Recovery of a Hero Ch. 04

We got our trays and went through the buffet line and got what we wanted , then found a large table where Dar's wheel chair would fit.

Dar looked at us all and said, "I want to thank you for a very enjoyable day. I've had more fun today than I've had for a long time, and it's because of you girls. Thank you."

I got a bit misty eyed and the others looked a bit embarrassed to. We all thanked Dar for the pizza. We waited until Dar's pizza was brought to the table and then we ate. There wasn't much talking, so I think we were all hungry.

After we were finished, Dar said, "I think it's time we went to meet George now. I bet he'll have enough room in the car to take you girls home if you want a ride. The others agreed, so we went out front where I had asked George to pick me up.

George wasn't there yet, so Dar asked me to help him get out a cigarette. I did and lit it for him.

He thanked me and smoked it while we waited. After he finished, he pulled himself over to one of the outdoor ashtrays and put it out, saying, "I don't like it when people just throw them on the ground. Starts fires and looks bad." I just shrugged.

Shortly after that, while we were talking, George pulled up. He had his truck this time, and it looked like a bunch of stuff in the back.

When he got out, I asked him if he thought there was enough room for all of us and he said, "Sure. Now lets see, I know these 2, but who are your new friends."

I said, "This is Nancy and her cousin Ellen." We met at the cheerleader tryouts. Then they came here with us since they were coming here anyway. Then Dar bought us lunch, and now we're waiting for our ride to show up."

George said, "Happy to meet you ladies."

"Hey George, did ya get it all?" asked Dar.

George smiled at Dar and said, "Yes. Did you leave anything?"

Dar chuckled and said, "Yea. They still have the shelves."

"I have an idea," said George. "How bout you girls call your folks and ask if you can come home with Sally and me for Dinner? I'm sure she'd like the company for a change."

The others agreed and got out their cell phones and quickly got permission. George gave them his cell number and our home number, and then we loaded up and went home. I thought, this out to be fun tonight. I hadn't had friends over since school got out.

When we got home, George said, "Ok ladies, Sally has to take Dar in, so I need some help taking all this in. You willing?"

They all agreed, so while I took Dar to his room, they helped George unload the truck. I was real curious about what was in there after what George had said to Dar. Now that I new he had money, I wondered what he'd bought for himself. Little did I know.

After Dar had cleaned up, I took him into the family room with the others, then I went up to my room and cleaned up a and put on some clean clothes.

When I got back down stairs, I was surprised to see that nobody was there. I checked out back, but still nobody. Since I already knew they weren't upstairs, I went down to the basement. They were in the corner by Georges desk putting together what looked like a computer desk.

I walked over and asked them what they were doing, and George said that they were just putting together a desk that Dar had bought.

I saw that there were several other boxes, and asked about them. George said that it was some other stuff that Dar had gotten.

Dar looked at me and said, "Hey Sally, lets take the girls out back and show em the pool. If they like it they might come over now and then. I agreed, although I was still curious about the boxes.

We got Dar on the stair lift and went upstairs and out the kitchen door to the back.

Nancy looked at the pool and said, "Wow. You weren't kidding about a pool."

Shelly said, "Nope. Nice, ain't it?"

Sandra said, "We come over all the time to swim. It's fun when you don't have to scramble to get a decent place by the water.

I agreed, but I also said, "I do like to go to the lake now and then, but no crowds is nice."

"Can we come over now and then?" asked Ellen.

Dar said, "That would be easier than hiring someone to come get you and drag you over to toss into the pool. That gets expensive after about 2 or 3 times."

We all laughed at his joke. He seemed happier than he had since his aunt had told him he could stay here. I was now glad that I had taken him with me to the tryouts today.

About that time, George came out with a tray of cokes.

"Is it ready now?" asked Dar.

George said, "I may not be in your class with that kind of stuff, but I do know a bit. Yes it's ready."

"Great" said Dar. "Lets go back into the basement and see."

So back down stairs we went.

When we got there, I saw that the desk that George had set up now had a computer on it. The monitor looked like a small T.V. it was so big.

I looked at Dar and asked, "So you got yourself a new computer? Why did you have it set up here instead of in your room?"

"Because it isn't for me." he said.

"Then who's it for?" I asked.

He looked at me and just said, "You."

I couldn't believe it. There must have bee $2,000 worth of stuff there at least.

I couldn't help myself. I started crying. All I could say is "Why?"

Dar looked at me and said, "The computer you gave me wasn't your old one. It was brand new. You spent all your free time with me since I've been here with me instead of seeing your friends. When I want a cup of coffee, it's almost always you that gets it."

When you found out about the cheerleading competition, I asked George if he could help me see about what was happening with my pay. I'm 100% disabled with the Army now so I get a good pension from the V.A. I get another pension from the Navy since I was working for them when I got hurt. I get a lot of money every month."

"So, I asked George if I could get you something special. You've given me something special so I wanted to give you something special. You gave me back my hope. I was ready to die in that hospital and you gave me a chance to live again. That is for you."

I couldn't say anything to that, so I ran over to Dar and hugged him tight. He hugged me back, and said "Go look at it and see if you like it."

I went over and looked. The system was a huge case with 2 cd drives in it and 2 floppy drives. It had 4 speakers, and I saw a set of headphones. The monitor had to be at least a 20 inch or bigger. I turned it on and it booted really fast. Even faster than the one I had given Dar.

When it finished, I said "Wow. This is incredible. Are you sure this isn't for you, Dar?"

He laughed and said, "No. I got the good stuff. This is just a cheap off the shelf full tower system. Hope you like it though.

Cheap off the shelf system? I didn't know nearly as much about computers as George or Dar, but I new this wasn't a cheap system.

The other girls came over and looked at it saying things like "Oh wow." I had to agree, and I couldn't think of anything else to say.

George said to Dar, "I don't think she likes it. Can I have it?"

Dar chuckled at that and said, "Too late. I already got a hug, and she hugs better than you. Bought and paid for with that."

George laughed at Dar.

Janny came walking down the stairs while we were looking at the computer. She asked, "Where did that come from?"

George said, "Dar got it for Sally as a thank you for her helping him."

"Dar," said Janny, "You didn't have to spend that much money."

Dar said, "It's my money, and I wanted to. She hasn't had much of a summer vacation because she's spent so much time with me. If I was paying for that kind of care, it would cost a lot more than that puter."

Janny didn't say anything about that. She just walked over to Dar and said, "Thank you for letting me keep my husband. Sally is thanking you for letting her keep a brother. Erica is thanking you for letting her keep a brother. We all agreed to this before you came here.

The only reason Sally spends most days with you is because Erica is in school and George and I work. But we all take turns because you took the risk and got hurt saving George. You really don't owe us anything."

Dar said, "I owe you my sanity. I owe you my life for getting me out of that hospital. When I could think clearly, I was seriously thinking about suicide. I was going insane there. You rescued me from that, and Sally has paid the most for that rescue. I did owe her for that."

George cut in and said, "Don't argue with him. He'll just get mad and get you something too."

Dar smiled and said, "That reminds me. Now where's that last pair of boxes? Hhhmmmm.

"Uh oh," said George.

Janny said, "What?"

Sandra picked up a box off the floor and said, "You mean this?"

Dar said, "That's the one. Could you bring it here please?"

Sandra took it over to him, and he handed it to Janny and said, "This is for you."

She looked at Dar for a second, and opened it up. Inside was a brand new Sanyo lap top.

Janny took a deep breath and said, "Well I guess it isn't worth arguing with you, is it?"

Dar just said, "Nope. You'd loose."

Janny said, "You really are a sweet man. Thank you. Now what's that other box you mentioned?"

"For Erica," Dar said.

When Erica got home, Dar gave her another package like the one for Janny. Sure enough, another lap top.

Erica didn't even bother to argue. She just started crying like I had, and hugged Dar and thanked him. I don't think I'd seen Erica cry since Uncle Sammy died last year. This had started out to be a wonderful summer for me. 2 new friends, and I'd made it onto the Cheer leaders squad, which I had wanted to do for a long time. Thanks to Dar, I had my friends coming over all the time now and he seemed happiest when there were a bunch of us kids here playing.

I hoped the summer would continue like this.

This ends chapter 4. Sally will continue with Chapter 5.