TW: This chapter covers Anne’s PTSD after the car accident, if you’re sensitive to this type of thing, please skip this chapter.

Anne blinked, her eyes adjusting to the bright lights shining on her. When they did, she looked slowly at her surroundings. The monitor showing her heartbeat, the cast of her arm, and the pain in her left leg, the same one she felt that day, all made it clear where she was. She lifted her head, her leg felt a bit off. She still felt it, like she did before, but it didn’t feel like it was completely there, as if it wasn't whole.

Just as she began to look, the door swung open, catching her attention. Elena and Andrea came in talking and holding bags of food.

“Mom..?” Anne said, her voice was raspy, her throat felt sore. Elena turned her head quickly. “Annie? Oh my god, Annie!” She exclaimed.

Elena ran over, hugging her tight. “Annie, how do you feel? Do you hurt anywhere?” She asked, holding Anne’s head in both her hands. Elena’s tears poured out like a fountain. Her child was alive and she was finally awake.

Anne consoled her mother, showing her she was alright. Anne looked over at Andrea, still standing near the door. Andrea stood in shock. Her eyes, wide. Anne had never seen Andrea look that way, with pure shock and fear in her eyes.

“Momma? Are you-” Anne started before she and Elena were squished into a big hug. Andrea sobbed, harder than anyone ever could. “I’m so sorry, Anne!” She cried. “I- I should’ve told you to sit in the middle, or gotten the car past quicker-” She continued before Elena got upset.

“Andrea, stop it, none of this was your fault, that girl wasn’t paying attention to the road and hit you. Not the other way around!” She yelled. Anne looked at her parents, they seemed so worried but she felt mostly fine. She felt the odd feeling in her leg again and took the sheet off herself, her eyes widening.

“Anne, it...it needed to be taken off...your leg was badly injured from the car impact.” Andrea explained, wiping her face. Anne stared at her bandaged leg, just above where her knee should be, only the top remained. The other half was gone. She was speechless. Elena patted her head.

“Annie?” Elena asked, hoping she’d say something in response. Anne’s mind was in a thousand places. “My leg is gone..?” She managed to mutter out. Andrea nodded, sitting next to Anne as Elena kneeled in front. Anne stared at her leg a few seconds more, before her heart finally caught up to her. Her eyes watered, the tears dripping down her face.

The leg she ran with, the leg she skated with, the leg she used to jump into leaf piles with, it was gone. It wasn’t there anymore. She cried, her moms holding her, doing anything they could to stop her grief.

“So, she can’t walk anymore?” Eren asked, staring at Anne’s leg. The kids sat in the hospital room with their parents and Anne’s. Andrea shook her head. “A few months from now, she’ll get a prosthetic.”

“You mean that fake leg thing?” Theo asked. “Well, not a ‘fake’ leg, per se, it’s what people call an artificial one. From when she gets it and onward, that’ll be her left leg.” Andrea said, patting Anne on the back.

Anne had been quiet since she woke up. It had been three days and she seemed unresponsive to anything except food. Even then, she’d barely eat any. Andrea rubbed her back, frowning. Elena sighed, watching Anne looking not like herself. 

For a while after that, Anne walked around with crutches. She was moving again for the time being and she was healthy. Anne, however, didn’t feel good mentally for a long while. Constant nightmares of the accident, hallucinations when walking around, and not wanting to walk down the street alone or at all became a part of Anne’s regular fears. When driving her to school, Andrea always drove a bit slower. She worried about Anne and still regretted that she couldn’t do anything to keep her from getting injured that day.

Anne came home one evening with Andrea and started to walk up the stairs before Andrea stopped her. “Annie, I wanna talk to you for a bit.” She said. Anne turned her head, she looked so tired, maybe it was from school or the fact that she was so stressed she could barely get to sleep at night.

 Anne sat down with her mom on the couch. “Annie, I know you’ve been really tired lately, and your mom and I have been talking,” Andrea started. “We don’t like that you’re having trouble sleeping and such, we thought you might like to try going to a therapist?” She asked, placing her hands on Anne’s.

“A therapist? But I’m not sick…” Anne said. “No, honey, therapists can help with more than sick people. You talk to them about your fears and worries, and they tell you how to properly care for them.” Andrea says.

“Like a doctor.” Anne states. “Yeah, something like a doctor, a doctor for your brain and heart,” Andrea responds.

Anne thinks about it. “Will they make the nightmares stop?” She asks. “I’m sure they’ll find a way to help them go away, hun.” Andrea hugged her. Anne thought about it a bit more, before nodding. She wanted the nightmares to stop. A few months after starting therapy, she finally got her prosthetic leg. The only problem was the people at school. Most people would make snarky side remarks or whisper but Paige Berkeley was the worst of those bullies. She would go from making comments to tripping Anne, to destroying her belongings, to yelling things to scare her while walking home.

It never became worse than that, but when she found out Eren, a close friend of Anne’s, liked boys, she started bullying him. Eren however, was indifferent to basic rumors and lazy snarky remarks. This only made Paige try harder.