Chapter 6 - The Ascent
It has been two years since the night on the rooftop.
I am sitting on a bench in the park, the sun warming my face. I am not in a wheelchair. I am using a cane, and my gait is hesitant, but I am moving. Every step is a victory, a reclamation of the body Brooke had tried to steal from me.
I work at the clinic again. I don't run along the lakefront anymore, but I walk. I walk long, slow miles, feeling the pavement beneath my feet, grateful for the simple, agonizing joy of gravity.
Julian stopped by the clinic today. He’s happy. He’s traveling, finally living a life that isn't dictated by the expectations of his peers. We share coffee sometimes, talking about the past like a movie we watched a long time ago.
I don't hear from Brooke. She’s serving her time, and the silence from her end is the greatest gift she ever gave me.
My mother calls occasionally, wanting to "heal the family," but I don't answer. I am no longer the responsible one who has to hold the pieces together. I am just Claire.
May you like
I stand up from the bench, leaning on my cane, and look out over the city skyline. It’s beautiful, clean, and bright. I have no sister, no shadow, and no debts. I have a life. And for the first time, that is more than enough.
I take a step. Then another. And I keep walking, toward a future that is finally, entirely, my own.
