Anything but Ordinary Read Online Free Page B

wrench.
    “I’ve been awake for two months, and we still don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t really see the point of me being here if we’re just going to sit around not knowing. Why can’t we ‘not know’ at home, where I’m happy?”
    Dr. Warren cut in. “The more we observe, the more we know. We can’t observe you there.”
    Bryce had to laugh. “That’s kind of the point.”
    Dr. Warren shook her head.
    Her father cleared his throat, glancing at his wife then back to the doctor. “For the record, I also think Bryce should stay, and she knows that.”
    Bryce put her head in her hands.
    “But—” he said quickly. Bryce looked up. “I can assure you, if you do release Bryce like she wants, we will be dedicated to her recovery to the utmost degree. We will be vigilant about her medication and her training.”
    Dr. Warren smiled wryly. “I don’t doubt that.”
    “Please.” Bryce snatched the file off the desk and flipped through the pages. “You have enough. Please. I have to see if I can get back to normal.”
    “Well.” She held out her hand for Bryce’s file. Bryce handed it back to her. “I can’t say we didn’t anticipate this. You’ve been asking to go home every day since you woke up.” She looked at Bryce. “If you decide to discharge, there’s nothing I can do. You’re legally an adult. But as your doctor I am telling you, as I have told you numerous times, it’s in your best interest to stay.”
    Bryce’s heart beat wildly now. If you decide to discharge was a phrase she had never heard before. The words lingered, hanging in the air.
    Before Dr. Warren could clarify, Bryce sputtered, “I decide to discharge!”
    Dr. Warren smiled. “It doesn’t quite work like that.” Her seriousness returned. “Your condition is stable, but there’s no way we will let you leave without maintaining an attentive record of how you’re doing. I will expect you to come in for evaluations.”
    “Fair enough.” Bryce suppressed a smile and shrugged.
    “Well, then. Let’s pull up the paperwork.” Dr. Warren held the door open for Bryce’s parents, her father loping behind her mother.
    While her parents got the car, Bryce wheeled to the front desk. Her legs were twitching with impatience as Dr. Warren wrote out prescriptions and schedules.
    “Hey,” a voice said behind her. She turned to see Carter, who was wearing an enormous backpack. He smiled wide at her, his eyes crinkling in the corners. Freckles dotted his cheeks.
    “Guess what?” Bryce almost shouted. Before he could say “What?” she squealed, “I’m going home!”
    “Oh,” he said, looking surprised. “Right now?”
    “Right now. I don’t even have to wait for a van. My parents are going to try to fit my chair in the back of their SUV.”
    “Well, hot damn,” he said, feeling for the pen he always kept behind his ear. He looked a little crestfallen but managed a smile. “The neurology wing is going to be so boring without anyone demanding obscure trivia from me.”
    “You’re not going home for summer break?”
    “Ha,” he let out. “No such thing as summer break in med school.”
    “Sorry,” Bryce said, smiling. “But at least everyone is going to get their lunch faster.”
    He hesitated for a moment, then ripped off a corner of the sign-in paper and scrawled his number on it. “In case you ever need anything. Five-letter word for underneath or whatever.”
    “Below.” Bryce smiled.
    “Give your parents my best.”
    “There they are,” Bryce said as a large black vehicle pulled up in front of the outpatient doors.
    Carter got behind her, pushing Bryce across the lobby. Since she’d gained the strength to use her chair, Bryce had dismissed anyone who wanted to wheel her around like an infant. But Carter had done it without a word, and though she could hear his sneakers padding across the floor, he seemed to barely be there.
    The midmorning light swept in through the automatic doors, opening