Chapter Two
Tears poured down my face in a huge river as I realized I wouldn't be able to dance anymore. My mom wrapped her arms around my lifeless body as if to comfort me. I couldn't feel the embrace, but it helped just knowing she was there.
I’m just dreaming, I thought to myself, It is all just a bad dream and I will wake up soon. I closed my eyes and cried myself to sleep in the comfort of knowing my parents were right beside me.
I woke up hoping to see my own bed and that everything was just a nightmare. Instead I woke up and my lip quivered as I saw the same old hospital room except it was dark and nobody was there. Tears poured down my face. I attempted to throw my face into my pillow, but I couldn’t which only made me cry harder. Sobs choked me as I just lay on my back, staring at the ceiling. I saw a light flick on in the hallway and a nurse popped her head in.
”Everything ok? Oh... ” she murmured as she walked over to the bed and flicked on the side lamp, ”You hungry?” she asked suddenly. I suddenly feel a jolt of pain that was some-what like hunger, but it didn't come from my stomach, it came from somewhere in my throat. I nodded quickly and she studied me for a second then walked out the door briskly, leaving me alone once again.
I sniffed and thought, I won't be able to dance anymore, so what will I do now? I thought of my brand new Pointe Shoes in my closet, waiting to be worn. I will never know the feeling of being en pointe ever again, I thought helplessly. The nurse popped her head in the door and then walked in with a tray of what looked like soup. She sat on the bed and started to spoon soup into my mouth. I swallowed and savored the salty flavor. I calmed down as the warmth of the soup cleared my mind.
My breathing resumed to normal and my mind drifted to other things like, what would people think of me once I got back to school? I don't know. Will I be able to live a normal life ever again? No! I wanted to scream. So I did, not loud but just a frustrated groan. I felt the nurse put her hand on my forehead. She quickly ran over to a drawer and rummaged through it, she pulled out a thermometer. She walked over to me and swiped it over my forehead and walked out the door.
A moment later she walked in with a different doctor from before and was chatting with him, showing the thermometer and kept chatting right next to my bed as if I wasn't there. I sighed, and cleared my throat to let them know I was still there. They jumped, startled and the doctor sighed, "I know you have been going through a lot and this is going to make the entire situation worse… you have a fever and that can be dangerous for people with paralysis." He sounded like an emotionless robot. The nurse nodded along accordingly as the doctor continued,"We're going to monitor your fever for now but if it gets worse within the next two days, we will have to issue treatment." He nodded to the nurse a thank you and walked out the door.
Chapter One
“Harper!” my mom screeched as she came running from the door. I was running out to catch my ball I had been playing with from the road. ”Harper!” My mom screeched more desperately as a car came hurtling down the road. I got up but I was too late, the car hit me and the world went black.
I woke up with confusion. I craned my neck to look at where I was. My mom and dad dozing on chairs, the blood pressure machine was beeping steadily. I attempted to move my arm to wipe away the hair that was plastered to my face, but I couldn't feel it or move it. I started to panic.
“Mom?” I screeched frantically lifting my head, which seemed to be the only thing I could move, ”I can't feel my arms!” My mom jerked her head up smiled, then quickly frowned.
“I’ll go get the doctor,” she said and walked out the door. I sighed and closed my eyes to go to my imaginary world consisting of me, top dancer, on stage.
“Harper,” said a deep voice. “Harper,” it said again more sternly. I opened my eyes to see a bony doctor with a very tight looking face.
”Yes?” I said looking at him and then quickly looking away as I saw his eyes, the pupils tiny dots the size of the tip of a thin paintbrush.
“Can you try to move your leg for me?” he asked as he lifted my leg out of the elevation cast. I tried to move my leg from side to side but it didn’t move. I looked at the doctor frantically. He curtly nodded and scribbled something on his clipboard and left the room. My mom just sighed and sat on the bed with what seemed like something I should feel because I bounced, but I didn't. The doctor walked in a moment later with a wheelchair and a young woman trailing behind him.
”We think you might be paralyzed,” the doctor said with a nod to the woman. She walked over and propped me up with pillows. She then set the wheel chair next to my bed and slid me into it. I attempted to move my legs onto the rests but they didn’t move.
”How do you know she is paralyzed when her body could just be starting to work to get feeling into her arms and legs,” my dad said as we all jumped, just realizing he was awake. The doctor glared at him and gave a nod to the woman as if telling her to speak.
She cleared her throat, ”I specialize in paralyzation, and we are going to run a few tests on her just to be sure,” she said and started wheeling me towards the door. My parents started after me, speechless. I turned my head and looked every which way at the different people passing by on crutches, in stretchers, in wheel chairs like me. She wheeled me into a blinding white room and walked over to an x-ray machine and started to set things up. She frowned, adjusted something and came over to get me. She wheeled me over and adjusted my lifeless body into a strange position.
“Can you feel this?” she asked looking at me and started to move my arms up and down and side to side. I shook my head and she dropped my arm gently and scribbled on a clipboard. She propped my head up and took a few x-rays, and then she wheeled me over to an area with lots of equipment and checked my reflexes. When my leg stayed still, she scribbled some more on her clipboard and wheeled me back to the room. When we got back, my mom, my dad, the doctor and the woman huddled and whispered. I heard a few shocked gasps and then they broke apart. My parents sat on the end of the bed and stared expectantly at the doctor.
”What?” I said quizzically,looking at all of them.
The doctor took a deep breath and said sadly, ”The tests show that you are paralyzed.”