Healing

Today Lizzy gets released from the hospital. Stacy, Alex, Grams and Gramps are there to pick her up. Lizzy told the rest of them that she had enough people and didn't need their help. Alex visited her everyday for the several days she was in there. Lizzy punished him for lying to the doctor by sending him home every night. She even made him go to work a few days.

"Are you sure you want to head back to the dorms?" Stacy asks.

"Yea I should be fine." Lizzy says as Alex pushes her in a wheelchair to Gramps' van.

"Are you sure you don't need a strong man to help you get around?" Stacy is trying to drop hints.

"I should be fine if I go slow." Lizzy is still confident in her abilities.

"You were struggling pretty hard up in your room up there. It would make Gramps and me rest easier knowing you were being cared for. I'm sure Alex doesn't have anything better to do." Grams nudges him.

"I can't have Alex at the dorm. There is a rule about no sharing dorm rooms with anyone outside the building." Lizzy states.

"Then come to my place?" Alex blushes. He wonders why he just said that like it was nothing.

"Your place?" Lizzy tries looking at him. Grams and Gramps have their hands hiding with every finger crossed.

"Y-you can use my bed while you recover. I can sleep on the couch and help you get around." Alex is close to overheating.

"First engagement and now we are moving in together? All in a few days. Isn't that moving a bit fast?" Lizzy covers her mouth with her hand and plays the damsel part well. She is enjoying teasing him. Lizzy watches waiting for him to finish overheating. Sadly he doesn't.

"Well my place is big enough for the wheel chair since the crutches hurt your ribs. I have plenty of sick time and vacation time saved up too. I will need to do a bit of cleaning. I haven't been keeping up with it for the last week." He is nervous and Lizzy can pick up on it.

"If she stays at your place. You're cleaning your room and I'm making the bed up with clean sheets!" Grams adds.

"I said-" Lizzy winces at a bump the wheelchair goes over.

"I'm sorry! I didn't see it!" Alex is a bit frantic that he hurt her.

"It's fine! I... I guess I could use some help." She trails off not really wanting to admit she needs help.

Alex can't really hear the rest talking about what they plan to do to help Lizzy. His heart is pounding pretty hard. It's settling in that she is not only coming over but staying. She will be in his bed (again but he doesn't acknowledge the first time). He will be cooking for her. She will be using his shower. He bats away that thought.

"I will head back to the dorms and get Lizzy some more clothes." Stacy says parting ways.

It's a blur for Alex but they make it to his apartment. He helps Lizzy onto the couch. She is sitting with Gramps feeling awful she can't help them. Alex and Grams get the apartment cleaned up in no time though.

Grams and Gramps head off telling Alex he can't be ordering take out for every meal and that she needs a real meal. Alex sighs while closing the door.

"You want to play that farming game with me?" Lizzy asks while stranded on the couch.

"Sure." Alex smiles at her.

He sits down and gets everything set up. Lizzy scooches around so she can lean against his side. Alex leans his head onto hers. They are both happy and pretty nervous for what is to come in the following weeks while Lizzy recovers.

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It's been the six weeks and Lizzy's leg is healed enough to get around on her own. After the first two weeks or so, Lizzy started kicking Alex out of the apartment for him to work while she tries to school from home. She did end up finishing her classes and got her high school diploma. They have gotten use to being together so neither of them have brought up Lizzy moving back to the dorms.

Side note the college students fulfilled their cleaning duties. They never felt this good from a job well done before. The feeling gave them the ambition to look into the agricultural side of jobs.

Today is a day off for Alex though and it's a nice summer day. Alex surprises Lizzy with a trip out to the old oak tree. Just the two of them on his bike. Well Karen tagged along because she can.

Once there Alex helps Lizzy over the terrain of leaves and roots. He sits her down by Snowball's grave. Karen does her own thing hoovering around the woods. The breeze rustles the leaves overhead and the smell of the woods envelopes them.

"Hey Lizzy." Karen speaks up behind the tree.

"Yea?" Lizzy replies.

"I could use some help." Karen's tone intrigues Lizzy's curiosity.

Lizzy gets up and Alex follows.

"I need you to dig right here." Karen is by the two larger rocks.

"Pretty sure those are graves and I'm not digging those up." Lizzy is holding her ground.

"Yes they are graves but right here." She plops down between the rocks. "Right here is a little metal box."

"Still is iffy." Lizzy is a little creeped out.

"Just do it." Karen is a little testy.

Lizzy kneels and starts to dig up the box. It takes a bit thanks to no shovel. Alex starts to help her. Her nails are painfully filled with dirt as she tries to open the rusted box.

The lid pops open and inside is coated with the green paint Lizzy used on gates to keep them from rusting. There also is a stack of paper inside a few plastic bags. Lizzy sits back to lean against the tree.

She opens the brittle plastic and takes multiple letters out.

Dear Lizzy,

I hope this letter finds you well. Since your letter said the oak tree was still standing we buried our letter here for you to find. We are happy you made it there safely. Sending you was hard on us but your letter gave us hope to keep going on. You're father quit the factory and is working two jobs and I have a job at the super market. We are going to keep the farm for as long as possible. I'm not sure if the house will still be intact but we decided to leave your room the way you left it.

We love and miss you very much,

Mom

Dad

P.S. your dad had something he wanted to say.

Stay strong sweetie.

Lizzy fails to choke back tears. All the letters have old tear stains on them and now new ones from Lizzy. She flips through the letters. Some talking about how the times were hard but they kept going. One apologies for using her room to house a homeless child from the war. Another happy letter that they found a close relative of the child. One about burying the dog by the oak tree. There were a few wishing Lizzy a happy birthday dated on the days she would have turned that age. Her parents lived to their 60's but the pollution was bad and they got sick.

The last letter they wrote spoke of how they were going to have her dad's nephew bury them by the oak tree. All in hopes Lizzy would come visit them sometime.

Lizzy starts balling. Alex holds onto her. He did read over her shoulder a bit due to curiosity. So he knows a little of the pain she is feeling. They stayed in each other's arms for a long while. Eventually Lizzy calms down.

"Alex?' Lizzy wipes the snot from her face with her hand and wipes it on her pant leg by her boot. Hoping Alex doesn't judge her.

"Yes?" He asks gently.

"Would you like to take this wreck of a person to pick some day lillies?" Lizzy keeps wiping the snot but it's not stopping. 

He wipes some tears from her cheeks and smiles. "I would be happy to help you."

Lizzy smiles back. Alex helps her up and they find the red and orange day lillies Lizzy saw earlier. They pluck just a few and take them and place them on each of the graves. Lizzy sits between the graves and Alex kneels beside her.

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Miller. My name is Alex. I have known your daughter for awhile now and we are dating. I hope that is alright. I will do everything I can to make her happy." He tells them.

Lizzy bursts into happy tears again and holds onto Alex. Lizzy can finally start healing from loosing her parents.

"Thank you mom and dad for sending me here." Lizzy says with happy tears in her eyes.