New Miserable Experience
Chapter Ten
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Part Ten
paper in her hand. She bypassed the nurses’
station. They knew her and knew where she
was going. The guard at the door didn’t
stop her either. She was on the approved
list.
shoved the paper in his face. “What the
hell is this?” She asked again.
letter.” Josh answered.
letter. What I want to know is why?”
do this anymore. No one thinks I
can either. I quit.
think about.
hips. She was tired.
Her parents were doing better but she didn’t need this right now.
middle. Tired of people expecting
her to get Josh up and running. Tired of
Josh expecting her to do what he says.
Not anymore. Now she was going to
speak her mind.
But just know this; I never thought you were a quitter.
believed in it. No matter how wrong you
were, no matter how many enemies it made you.
It never mattered. But now, that
you have to fight for yourself, it isn’t worth it?
your life, Joshua. You’ve always met it
head on. And no matter what you’ve beaten
it. But with this, when you need to
fight and give it your all, you just quit.
We all believed in you. We all
bent over backwards to help you. But you
want none of it. This is how you repay
your friends? You just quit?
you. Toby, Sam, CJ, Leo, the President,
The first Lady, and me, we all just wasted our time on
you. Fine Joshua, you want to lay here
and give up? Then you can do it
alone. I don’t associate with people who
quit. Not anymore.”
another word.
on his chest.
chance to explain. She just gave
up on him.
Like
you did? A small voice in his head asked.
I
did not give up.
Oh
no? What do you call this then?
You
limited? When have you ever accepted
anyone else’s limitations?
I
can’t do this!
Why
not?
She
left.
So
prove her wrong. Have you ever let
anyone think one way about you and not prove them wrong?
But
you heard what the doctor said.
Yeah.
So you won’t have full use of your legs.
Joey Lucas doesn’t have full use of her ears does that mean that she
can’t do her job?
So
you won’t have full use of your legs.
But you will be able to walk with assistance.
Josh
looked at the crutches that were against the wall by his bed.
support his forearms and allow him to put most of his weight on that part of
his body. He had to go to the
bathroom. He could push the call button
and have a nurse bring him a urinal, or he could prove them wrong.
Josh
stretched out to grab them and ed ted them against the bed and swung his legs
over the side. Hebbedbbed a crutch in
each hand and pushed off the bed. He
tried to put weight on his feet but they wouldn’t hold and he fell to the
floor. “Shit.”
He
maneuvered his body so he was facing the bed and was on his knees.
pushed himself up. He managed to fall
forward and land his chest on the mattress.
He rolled over and using his hands, sat back up with his legs dangling
over the edge.
Josh
was out of breath and sweating. Peeing
was also far from his mind. He was going
to get this. He tried again.
He
put the crutches back on the floor and positioned his arms appropriately.
forward. Pushing his hips out, he fell
back onto the bed.
Third
times a charm, Josh thought. Once again
he pulled himself up. Starting to wobble
he used his body to gain some equilibrium.
He moved the crutches out a little from his body and felt steadier.
Josh
tried to put some weight on his legs but felt them start to give way,
immediately he stopped that idea. He
breathed a sigh. He got up.
The next step was actually moving.
He knew his legs wouldn’t hold him.
Josh
sat back down to think. If he used the
crutches as legs and took it slow it might work.
moments as he thought more about the movements.
He
moved the left crutch and swung his right hip out.
door opened and a voice broke his concentration.
“What
are you doing? John asked.
Josh
looked up, lost his balance and fell to the floor.
“Not
doing a good job huh?”
“Stick
it.”
“So
you gonna hold it or make a puddle?”
John knew that to get Josh to move you had to be a pain in his ass,
“I’ll
get there. Don’t you have some other
cripple to bother?”
paused for a moment. “You gonna crawl or
what?”
“I
was walking just fine before you showed up.”
“So
you need some help.” John asked
genuialy.
“No.”
him. He and his crutches got back to
the bed. After performing his acrobatics
like before and was back on the bed. It
was easier this time for him to stand and start to move.
John
stood against the wall and watched his patient make his way to the bathroom.
Josh
got there and back without falling. When
he collapsed back on his bed, John came forward with a cup of water.
to rub the sore muscles. “With the
braces on it will take a little pressure off your arms.
back some more.”
the other day.
ripped you a new one.”
lady. She is, or was my assistant at
work.”
co-workers.” He held his fingers up and
made quotation marks with them. “They
care a lot about you. I’ve worked with a
lot of people. I’ve never gotten a call
from any of my patient’s bosses asking how they were doing.
you were doing. Something about not
trusting the people he surrounds himself with.”
up with him.”
got so many people rooting for you. They
don’t care if you walk or not. They want
you back. They think that you can do
this. Why don’t you?
for a person. Let’s ignore the fact that
you have the leader of the free world and the White House cheering for
you. You have some very important people
cheering for you. They are all taking
time out of their busy day to be with you.
everything with you. You need to believe
in yourself as much as all these people believe in you.
dialed the phone number to
End of Part Ten