard and do the best job you can. That’s how you can repay him.”
“I will,” he said, his chin up and his eyes clear.
“And keep Seagrass involved. Keep talking to him, and keep bringing him books. Make sure he’s a part of it.”
“I will,” he said. “I will. I have to. I need him. I don’t think I could do it without him.”
“Of course you could,” she said. “Luckily, you don’t have to.”
“Luckily,” he said, looking into her eyes. “Luckily.”
Seagrass learned that life is unpredictable. What comes next?