Unwelcomed Changes Part 12

Unwelcomed Changes

By Mer

Part 12

Rosslyn Long-Term Care (Sam's Room)

Sam ate his crummy breakfast and he sat in bed wondering what terror he could cause that day. He hoped that maybe he could visit Josh again and tell him some more lies. It had been hysterical to see Josh in so much anguish over something that he hadn't even done. And though bringing up Joanie probably wasn't the smartest idea, it was sure fun to torture Josh with those memories as well.

He pushed his breakfast tray away and he thought about ringing for a nurse so that she could bring him a wheelchair. But before he could do that the door swung open and he saw middle-aged doctor walk in. Sam wondered what fun things that he had in store for him.

"Hi Sam, I'm Dr. Aaron Parker." A doctor said after he came into Sam's room.

"Yeah so." Sam replied with a shrug of the shoulder.

"How about we take your cast off today?" Dr. Parker asked.

"Oh goody." Sam replied sarcastically.

"After we take the cast off you'll have to go through some pretty grueling physical therapy." Dr. Parker warned.

"Oh really?" Sam replied as he raised his eyebrows.

"Your leg was nearly severed and then it got infected, it's only by some amazing luck that you even still have it at all. But yeah I'd say that you have some extensive therapy and you may even need another surgery." Dr. Parker replied.

Sam had to roll his eyes at the cheeriness of the doctor. He allowed the doctor to help him into a wheelchair and he went to get his cast cut off. It was actually a lot cooler than he thought it was going to be. He just imagined that the saw cutting into the cast was really cutting into his so-called friends. It made the whole process go a lot faster.

After his cast was cut off he was wheeled to the physical therapy room. Sam groaned at the cheeriness of that room. It was painted bright yellow and there was a smiley face painted on the wall. Sam had to hold himself back from puking.

"Hi Sam. My name is Clarissa and I will be your Physical Therapist." A young blond woman said as she thrust her hand in Sam's face.

"Clarissa huh?" Sam replied as he loathingly shook her hand.

"What first day and you already hate me?" Clarissa asked with a fake shocked voice.

"You must have that affect on a lot of people." Sam said as he smiled a little too widely at her.

"Not usually at first, but don't worry your hatred will soon be warranted." Clarissa smiled brightly back at him.

"So what do you want me to get up and walk now?" Sam asked.

"I doubt you'll even be able to take a step." Clarissa laughed.

"Watch me." Sam replied as he got up and promptly fell right on his face.

He lay there on the mats wondering what the hell had gone wrong. The cast was off he should have been able to walk. Clarissa had stopped laughing and she was trying to help him up. He fought her off and he got back in the chair by himself.

"I don't need your help thank you." He replied curtly.

"If you don't need my help then why can't you walk?" Clarissa asked.

"I don't know." Sam replied gruffly.

"You don't have the muscle strength in your leg anymore. Your injury was pretty bad and it might take awhile before you'll be able to walk with crutches, let alone normally." Clarissa explained.

"Can't you just throw a brace on it and send me on my way?" Sam asked a little angrily.

"It doesn't work that way." Clarissa replied.

"Why doesn't it?" Sam demanded.

"Because your body needs time to heal Sam." Clarissa explained as she stretched his leg out slowly.

"Stop that, it hurts." Sam demanded.

"It's gonna hurt a lot, but if I don't work with it your never going to be able to walk on it again." Clarissa countered.

"Has anyone ever told you that you are a royal bitch?" Sam asked.

"All the time." Clarissa replied and she began to stretch his leg out again, causing Sam to scream out in pain.

Georgetown Hospital

Josh lay very still as he was placed in the CT Scan machine. They told him to try not to move. Josh had to kind of laugh at that because he didn't really have anywhere else to go. And not only that but he couldn't use his one arm to push himself up with and he couldn't see so laying still was a really good thing for him.

He was kind of afraid of what the test would show. As much as he hated being blind, it wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be. The drawback was the fact that it would be hard for him to work like he normally did. People would stare at him as he worked his way down the familiar hallways with a cane or whatever blind people used. But then again it wasn't as if he would be able to see their stares.

He sighed a deep sigh. What Sam had told him really was starting to bother him. In fact, it had bothered him so much that he had barely gotten any sleep the night before. He had almost gotten them killed. He wished more than anything that he had not paused on the stairs to have a PTSD episode. Stanley had assured him that those would stop, but apparently Stanley was wrong.

Sam probably wasn't going to be able to forget that it was his fault. He bit his lip as he wondered how he could make it up to Sam. Then he remembered that Leo said Sam was different. Sam had seemed to be a bit nastier than usual. But maybe he was just imagining that. Or it could have been from the fact that Sam was mad at him for almost getting them killed.

Josh closed his eyes for a moment as he thought about that. He couldn't really blame Sam for being mad at him. His mom had almost acted the same way after Joanie died. And he had tried hard to win her back over, but it was hard. He didn't want to go through that again with Sam. If Sam wanted to hate him, he decided that he was going to just let Sam hate him.

They told him that the test was over and then he was led to another room where a doctor came to look at him. Josh didn't catch the doctor's name, but he smelled of expensive cologne and seemed to have a righteous air about him. Josh knew that he had to be a Republican.

The doctor said that he was shining a light into Josh's eyes and Josh could feel a slight burning sensation from the light as the doctor moved it back from one eye to the other. He also felt the doctor tugging up and down on his eyelids. He wanted to tell the doctor to stop, but he decided that it probably wouldn't make a difference. The guy probably hated him for being a member of a Democratic President's Senior Staff.

"What's the word, Doc?" Josh asked after he no longer felt the burning sensation of the light.

"We are still waiting the results of your CT Scan. And its Dr. Schwartz to you" The doctor replied curtly.

Josh thought very little of this doc's bedside manor. Not to mention his name sounded like he belonged in the movie Spaceballs. But then he hated hospitals and doctors, so he probably was a little bias against him to start with. This doctor just seemed like a doctor from hell though.

"Damn." The doctor muttered after Josh heard someone enter the room.

Josh could hear some sort of paper being looked it. The doctor muttered something to whoever it was and Josh heard the door open and shut again. He wasn't sure that he liked the sound of that curse word.

"We have to run some more tests on you." Dr. Schwartz replied.

"Why?" Josh asked quietly.

"Because the CT Scan showed an abnormality." Dr. Schwartz answered.

Josh was forced to shallow back a lump from his throat. He didn't like the sound of that. An abnormality sounded a little too ominous for his liking. Before he could protest he was helped into a wheelchair and whisked away for some more tests.

They poked and prodded him to get some blood and then he had to have an MRI. He wasn't sure what that meant, but all he knew was that he had to lie very still again. Josh felt like he was being treated as if he had some sort of freakish disease.

After the MRI he was taken to a hospital room and helped into bed. The nurse said that he needed to be admitted. He was already supposed to be in another hospital so he tried to protest but the nurse just told him that he was going to stay there for the night.

Someone brought him a tray of food for dinner but he couldn't really eat any of it. Besides his sudden lack of appetite he didn't really have a way to eat. He could only use one of his arms and he couldn't even see the meal anyway. All he was able to do was drink the milk that they had given him, and he hadn't even been able to drink all of that without spilling a little on him.

Josh pushed the tray away and he laid back on the pillows. He wondered what in the hell was wrong with him. There had to be something otherwise he would have been allowed to go back to the rehab hospital. His eyes hurt from the bright lights of the room. He wondered if that was a good sign or not. He decided it probably wasn't because he still was unable to see a single thing.

"Mr. Lyman we have the results of your tests in." Dr. Schwartz replied.

"It's Josh." Josh replied absently.

"I only use the last names of my patients." Dr. Schwartz replied in a booming voice.

"So lay it on me doc? What's the verdict, am I gonna die?" Josh asked in a joking voice.

"You just might." Came the somber reply.

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