Page 8 of Second Chances

“Normality?” I’m not entirely sure what he means.

“It appears you have a new home next door to your family, whether you like it or not.” The counselor chuckles. “Why don’t we let you go there … after consultation with Matthew Carter, of course, because he scares the shit out of me. You’ll have good and bad days, but I think the crux of all your problems is under control. We’ll still meet, but there’s little to be achieved by you staying here now. As your father says, it’s time to go and be with your family. What do you think?”

A heavy weight lifts off my chest. I can’t believe what I’ve just heard. To be part of a family is something I’ve wanted for so long, and now it’s happening. I can hear my mother still weeping next to me. I squeeze her tighter.

“I’d like that very much.”

Chapter Three

Elena

After the nightmare dinner with my mother the evening before, Wednesday doesn’t go much better for me. A student hurt themselves during a lesson, and I had to call the girl’s parents to collect her and take her to the hospital for a checkup. I didn’t think it was anything major, just a minor sprain, but these parents are overprotective of their child and spoil her. Despite the fact the little girl had been ignoring my warnings not to swing on the bars or try and rotate around them, when she hurt herself, her parents blamed me. According to her mother, I wasn’t watching the children and had let them run riot. Furthermore, she had no idea what she was paying for because her daughter wasn’t learning anything. The mother eventually left me with a warning that she’d be contacting Amy the second she was back in the car. About ten minutes later, I had a call from my boss. Thankfully, Amy knew the girl in question so understood it wasn’t my fault. The mother was threatening to sue the dance school, so I had to spend most of my evening writing a report identifying everything that had happened and confirming I’d followed correct procedure in case it went to court. Knowing Amy, she’d make the complaint disappear before that happened even though she didn’t have to because everything was handled correctly. She would solve it either with a visit from her bodyguard, Sonia, or by throwing money at the problem. The latter option most likely being the desired outcome of the irate mother. What was it with pushy mothers? I was never the sort to mess around in class. I’d been diligent in my studies, but accidents do happen, and my own mother never let me forget it.

I need to rest. Turning the TV on, I flick through the channels. I have a full Sky package, and I manage to find a box set of my favorite DIY program, featuring two brothers who help out house buyers: one of them assists with the purchase of the property, and the other renovates it. I pause the TV, and grabbing a bottle of wine and a tub of chocolate ice-cream from the fridge, I settle in an evening marathon of dream homes. It’s just what I need to help me forget all my problems…

“Hurry-up, Elena!” my mother shouts at me from behind the steering wheel of her massive Land Rover. We live in a city, so why someone needs a vehicle as big as hers is beyond me.

“I’m coming,” I shout at her and wrap my long scarf around my neck. It’s winter and cold out. Snow fell last night, and there’s even talk of a first white Christmas in years. It probably won’t happen, though. I’m careful as I walk along the path—I didn’t have time to change out of my ballet shoes, because my mother was in a hurry to get me home before going back out to her dinner function. I’ll probably get shouted at for ruining the fabric on them when I get in the car, but they aren’t my favorite pair, so I’m not that bothered.

“Elena,” my best friend, Pippa Adley, shouts at me. “You forgot your bag.”

“Damn it,” I curse and spin on my feet. The ballet shoes I’m wearing don’t have a grip on the ice, and I go flying over. I know I’ve broken my leg the instant I land. I hear the crack as blinding pain shoots through my limb, and I struggle to stay conscious.

“Elena!” Pippa screams, and she runs toward me. My mum sounds her car horn again and opens the car door to see where I’ve gone. When she sees me lying on the ground with red seeping through my ballet tights, she goes white as a sheet and gets out of the car. I look down at my leg. There is bone sticking out. I’ve seriously broken it. It’s bad … really bad.

“What happened?” My mum is beside me on the ground.

“I slipped,” I reply, and she pulls her mobile out of her pocket.

She dials a number. “Ambulance, please.”

I breathe rapidly, and my head spins as a large crowd assembles around us.

“Mum,” I manage to whisper before passing out.

* * *

Idon’t know how much later it is when I wake up in hospital, but I have machines attached to me.

“Mum!” I shout, not knowing what’s happening and feeling terrified. The chair next to me scrapes on the floor.

“I’m here. Don’t try and move. Just rest,” she smiles at me reassuringly.

“What happened?” I try to stop the tears forming in my eyes from escaping.

“Do you remember falling over on the ice?”My mother strokes my hand. I can tell she’s been here a long time. She’s not her usual neat and tidy self, and she looks tired around her eyes.

“I...I” Trying to think back, I remember Pippa calling me and then pain … blood. So much of it. “My leg?” I try to sit up, but my mum pushes me back down.

“Rest, please, Elena.” Her voice breaks as she urges me to stay still.

I angle my head, so I can see my leg. It’s suspended in the air with metal bars coming out of it and plaster encasing it.

“Oh, god.” I cry. “How bad is it?”

“You suffered a compound fracture. The doctors rushed you straight into surgery to fix it,” my mother explains.

“It looks so bad.” Tears are now streaming down my face, but before I get to ask my mother any further questions, the door to my private room opens, and a man wearing a white coat walks in with a nurse next to him.

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