The Hard-Won Happiness
“Hello, Tom! Wow, your car is amazingbrand new!” Katie called out as she passed the grandparents’ cottage and spotted him in the yard.
“Hey, Katie. Yeah, its newbirthday gift from my parents. Thought Id drive down to the village to thank Gran and Grandad. They paid for most of it.”
“Tom, give me a ride! Better yetlet me drive. Im learning in the city, havent finished my lessons yet, but I know how. Come on, Ill take you for a spin,” she insisted.
Tom agreed. She was his childhood friend, just like Veronicatheyd been a trio, spending every holiday here in the countryside while their families stayed in the nearby town. Veronicas gran lived next door to Toms. But Veronica was studying medicine now and rarely visited.
Katie took the wheel, Tom beside her. They sped down the dirt road outside the village. What happened nextno one saw. The car ended up in a ditch. Katie walked away with bruises. Tom wasnt so lucky. Broken bones, serious damage. Then the doctors shook their headsnothing more they could do. He was confined to a wheelchair.
Toms parents blamed themselves for buying him the car too soon. He never told them Katie had been driving. His mother couldnt leave work, so they made a decision.
“Tom, were sending you to Gran and Grandads. You shouldnt be alone in the flat all daywe dont know what you might think. The fresh air will do you good, and Gran will look after you.”
“Whatever,” he muttered. He didnt care. Hed shut down, dropped out of universitydespite the offers to continue remotely. His grades were perfect, the professors knew him. But he refused.
Katie never came back to the village. Guilt, maybesome had seen her behind the wheel. But Tom took the blame.
—
Veronica gripped the wheel of her white car, pride swelling in her chest. At twenty, her dream had finally come true. Shed wanted to drive since she was thirteen. Glancing in the mirror, she smiled.
“Gran will be so surprised!” She imagined the reunion. “And Katie should see me now. Better yetTom.”
Theyd all grown up together, summers spent racing through fields, picking daisies. Tom had never favoured one over the otherthough Veronica liked to think hed leaned her way, sneaking her sweets, an apple, those wildflowers. Katie probably thought the same.
Now, they were adults. Lives in the city, separate pathsbut in the village, they slipped back into old rhythms.
“Exams are done,” Veronica mused. “Katie and Tom must be back by now. Shame we dont meet as often.”
She pulled up to the cottage and honked. GranClaraappeared on the porch, beaming.
“Veronica, my girl!” She crushed her in a hug, kissing both cheeks. “Oh, Ive missed you!”
“Gran, look! My carMum and Dad gave it to me for my birthday!”
Grans smile faltered. “I see, love.”
“Is Tom here?” Veronica asked.
“He is. But dont go yet,” Clara said heavily.
“Why not?” Before Gran could answer, Veronica dashed next door.
She froze at the gate. Tom sat in the gardenin a wheelchair.
“Hi,” she managed. “Its good to see youwhat happened?”
“Nothing special,” he muttered, not meeting her eyes. “Just went for a drive.”
“In whose car?”
“Mine.”
“How?” Tears pricked her eyes, but she swallowed them when she saw his glare.
“You here to pity me?” he snapped. “I dont need that. Go home, Veronica.”
It hit her then. Hed always called her “Roni.” Never “Veronica.” This was bad.
“Go. I didnt ask you to come.”
“Whats wrong with you?”
“I said *leave*.”
She turned and ran.
—
Gran sat her down at the table. “Eat something.”
“Im not hungry.”
“Neither am I. But appetite comes with eating.”
“Granwhat happened to Tom?”
“His parents gave him the car. He and Katie went for a drive. They say *she* was driving.”
“And her?”
“Just bruises. Tomwell, you saw.”
—
Next day, Veronica returned.
“Back to pity me?” Tom sneered.
“Pity you? Please.” She crossed her arms. “I feel sorry for kids fighting for their liveskids with *no* future, scraping for surgeries, still winning gold medals. You? Youre just sitting there feeling sorry for yourself.”
“*Just*?”
“Yes! You havent even tried!”
“The doctors said”
“Doctors dont know everything! Ive worked in hospitalsIve seen miracles! People come back from the dead, Tom! If you fight, you *win*.”
He stared. Thenslowlysmiled.
“Whatre you suggesting?” His voice was softer now. “Tea?”
She smiled back. “Yes.”
—
Shed planned to stay a week. She stayed all summer.
Every day, she pushed his wheelchair through their childhood hauntseven the strawberry field. It was exhausting, but she never complained. Her victory? He called her “Roni” again.
As holidays ended, she said, “Tomwhat if you came to the city? Lived with me?”
“How?”
“Normally.” Her pulse raced, but she kept calm. “My terms starting. Ill be busy with placements.”
“*Live* together?”
“If youre that old-fashionedthen propose.”
“Roni, your parentswhatll they say? A son-in-law in a wheelchair?”
He knew she cared. But this?
She grinned. “Or am I not good enough?”
“Im the one whos not”
“Tom. Yes or no?”
“I never even dreamed”
—
Her father roared. “I wont let you marry a cripple! Youre throwing your life away!”
“Ill get him walking again!”
“Youre a *student*, not a miracle worker!”
“He needs surgery. The doctor says hell walk if it works.”
“Veronica, think! Youll be his nurse, not his wife!”
But she married him. Only Gran stood by her.
—
The surgery came. The recovery was long. But Tom stood. First shakilythen strong.
Months later, they visited her parents, their baby boyOliverin tow.
“Look how big hes gotten!” Her father cooed. Eight months old.
“Mum, Dadmind Ollie? Were going out. Todays specialthe day we knew we couldnt live apart.”
“Go, enjoy!”
At the café, Tom took her hand.
“Roni, I love you. Youre everything to meyou and Ollie. I swear Ill never hurt you. Never.”
She looked at himher husbandand knew. This happiness? It was hard-won.
