New year
In the morning, Ari sent a text that we had a reservation for an early dinner (around 5) and he'd reserved us tickets for the movie so we could all sit together. Not bad for last minute plans! I was looking forward to them, and Imogen said she'd be able to make it too. I went next door and helped her pack; she'd acquired luggage rather than the shopping bags we'd brought her stuff here in, which was nice. Joy came to pick her up; she looked bright and happy that Imogen was joining the family. She said, while we were waiting for Imogen to do a final check, that the reveal had caused a certain amount of chaos, but that she was glad to have a sister. "Not that cousins aren't great," she said hastily, and I nodded. There's nothing like a sister, even if Joy was going to school at Boston College and wouldn't be close by. There were other forms of communication, after all. Imogen said she'd meet me at the restaurant, and away they went.
Deri and Van departed for their outing and eventual sleepover, Alan had the day off, and Mom and Dad were sleeping in, so I rattled around the mansion a bit, shot a few games of pool, did upper body weight-lifting as well as configuring the machines for one leg, then went to the pool, using swim mitts to stroke up and down the lane without kicking. Being unable to use my one leg made even swimming difficult, and for the most part I did backstroke because it was easier to float. I worked off some stress, then showered and I was rummaging around in the fridge for lunch when Uncle Richard stopped by. He wanted to let us know that Imogen was settling in ok. He declined lunch when I offered.
"I want to apologize," I said. "I didn't mean to turn your life upside down. If Grandpa Bruce hadn't been there, it wouldn't have happened like that. I just wanted to help my friend."
"I know, kidlet." He patted my head and sat down. "Would you have told me if Bruce hadn't been there?"
"I don't know," I said after a moment. "We wanted to see if her dad was some scummy villain; no point in letting somebody like that know you're alive. I would have turned over the identification to Imogen and let her decide, if it had been anybody else." I toyed with my water glass. "I probably would have told her after I'd thought about it some more. She needs family, and you're a good person. I might have consulted somebody else first, though, seen how to handle it. Because it didn't come up through the paternity database, it was through the bat computer's personal files."
"It was a tough situation to be in," he said, then reached over for half my sandwich. "While I'm happy to know Imogen, it's brought up a lot of memories I'd rather not have revisited. I'm not blaming you for that, Lys."
"I appreciate that," I said remorsefully. "And I'm really sorry for what happened." We ate in silence, and I brought a bag of chips over. We crunched through half the bag. "I know a good therapist," I offered, and he laughed.
"Yeah, I called Dinah," he said. "I've got a recommendation for someone local, for both me and the family. Nobody's holding Imogen responsible, but having to explain what must have happened... is demoralizing and upsetting for everybody, including my daughter."
"Are you going to be ok, Uncle Richard?"
"I will be," he said. "I wish Catalina had told me. My kid shouldn't have had to grow up in foster care." He shook his head. "I saw the letter she left to Imogen. She should have at least told her, how to find me, something." He got up and poured some milk, waving the bottle at me, and I nodded. "But we've got plenty of room for her, and Joy and Ethan will have some time with her before they go back to school." They had a nice big brownstone in Brooklyn, and because Uncle Richard had been adopted by Grandpa Bruce, entitled to his share of the Wayne family trusts, money wouldn't be an issue either. We discussed things awhile longer, until Mom and Dad came downstairs, then he talked with them for a bit before departing. Mom and Dad talked with me a bit about Imogen. While they didn't disapprove of my use of the bat cave, they pointed out that things might have been less surprising and shocking all around if I'd brought them into the loop earlier. I could see their point. They had a late lunch, then we went to the game room to play video games until I had to get ready for my outing.
As expected, the streets of the city were crowded and I was more appreciative than ever that my pod could just drop me off. Nobody was rude deliberately, but even with my crutches people bumped into me. Justine, Nix, and Jinx were waiting in the restaurant and I was greeted with hugs. Then Mark and Ari arrived, followed shortly by Imogen, and we were seated. Conversation was pretty general until after we'd ordered.
"How are you dealing with everything?" Jinx asked Imogen. "It's a lot to take in over a very short time."
"OK," Imogen said after a slight hesitation. "It's going to take some getting used to."
"Well, nobody wants to be pushy, so if you want to talk, we'll listen," Justine said. "But we won't pester you for more than you want to talk about." We nodded.
"I appreciate that," Imogen said, then conversation turned to what everybody else had been doing over the Christmas break. Sleeping in, for the most part, goofing off, working. Then we talked about the reviews for the movie we were going to see, an action comedy. Nobody had wanted to see a tense political thriller, artsy independent movie, or soppy rom-com, which were the other real options besides kid's movies and Oscar bait that sounded more pretentious than watchable. Dinner was delicious, and we were at the theater just down the street in plenty of time. Ari noticed that the jostling was hard on me with my crutches, so he and Jinx walked on either side of me to kind of shield me from the worst of it. And that worked great, until somebody who was already drunk smashed into Jinx, who fell into me. Ari kept me from hitting the ground with a timely grab, but I still knocked the cast hard enough to bring tears to my eyes.
"This totally sucks," I gasped, trying to control my breathing.
The drunk guy said, "Hey, sorry, man," and lurched off, and Jinx got to his feet, glaring at the drunk. Fortunately the sidewalks had been treated with deicer and kept clear, so all he had to do was brush some granules off his coat and pick up my crutches.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah, it just hurts some," I said. And it did, but on the bright side, I told myself, it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been after the accident, so that was something. I wished that the anti-grav was stronger, but if they came any stronger, the doctor told me that they interfered with bone healing. Of course it would. We splurged on popcorn and drinks--Imogen carried mine for me--and found our seats in plenty of time to get settled in before the previews started. The stadium seats were incredibly comfortable, and they had recently been revamped to include the same kind of vision and hearing protection we'd enjoyed at the Queen concert at the Rosebud Ballroom.
The film was fun and smart and I enjoyed it thoroughly, but my ankle ached throughout. After the movie was over, we waited until everybody else had gone so I didn't have to try to hurry, and we left the theater after pulling on our gloves, hats, and scarves. It was darn chilly already, and it was only about nine. "Minus two," Mark said, looking at a nearby public service crawl on a building. I noted that Imogen had a new coat; Aunt Barbara must have noticed too. Like a lot of people in that generation, they're concerned about the cold, having suffered through the Great Winter in their afterlives or here on Earth. Makes me glad to have missed all that. They were talking about what to do next, and I had to bow out then.
"I'm sorry your night was ruined," Ari said, frowning.
"It wasn't ruined, I had a great time," I assured everybody. "And thanks to your reflexes, it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. So you guys go and find something else to do, just stay out of trouble," I said, smiling. So there were 'happy new years' and hugs all around and I called my pod. They waited until the door was closing to wave and move on, and I let the smile slip off my face. My ankle was throbbing pretty good by now. I hated being a wet blanket and missing out on the fun too but the alternative was that everybody would be hanging out in the waiting room and I didn't want to ruin their night. I had the pod circle as I got in touch with my doctor, who told me to go to an urgent care and have an x-ray; they could send him the image and he'd know what to do then. So the pod trundled off, and I relaxed into its warmth (seat heaters under the elegant silk upholstery warmed me up until the heater came on) and chatted with AI Tony. It was a short trip, and the urgent care was surprisingly not busy when I got there. I explained the problem and twenty minutes later swung my legs down from the x-ray table.
"Wow," the radiation tech said, studying the film before sending it to my doctor. "I've never seen reconstruction that extensive. The most pins I've ever seen was twenty-nine, and I thought that was pushing it. You're lucky they didn't amputate at the knee and regrow everything. But that would take years to complete." Nobody'd ever put it to me like that, and for a second the thought of having a new, strong ankle tempted me. But realistically, my dancing would still be over. Years to heal, a year or more getting the muscles strong enough to dance on... nope. He wheeled me to a consultation room to wait, and I thanked him. I was reflecting on things when the doctor came in, having heard from my regular doctor. The nerves, which had also been substantially damaged during the initial accident, were still healing and the good news was that they'd been jarred around enough to kick up a fuss, but the bone was ok.
"He's probably going to get a journal article out of this," the urgent care doctor said absently, looking at the film. "The reconstruction is remarkable, and you've done a great job following instructions, which is allowing it to heal at all. Amputation and regrowth is more usual, but it's even more painful, longer, and you'd be on crutches or in a wheelchair the whole time as well, since a prosthesis couldn't be fitted." Suddenly I felt a lot better. A few months on crutches, then rehab was a lot better than years on crutches. I'd be in college before I had a foot again. He gave me some painkillers and sent me on my way. As I left, a taxi pulled up, letting out a clutch of partiers, one bleeding profusely. I updated AI Tony and called my parents, who were just getting ready to leave the house.
They were waiting for me, and I felt bad about delaying them. They wanted to know if I would like them to stay, but I was going to be fine, just a little achy, and besides, they were all dressed up. They'd have to call the hosts to decline, and that would be a pain for everybody. And I was just going to watch TV until the ball dropped, read a little, and Mom wasn't one for TV. Dad always looks handsome in his tuxedo, and Mom was glowy as usual, but she had on a dark crimson dress from Uncle Steve that was gorgeous. Dad took me upstairs and Mom followed shortly after with a tray of snacks and goodies, including some sparkling apple cider. They got me settled in my window seat, lit a small fire, and took my coat, gloves, hat and scarf, making me promise to call if I needed anything.
Once my ankle died down some, I turned on the TV, rarely used, grazed on the snacks, having some celery and carrot sticks with dip to be good before raiding the supply of tiny spice cakes with vanilla glaze. And I had to admit that while I was sorry to be missing out on fun with my friends, I wasn't missing the crowds downtown, and it was nice to be warm and cozy with a stack of books to read. A light snow started, big fluffy flakes lazing toward the ground. Perfect. Just prior to midnight, I opened the apple cider and sipped as everybody in Times Square got ready for the ball drop. The countdown commenced, and I counted along, raising my glass at midnight. A band started to play and I watched the celebration for a bit before returning to my book. I went to bed around one, hoping that the upcoming year would be better overall, and with fewer doctor visits.