Chapter 7
"I can't feel my legs!" David cries once again.
Daphne gives her son a sympathetic look.
"The doctor said there could be a chance that you wouldn't have any feeling in your legs. As soon as you were brought in, the doctor had to operate on you. There were some broken bones in the back of your neck, and one of the bones severed your spinal cord, David."
David looks at his mother.
"So I'm paralyzed?" he asks.
Daphne nods.
"Yes I'm so sorry, sweetie."
David drops his face into his hands as he breaks down crying.
They all give each other somber looks as the doctor enters the room. They all turn their attention to him as he looks over at David crying.
"Michelle told me that David had woken up. Her parents showed up and she's with them right now. I take it that he discovered the paralysis in his legs?"
Niles nods.
"Yes he did doctor. As you can see he didn't take the news well."
The doctor approaches David's bed as he puts his hand on his shoulder.
"David, I'm sorry that you had to find out about the paralysis this way. I was hoping to break the news to you easy but that is obviously not an option anymore."
David looks up at the doctor with tears in his eyes.
"It's not your fault, doctor. I don't blame you, I blame the person who hit me. It's their fault!"
Daphne sees the pain in her son's eyes as she sits down on the bed next to him and carefully puts her arm around him, being careful of his injured neck.
The tears well up in her eyes as she looks at him. She hates seeing her son in pain.
The doctor breaks the silence for a moment.
"Dr. and Mrs. Crane, I just wanted to apologize to you."
Niles looks over at the doctor.
"What do you need to apologize for?" he asks.
"I should have gotten your permission before operating on David. I realize he is still a minor and needs parents consent for surgery. I wasn't thinking about that when I realized he needed the surgery, I was only thinking of what needed to be done for him. So please forgive me?"
Niles smiles at the doctor.
"No need to apologize, we understand that you had to do what you had to do. You were doing your job, and because of that you saved our sons life. We are forever grateful to you."
The doctor nods and smiles.
"I need to run a few tests on David now that he's awake. Would you all mind waiting outside while I examine him?"
"Not at all." Niles replies as he leads everyone out of the room.
Once they are all out in the hallway, Emily excuses herself to go call Jordan and let him know what's going on.
Ashling sits down in the nearest chair without saying anything. She blames herself for how David is feeling because of how she hit him in the leg when she was sitting on the bed. She hates that he had to find out that way.
Niles and Daphne are just standing and holding each other, giving themselves the needed comfort after everything that has happened. As they are standing there, Donny, Roz, Alice and Ronee show up. Roz spots Niles and Daphne and rushes over to them.
"Niles, Daphne!" she yells.
Daphne pulls out of Niles' embrace after she hears Roz yelling her name. She looks up and sees Roz running towards them with Donny, Alice and Ronee not far behind. Roz wraps Daphne in hug when she finally reaches her.
"We came as soon as we heard. I'm so sorry."
"Thank you, Roz. I'm glad you're here." Daphne replies as she hugs Roz.
Once Donny, Alice and Ronee reach them, they start asking all kinds of questions about David and his accident. Niles and Daphne answer them as best they can because they only know what the doctor told them. They are just grateful that David is alive.
Emily finishes her call with Jordan and makes her way back to her family.
"Jordan and his family will be here soon, I filled him in on what was going on." she explains to everyone.
"That's good, Emily. It will be nice to have them here." Daphne replies.
Emily spots Grandma Ronee and gives her a hug. Roz sits down next to Ashling and starts talking to her as she wraps her arm around her.
Niles and Donny are wrapped up in conversation as the doctor comes out of David's room after finishing his exam.
They all look over at him waiting for him to speak. The doctor looks at everyone before speaking.
"Well, I examined David and other than the head injury, neck surgery, broken arm and lower limb paralysis, he is just fine. I am going to give him some morphine for the pain and insist that he stays in the hospital for at least a week. I want to keep an eye on his neck to make sure the surgery wound heals and once I see that it's healing and the pain that David is feeling has subsided some, he can go home."
Niles and Daphne are happy to hear the news.
"Thank you, doctor." Niles says as he shakes the doctor's hand.
"May we go back in and be with David now?" Daphne asks.
"Sure, and I will be back in a little bit with the morphine."
The doctor excuses himself as everyone heads back into David's room.
Roz, Donny, Alice and Ronee head straight for David as they tell him how sorry they are that he's in the position he's in and that they are glad he's alive. Seeing them, cheers David up a little, but only a little because he's still clearly very upset about the paralysis in his legs.
As everyone is talking amongst themselves, there is a knock on the door jamb. Everyone looks to see who it is as an older man and woman enter.
Everyone just stares at them until the man finally speaks.
"Hello, my wife and I were wondering if this is the room of David Crane?"
Niles gets up and approaches the couple.
"Yes it is, I'm his father; Dr. Niles Crane. Who are you and what are you doing here?"
"I'm John and this is my wife Amy, we are the parents of the boy who hit your son."
To be continued...
