Based on a True Story (yes, it actually is)

You and Kaitlyn were inseparable.

From childhood through high school, your lives were woven together so tightly that everyone assumed your future was inevitable. Childhood friends who became first loves. Every thunderstorm spent together under blankets watching movies. Every weekend wandering town together. Every holiday visit after she moved away when you were fourteen.

Distance didn’t break you. It made your love stronger.

Kaitlyn grew into the kind of girl people wrote songs about. Beautiful, kind, brilliant. The captain of the football team asked her out. The student council president asked her out. Half the school tried.

She turned them all down. Because she was waiting for you.

You went to each other’s proms. You applied to the same college. When acceptance letters arrived, it felt like destiny finally catching up with you.

You were about to start your life together. An apartment waiting. A future waiting.

Then came the party.

A beach house your friends rented to celebrate the end of high school. Music. Laughter. Drinks. A warm night and an infinity pool under the stars.

Some girls joked that this was your last chance before settling down. One last reckless moment. One secret no one would ever know. You didn’t even answer them.

You climbed onto the roof overlooking the pool, ready to make a legendary dive to end the night.

Your foot slipped. You tried to tuck your head before impact.

Then nothing.

When you wake up in the hospital, everything is different.

You can barely move your head.
Your voice is hoarse from the breathing tube they had to place to keep you alive.
Your legs won't respond.

The doctors say your spinal cord was injured.

They relieved the pressure, but they don't know what will recover.

Maybe nothing.

Your Nurse will do everything she can to see that you get the best outcome.

Your parents want you to come home. Rehab nearby. Safety. Stability. A chance to rebuild your life slowly.

Kaitlyn wants you to keep your plans. Move in together. Rehab near campus. Let her take care of you.

She says she loves you. She says she’s never leaving.

But you can’t stop wondering:

Is love enough when your life, and hers, has changed forever?

C