AUTHOR'S NOTE: Short chapter this time, I just got over a monster 3-day migraine that caused me to go to the Emergency Room because it wouldn't go away. I feel very behind on my writing, as I just spent four days basically laying in a darkened, quiet room praying for the pain to go away! The hand exercises in this chapter are real- I broke my wrist several years ago, so badly that I needed 2 surgeries, and I had to do exercises to get my hand strength and function back. Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews everyone is leaving me, I appreciate every single one and your words of encouragement and compliments mean so much to me! Love to you all!
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Uncle Sam wheeled me into the Physical Therapy room, over to where Imani stood. She turned to us and her smile got bigger when she looked up at Uncle Sam.
"Welcome back," he said to her.
"I'm sorry about your Grandma," I told her.
"Thank you," she looked down at me. "Her passing was peaceful. I'm sorry to hear of the...trouble here." she shifted. "Some people are very close-minded."
When Daddy had taken me to my next physical therapy appointment, we had discovered that no one wanted to deal with me. So I didn't get any PT that day. Daddy called and complained, but nothing had been done. Today, Daddy had to go sign paperwork for the hotel where we were going to be staying, so Uncle Sam was with me at the hospital.
"It's okay," I said, swallowing. I had felt guilty, because I had seen some of the other therapists talking behind their hands as Daddy had wheeled me out of the PT room. It made me feel like a freak.
"Is it all right if I stay here, and you can show me what you're going to be doing with Charlie?" Uncle Sam asked. "I'm going to be home-schooling her, so I wanted to incorporate her exercises into our daily routine."
"Oh, yes, her father mentioned that. You're going to be the one teaching her?" Imani smiled. "Professor Winchester, huh?"
Uncle Sam's face got a little bit red and he smiled, showing his dimples. "Uh, not quite," he said shyly.
Imani went through all of my exercises and showed Uncle Sam some of the stuff we did on other days, and talked to him about the exercises for different muscle groups and everything.
"I'll make a list of some places where you can get some of the materials in case you want to get weights or anything," she said.
"That would be great. Thanks, Imani," he said with another big smile.
She took out the bin of candy and held it out to me. I picked out a package of Sour Patch Kids this time. "Thank you. See you in a couple of days!"
"See you then," she said.
I glanced up at Uncle Sam as he wheeled me back to the room. He had a smile on his face and a faraway look in his eyes.
"Wait a second," I said. "You...you like her!" I said, as it dawned on me. All the smiling they were doing at each other, they were acting like two people on a t.v. show when they "had feelings" for each other.
"Maybe," he said, getting red in the face.
"Why don't you ask her out!" I said excitedly.
"Shh," he glanced around. "She doesn't date family members of patients." he told me.
"Oh," I said. I actually wasn't sure how I felt about Uncle Sam dating someone again. I wondered if she had any kids. I didn't want to have to deal with any other kids right now, there was too much risk of them ending up being like that Cole kid. Ben was being nice to me so far, but I was still a little bit hesitant about the whole thing to completely trust that he was going to stay that way. And I still felt nervous about Daddy and the potential of him liking Ben more.
Uncle Sam locked the wheels and unbuckled me. "She said the walker should be here next time you see her," he told me. "Hopefully that works well."
Imani said that I was doing so well with my exercises that I should be able to use a walker soon and maybe only when I got tired.
"Can you carry me to the bathroom?" I asked him as I stood up.
"You don't want to try and walk yourself?" he asked.
"I just had PT, I'm tired!" I said.
"Well...all right." he picked me up and carried me to the bathroom, and then I walked back to my bed. I picked up the remote and turned on the t.v.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Watching t.v., duh," I said.
"You just said you were tired. And I know that you're supposed to take a nap after PT," he gave me a look. "So turn it off, Charlie."
I sighed. "Come onnn, Uncle Sam, can't I watch one show?"
"No, take a nap, and then lunch when you wake up," he said. "then I want to go over some homeschooling stuff, and then you can watch t.v."
"That's not going to be fun at all!" I grumped. "I'm used to watching the Powerpuff Girls Power Hour in the afternoon!"
"Well, you'll catch up with it later. School starts soon, so I want to get you started as well." He picked up the remote and turned the t.v. off. "Lay down, Charlie," he said.
"Fiiiiine," I said with a sigh.
"And watch the attitude, little miss," he said firmly.
Daddy and Grandpa John came back while Uncle Sam and I were playing a game of Mancala on the touchpad. The homeschooling stuff he had showed me was fun, not boring like I had thought it would be. I had never played Mancala- it was a fun game, and Uncle Sam said it was a real game, and he could get one for us.
"Daddy!" I said as they walked in.
"How'd my baby girl do today?" he asked with a smile, coming over to hug me.
"Fine," I said.
"Imani showed me a lot of her exercises," Uncle Sam said. "She said Charlie's walker should be here the next time we see her. And that we should start doing some small motor skills work too, and it will help with her pencil grasp and grip strength."
"Good," Daddy said.
"How did it go?" Uncle Sam asked.
"Everything is all squared away," Daddy said. "They're fine with everything, and the place has wide enough door frames."
"What do you mean?" I asked, looking from Daddy to Uncle Sam.
"We had to make sure we got a place with wide doors, because you may still need to use a wheelchair sometimes. We had to take that into consideration, but we found one. It's a hotel, but it's for business people who stay in one place for a long time, so it's like mini- apartments. We got one with an attached suite, so all of us can be together."
"Cool!" I said. I had only ever lived with my mom, and we would visit relatives, but only a couple of times a year. It was going to be different living in a place with Daddy and Uncle Sam and Grandpa John.
The next time I had PT, Imani had some exercises for my hands. She had a small plastic piggy bank, and she told Daddy to empty his pockets of change. I had to practice picking up the coins and putting them into the piggybank.
Then she had a small ball filled with something squishy that I had to practice squeezing, to help my "grip strength." The last thing was a container of green putty- it was like play-dough, but firmer and thicker. There were little metal nuts mixed into it, and I had to hold the putty with one hand and get all the nuts out with the other, and then practice with the other hand. That one made my hands tired. She said that the exercises would help me to be able to hold things like utensils and pencils and stuff.
Then she brought out the walker. She said I had enough upper body strength now that I should be able to use it. I could walk short distances now, and my stomach muscles didn't get tired any more. I still had some problems with my feet and legs, and my balance. She walked beside me back to my room, along with Daddy, at the end of my session.
Daddy pushed the door open, and I walked in. Grandpa John and Uncle Sam were in the room already.
"Well, look at this!" Grandpa John walked over to us with a big smile. "She's walking!"
"This is great!" Uncle Sam said, smiling at me and then at Imani.
"Thanks you so much for all your help," Daddy said, and his voice sounded emotional.
I felt embarrassed by all the attention. "Daddyyy, it's not that big of a deal-"
"This is big, Charlie," Daddy said. "We didn't think- well, we were all worried-"
"You've made a lot of great strides while you've been here, Charlie, no pun intended," Imani said, and everyone chuckled.
"We weren't sure what was going to happen with your recovery," Grandpa John said. "So this is an amazing day."
I was a lot more tired than usual after the walking, so I laid down for a nap without complaining.
When I woke up later, I could smell food- it must be lunchtime- and hear voices talking. I opened my eyes, and Dr. Miriam was in the room talking to everyone.
Daddy saw me when I sat up, and walked over to me. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Okay," I yawned.
Dr. Miriam walked over. "Charlie, this is wonderful news today, that you're walking now. I'd like to do some testing tomorrow, and then if things continue the way they have been, you can leave by the end of the week!"
"Leave?" I asked. "You mean, leave the hospital?"
"Yes, your father told me that he's found a place for you all to stay, so you can be nearby, and then come here for PT during the week and for testing."
"Great!" I said happily. I couldn't wait to see the new place where we were going to be living.
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"NO," I said, "I'm not doing it!"
"All right, sweetie, we just need to draw this blood real quick and that will be it for today," the nurse said, in a fake-cheerful voice.
"I said I don't want any more tests!" I snapped, crossing my arms. "It's probably going to hurt!"
"It'll be just a quick pinch, and then it'll be over," the nurse said encouragingly.
"NO!" I yelled, scooting back on my bed, away from them. The nurse glanced at me, and then at Daddy and Uncle Sam. She motioned them with her head, and they walked over near the door, talking in low voices.
Dr. Miriam had done the test today where they had hooked wires up to my arms and legs and made the muscles move, and I had discovered that it hurt! It hadn't hurt before because I'd been paralyzed. Now they wanted to stick me with needles and take my blood out! I knew that the needles hurt too, because when they took the IV out of my arm it had hurt me.
They walked back over to the bed and all stood there looking at me.
"Charlie, let's get through this, and we can go out for ice cream, okay?" Daddy said. "Dr. Miriam gave us special permission to go."
"No!"
"Sweetheart, you need to co-operate, so that the nurse can take your blood. Otherwise she'll have to sedate you, and then we can't go out," Daddy told me.
"I. Don't. Care," I said stubbornly. "No needles!"
"Honey, they need to do this for the study that Dr. Miriam is doing," Uncle Sam explained. "Remember, she's doing a study on you and your recovery? The tests are part of it. Unfortunately it's not always going to be fun."
"Are you going to let me draw some blood?" the nurse asked.
"No!" I glared up at her. "Go away!"
"I'll be back," the nurse said, turning to go.
I looked up at Daddy and Uncle Sam. "Where is she going? Is that it? She's not gonna draw my blood?" I felt relief, but I also felt a little nervous because normally they didn't give up that easy.
"No, honey, she's going to bring you medicine to help you relax," Uncle Sam told me.
The door opened and the nurse walked back in carrying a syringe filled with something. I realized that Uncle Sam meant she was going to give me a shot!
"Forget this!" I yelled, and I tried to scramble off the bed and run towards the door. Of course, my dumb legs wouldn't work and I tripped over my feet and fell to my knees.
Daddy was right there picking me up. "Come on, Char- OW!"
I had started to fight him and my flailing hand flew up and smacked him in the face.
He grabbed my arms and turned me. "Stop this, NOW!" He said loudly, and then he smacked my butt.
I burst into tears and kept trying to fight him. "No shots! No shots! No needles!" I screamed as he carried me to the bed.
He put me on the bed and took hold of my arms, and Uncle Sam moved next to him and put his hands on my legs, holding me down on the bed.
I opened my mouth and screamed at the top of my lungs.
"Charlie!" Daddy said loudly. "That's not helping anything!"
He was holding my wrist, and I started to bring my wrist up to my mouth to bite him.
He jerked his hand down, and then grabbed my chin and made me look at him. "You bite, and I will spank your ass, I don't care how upset you are," he said in an angry voice.
"All right, little pinch," the nurse said, swabbing my upper arm.
"Screw this, and screw you!" I yelled at her.
Daddy shook me a little bit. "Charlotte Anne! Watch your mouth!"
"OWWW!" I screamed as the nurse gave me a shot.
"All right, it should just take a minute, Dad," the nurse said.
I tried to move and struggle against Daddy and Uncle Sam holding me down.
"Sit behind her, and hold her in a basket hold, with her arm out," the nurse said to Daddy. He moved behind me, and pulled me so that I was sitting up with my back against his chest. He crossed my arms in front of me and held my right arm out. The nurse put the stretchy tie around my upper arm and I started to scream again. She started to swab my arm and I moved my head back and forth. I started to feel sleepy then, and then it was like I couldn't stay awake. I felt my eyes closing, even though I fought it.
"There she goes," the nurse said, and that was the last thing I remember.