I don't think this will be a very big AU, possibly only three parts, but here's a bit of a start.
"...paralyzed... don't believe you'll ever walk again... you'll be in a wheelchair... a lifetime..."
He was sinking.
His life was over.
He could hear the doctor talking. He could see Henry nodding grimly. But all he could focus on was the word paralyzed.
He was paralyzed and they didn't think he'd ever walk again.
He was going to be in a wheelchair for life.
He was done. No more driving, stuck to where a wheelchair could take him.
His future gone in a blink of an eye. There would be no in trying to go back to Piston Cup, he couldn't drive.
He hadn't noticed the doctor leave, or Henry trying to get his attention.
He didn't eat his next couple of meals either. Preferring to sleep as he tried to come to terms of his latest blow.
He was numb to it all.
oOo
It had happened too quickly for him to stop it.
And yet he knew exactly what was happening before he ended up on the floor.
He had been trying to transfer himself over into his wheelchair, when it rolled on him. The breaks hadn't been put on.
He landed on the floor with an uncomfortable thump. The tears came unbidden to his eyes; he held his breath a few seconds to try to stem them. It hadn't hurt, but things like this shouldn't be that hard.
He tried to get into the wheelchair from the floor. Even though he made sure the breaks were put on, the wheelchair still seemed to move too much for him to get up into it.
He thought that maybe trying to get back onto the kitchen chair would be easier. Then if he could get back onto it, he'd be able to transfer himself back into his wheelchair.
After a couple tries of that, he gave up on the kitchen chair and went back to trying to get into the wheelchair. Only for it to still seemingly continue to move on him.
He tried again and again, only pushing the wheelchair closer and closer the wall.
By the time he had gotten it against the wall he was already so tired, frustrated, and embarrassed; not that there was anyone around currently to be embarrassed to by. But he couldn't get into or onto a chair by himself.
He didn't have the strength to even pull himself up to try the wheelchair against the wall. And he could feel another bout of tears starting.
He hated being so helpless.
He missed Ruth.
He couldn't even reach the phone to call Henry for help. Though he did stare at the phone hanging on the wall, at a good height for standing, taunting him from where he was on the floor.
It was pointless; him living here, by himself. He was one person, in a home that used to house five.
And he couldn't even go upstairs.
The tears burned as they fell. He wiped them away. He was so sick and tired of his new way of life.
He wanted his legs back, not the dead weight they had become.
After these tears ended he was able to pull himself over to the couch, but was too tired to try and pull himself up onto it. Instead he pulled off a quilt and pillow and as the tears started again, he allowed himself to cry to sleep.
He didn't know how long he had slept for when he woke up to Henry shaking him.
oXo
He had started to panic when he saw Jesse's wheelchair abandoned, with him nowhere nearby.
That internal panic didn't stop when he found Jesse, on the floor, near the couch. Knowing he would have had to drag himself there, in someway. His brother had obviously made himself as comfortable as he could, having pulled down a pillow and a quilt.
He gently shook his brother awake, calling his name.
The tears started almost immediately as he woke up.
"Let's get you up."
While lifting Jesse onto the couch he couldn't help but think about how light Jesse was and how much that scared him. Jesse seemed to be wasting away. He knew how little his brother was eating, and he didn't like it.
He didn't care what Jesse thought, he was going to hold him for a bit.
He kept his voice soft, vowing to himself to keep in arms reach for as long as Jesse had tears falling. "How long were you down there?"
"I dunno, lost track. I couldn't do it- I couldn't switch chairs. I couldn't get back into or onto any of them."
He let out a heavy sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. "I shouldn't have stayed away so long."
"No." His brother shook his head.
"You can't, won't, and shouldn't have to always be there to pick me up. I need to learn how to solve that on my own. I'm useless Henry, so useless. I can't do half of what I used to do. Sometimes- sometimes I think I'd have been better off dead. I won't be able to drive. I dunno how I'm gunna get any work, or what kind of work it'd be. I can't do nothing for the rest of my life. But what am I gunna do when my legs don't work? What's the point? I can't-"
"Rest. Heal some more first, and start working on your upper body strength. Then you can start wondering about what you're gunna do for work."