Chapter Fifteen
Nick was scared, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to go
to physical therapy. There were so many things that he
didn’t know how his body would respond, or if it would
respond. He couldn’t ignore the therapist that was standing
in his room next to his bed with the orderly.
“Are you having second thoughts, Nick?” the
therapist named Linda replied cheerfully.
She’s a little too perky for me, Nick thought to
himself as he attempted to move to the edge of the bed. He
still didn’t have all of the feeling in his legs back yet,
they felt numb and tingly so he was still unable to stand up
yet and they didn’t move when he wanted them to move. Dr.
Gaynor felt that in time, with the physical therapy, his
legs would start to regain normal feeling again.
“Now, Nick, I want you to try to get yourself into
the chair, I know that the orderlies and the nurses have
been helping you up to this point, but I think you’re able
to do this on your own.” Linda ordered.
Nick looked at her and put on a fake smile. He
hated being so helpless and he just knew that he would fall
to the floor, he didn’t trust himself one bit.
“Awh, comeon Nick, I know you can do it, think
positively.” Jess was standing off in the corner of the
room.
Nick looked over at her and gave her a fake smile
too. Jess had to laugh when she looked at him, he looked
like he had been in a rough football game. The bruises on
his face were fading, but he still had two dark black rings
underneath both eyes.
Nick licked his lips and set his jaw as he used
his arms to try to lower himself into the chair. He was
going very slowly and his arms were starting to shake as
they were supporting his weight. Finally, in what seemed
like minutes, Nick was in the chair.
“I knew you could do it, great!” Linda exclaimed
like a kindergarten teacher. “Now, we’ll take it from
here,” she told the orderly. “We’re going to go to the PT
room and start you on some upper body strengthening
exercises.”
The therapist pushed Nick down the hall to the
elevator. Jess walked behind them and noticed that at the
end of the hall near the elevators was a small group of
girls staring at Nick coming towards them. They stayed
where they were at with their mouths open and a few of them
oohed and awed quietly as if to pity the way Nick looked.
Thankfully, none of them approached Nick. Nick just kept
his head lowered and didn’t look up.
The elevator didn’t come quick enough, in
Jessica’s and Nick’s opinion. He felt like he was on
display waiting for the elevator. They rode it up to the
eighth floor and Linda wasted no time pushing him into the
physical therapy room.
“Lets see, Nick, I think we should start you off
with some arm weights,” she said as she wheeled him over to
a wall with pulleys. After showing Nick how she wanted him
to do it, she handed the weights over to him.
Nick looked at her questionably as if to say, “Are
you kidding?” He was thinking how easy this was going to
be. After about three pulls, he realized how weak he was.
His face was already soaked in sweat.
“Nick, I need you to try to do at least five on
each arm, if you can. Push yourself, the more you do, the
better you’ll get, you need to do this, okay?” The
therapist tried to encourage Nick to keep going.
Nick nodded and struggled with each pull. Towards
the end he was gritting his teeth and biting his lower lip
as if that would give him the strength he needed to finish.
“Great! I knew you had it in you!” she praised
Nick.
“I feel like a dog getting praised.” Nick
remarked to Jess as he rolled his eyes.
Jess winked at Nick and laughed. “Just part of the
game, honey.”
The therapist took Nick to another piece of arm
strengthening equipment. Each time she gave Nick a new set
of exercises to do, Nick started off thinking he was going
to be able to do without any problems. Each time he was
disappointed.
After therapy was over, Nick couldn’t wait to get
back to his room and into his bed. He never thought that he
would want to lay down but he couldn’t believe how tired he
was from “working out” for thirty minutes.
“I’ll see you again tomorrow, get some rest.”
Linda said as she brought Nick back into his room.
“Thanks.” Nick replied quietly.
“Do you want to clean up before you lie down?”
Jess suggested.
Nick pondered the question. “It probably would be
a good idea, what time is it anyway?”
“Umm, it’s a little after 4:00, why do you have
some place you’re going?” Jess tried to joke with Nick.
“Hah-hah.” Nick replied sarcastically. “I was
just wondering what time dinner would be, I’m actually
looking forward to jello again.”
“Yummy. Well, did you want me to see if the nurse
can bring some stuff in for you to get cleaned up with?”
“Please.” Nick said quietly.
“Okay, I’ll be right back.” Jess left the room.
Nick sat in the room waiting for her to return and
started to think about what had been going on with him this
past week. Reality started to set in, something he was
trying to avoid up until this point.
“Who am I trying to fool?” Nick asked himself
bitterly. “I can’t do anything by myself anymore and I’m
just a worthless piece of garbage, just in the way. I can’t
walk, I can’t hardly move my arms, why the hell am I
trying?” The tears burned his eyes as they started to flow
down his cheeks. He kept slamming his fists down on the
arms of the chair.
As Jessica entered the room, Nick tried to wipe
his eyes quickly. He looked off over towards the window.
“Hey, great news, the nurse said that you can try
doing a shower, if you want to try.”
Nick looked at her, “How the hell could I do a
shower when I can’t stand up?”
“Whoa, don’t bite my head off, what’s wrong?”
Jess looked at Nick and could see his eyes were red.
“I’m sorry, nothing.” Nick lied to her. He
didn’t want sympathy from anyone right now.
“The shower is equipped with a seat into the wall,
kind of molded in and there is a hand held shower head that
you can control. Is is something you want to try or not?”
Nick thought the question over, he was sick of
having someone wash him off, the thought of a little
independence sounded good to him, but he was wondering if he
would be able to pull it off by himself.
“I dunno, how can I do this?” Nick wondered
outloud.
Just as Jess was about to answer, Brian came in.
“Oh, thank god, I could use you right now!” Jess
announced excited.
“Wow, I like your greeting.” Brian exclaimed as he
gave Jess a hug. He looked over at Nick while he was
hugging Jess and he pointed at her behind her back. “This
is great!”
Nick looked at Brian “Yeah, yeah, knock it off.”
“I need you to help Nick in the shower since you
guys have the same stuff and all.” Jess stated.
“Hey, no kidding, a shower?” Brian tried to get
Nick to smile.
“Yeah, doesn’t that sound exciting?” Nick answered
back sarcastically.
“Hey, you’ve never showered with me before, don’t
knock it until you’ve tried it.” Brian replied.
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Nick said.
“I think I’m gonna leave you guys for an hour.
This is really starting to depress me.” Jess said as she
kissed Nick goodbye. “Is there anything you would want me
to get while I’m gone, books, magazines, Nintendo?”
“Whatever you think that would sound good, oh, I
know, how about pizza?” Nick was dying for pizza.
“I don’t think you could do that yet, it would
kill you, you haven’t graduated from jello yet. Take good
care of him Brian.” Jess said as she gave Brian a hug and a
kiss on the cheek goodbye.