Chapter 7—The Attitude
A/N: Again, I know that people are reading this story. Please tell me what you think.
About twenty minutes after Frank and Dr. Steinbach were remanded to the hallway; Denise immerged from Jeremy's room. Both men looked concerned, and they both wanted to know what happened after they left. In the furthest corner of Frank's mind he wondered if Jeremy had hurt Denise in any way, but by the looks of it, Denise had weathered an emotional moment. Frank opened his arms and held on to Denise, and tried to be as strong as she was for Jeremy, for her. Finally Dr. Steinbach suggested that the three of them go to his office to discuss Jeremy's treatment.
Walking into the doctor's office was an experience in elegance. The desk was large and the wood was a beautifully polished cherry. The chairs were all black leather. The doctor sat behind the desk, and Frank and Denise sat in front of the desk. The doctor opened the file on his desk, and starting to page through it; it was assumed that the file was Jeremy's. Finally the doctor spoke,
"This is going to be a difficult transition for Jeremy. And my suggestion is to take the proverbial multi-prone attack. Pardon the military pun. But I have seen many injuries like this, some end up regaining much of their sight, but most do not. Frankly, the fact that Jeremy has absolutely no response to light leads me to the conclusion that his blindness is permanent." The doctor was fairly adamant about the prognosis.
"You mean to tell us that you just left our son's room and you gave him the hope, no matter how slight that he could see again. Yet, we come into your office and there is almost no hope, how did this change so much in twenty minutes?" Frank was irritated with the doctor's change of course.
"Look, I have found in situations like this, it is better to give some hope than none at all. Your son is young, and resilient, but he needs something to work towards." This comment was getting Frank very hot.
"I realize that I am not a doctor, and I mean no disrespect, that is a load of crap. I have been an officer in the Army for almost twenty years, and I have lead soldiers the same age as Jeremy and I have never given false hope just because I could. My wife and I have raised our son to be realistic and direct. Your false hope is not realistic, in fact as I see it; it is counterproductive. In my mind all is does is bring disappointment when the desired outcome cannot be reached." Frank detested Dr. Steinbach's attitude.
"I agree that you are not a doctor. And from what I can see and hear we are not going to come to an agreement on this." Dr. Steinbach was frustrated with Frank's argument.
Frank started to spout something else, until Denis interjected,
"Gentlemen we are not here to discuss coping philosophies, we are here to discuss treatment options for Jeremy. Frankly I agree with the multi-prone approach. However, what I do not agree with is that we are talking about this without Jeremy. Jeremy is an adult, who will have to make some very tough choices for himself. We need to remember he is nineteen years old; he was injured during war times, in a foreign country. And he has probably seen more than most of us in this room, so it is very wrong for us to make these kinds of decisions about his life without him." Frank and Dr. Steinbach just looked at Denise. Denise was actually annoyed with both of them.
Denise continued, "Now lets get on to discussing the options so that we can talk with Jeremy about them, and support his decision."
Frank was always amazed at how soft spoken Denise could always put people in their place. She was quiet and reserved but there a strong sense of what was right. The doctor looked at Frank and Denise and resigned to make the needed recommendations.
"Here is what I recommend: Jeremy needs physical therapy for the knee, occupational therapy to learn how to cope without sight, and I would suggest some psychotherapy for both helping him to cope, and help with his apparent anger. I could recommend a good therapist if that is what Jeremy and you decide." The doctor was making sense to Frank and Denise.
"That sounds like a very practical approach to Jeremy's care. I am just not sure that he would go for the psycho therapy." Frank sighed.
"I have found in patients like Jeremy, which if someone in the family supports the psycho therapy and is willing and able to partake in the therapy as well the idea actually goes well." The doctor replied.
"Ok, who is going to present this to Jeremy?" Dr. Steinbach asked.
"I will." Denise suggested.
"No, I will, I think it should come from me." Denise was surprised that Frank wanted to do this, but was happy that Frank was planning to be active in this process.
Frank and Denise left the office, and walked back to Jeremy's room.
"I want to talk to Jeremy, man to man. Do you mind?" Frank asked Denise.
"No I think it would be good for both of you." Denise smiled.
They reached the room. And Frank gently knocked on the door as he walked into the room.
"Who is there? " Jeremy asked.
"It is me, your Dad." Frank frowned. He could not image what Jeremy was going through at this moment, never knowing who was around, and being total darkness.
"Oh, hi. Look I am sorry I kicked you out before, I was just… um…" Jeremy was relatively quiet.
"Son, you do not need to apologize. What do you say if we went to the cafeteria and grabbed a soda? You have been cooped up in this room for few days, and we can talk." Frank was reaching for something, anything, to get Jeremy to open up to him.
"Yeah, that's not a bad idea. Is Mom going to come?" Jeremy had a strange tone in his voice, but at least he was trying.
"No, I think that it is going to be you and me. Do you want me to get a wheelchair, or do you want to try the crutches?" Frank was imaging how Jeremy was going to maneuver on crutches and not being able to see where he was going, but he needed to let Jeremy make the choice.
"I am kind of tired of sitting, lets try the crutches. No on second thought, the chair." Jeremy was reluctant in deciding the chair was the mode of transportation. He knew that he was not ready to walk with crutches and be blind. Frank left and brought in a wheelchair. Helped Jeremy get comfortable, and off they went to the cafeteria.