CHAPTER 38: BROOKE’S RESOLVE

"You’re doing great Miss Brooke, just try taking two more steps-" Jessica’s words of encouragement were cut short by Brooke falling on her face!

"Miss Brooke!" Hannah frantically rushed over to her, she helped get her off the floor and placed both of her arms on the rails.

"I’m sorry, I’ll do better. Just let me try again." Brooke pleaded.

"You’ve been at this for a day and half, you need to rest!" Hannah stressed.

"She’s right." Jessica seconded, wheeling her chair forward, "These things take time and can’t be rushed-"

"I know, but after today the audition is in a week! I don’t have the time to slack off." She kept saying, when ever these two tried getting her to stop practicing.

’I still can’t take a single step without the rails to keep me from falling, will I really be okay in a week?’ Brooke doubted.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the interruption from Lance, who had in his hand a tray of fruits for Brooke.

"Here, keeping your nutrition level high is important." He said, as Hannah helped her into her wheelchair.

"Thank you." She mouthed.

Brooke’s heart sunk.

It wasn’t him.

Thane hadn’t called her once the entire time he was away, and her worry grew stronger by the minute.

She had mustered up the courage and sent him a picture of the prosthetic leg, thanking him for it, but he didn’t respond to her message.

After her quick break, she got up again with Hannah’s help and rested both hands on the bars. "I think I’ll practice balance training a bit more. You guys can go on ahead."

"That’s out of the question, of course I’ll stay and practice with you!" Hannah declared, astonished that Brooke would think she’d leave her alone.

Jessica seconded, "And I’ll stay and study everything happening in case of any need for modifications."

But Brooke was persistent, "Please, I’m fine. And none of you have had anything to eat, you’ve been with me all morning. I’ll be fine, and don’t worry I won’t try anything without holding onto the bars."

Hannah tried insisting but Brooke begged her in a soft whisper, "Please, just let me do this."

Sensing she wanted to be alone, Hannah sighed in defeat and turned to leave. Jessica and Lance followed suit, leaving her to herself.

Once they were gone, she stared at the leg which was designed to look just like a real one, and even matched her skin tone perfectly. Danny told her that Thane had made double effort into mimicking her other leg, to match the prosthetic so people wouldn’t notice it.

"I just need to land this role, just for this audition, please, I need you to work." She chanted, right before she took her hands off the rails and tried walking.

The last time she had walked was years ago, before Cassie broke her leg, so her body had long since forgotten the balance of having two working legs and standing up straight.

"One..." She moved her working foot forward, and shifted her weight to the prosthetic.

But when she tried taking a step with the other leg, she lost her balance completely and ended up falling flat on her face.

Blood dripped from her nose to the floor.

"Oh no!" She immediately used her skirt to try wiping the blood off, before anyone noticed.

But she soon found herself wiping not just blood but tears as well.

"Huh? When did I start crying? It doesn’t even hurt, so why am I crying?" She forced herself to laugh at her silliness.

Wiping the blood and tears she went on, "They’ve already done so much and helped me thus far. Crying? How pathetic." She spat out, trying to psych herself into not crying.

But her tears wouldn’t stop.

Once she finished cleaning up, she used the bars to get up and tried walking again, refusing to give up.

Even if it meant crying while she did.

From the outside, Jessica and Hannah couldn’t bear to watch Brooke suffer and left to get word on Thane.

"His assistant says that he won’t be able to make it back for a month." Danny announced at the dining table.

"That’s quite long. I’m not sure Miss Brooke will be able to hold out long enough." Jessica stated.

Hannah who had recently been informed of Thane’s health was sworn to secrecy, not to tell Brooke about it.

"But do you think that woman can actually pull it off? Most people, no matter how good they are need at least two weeks." Danny voiced his doubts.

"I doubt it too, I fear that the leader was asking too much from her." Jessica replied, her eyes laced with sadness.

Hannah sighed, she had hoped so too, but from the way things were going, she doubted that Brooke would be ready in time for the audition.

Crash!

Thud

"Miss Brooke!" Hannah reacted first and ran to the hallway, she took a sharp right turn towards the practice room where the loud sound came from.

’Please be safe! Please be unhurt!’ Hannah prayed in her heart. The same went for the rest of the team, who were unaware Brooke had gone and snuck into the room for extra practice.

Hannah pushed the door furiously, her frightened eyes laid sight on Brooke, who had fallen yet again!

"Miss Brooke!" She bolted to her, fearing in her heart that she had broken something.

But when she got into a squat and helped her up, in place of a crying face of frustration, Brooke was grinning from ear to ear, despite her nosebleed.

"Hannah I did it!" She squealed in excitement, "I walked two steps just now!" Brooke announced proudly, forgetting about the little bruises on her arms from falling consistently.

"Miss Brooke?" Hannah blinked twice, not know whether to scold her or congratulate her on her achievement.

The rest of the team caught up and just like Hannah were tongue tied over the woman their leader was interested in.

Drunk on her happiness, she reached into her skirt pocket and took out her phone. She dialled Thane’s number and called him, eager to share the goodnews with him!