Both men looked at Doctor
Madison, expectantly. “The first thing I think we should do is get you hooked
up with a mental health worker. What you’ve been through and what you will be
going through during your physical rehab will take a toll on you physically,
mentally and emotionally. I’m sure Greg is more than capable of taking care of
your emotional needs and will be invaluable in helping you with your mental
needs since he’s been through a similar experience, but there may be things he
might not be able to help you with as much as he would want to.
“There’s absolutely nothing
wrong with needing a little professional help on occasion. It’s not a sign of
weakness or mental problems. Sometimes you just need to talk to a therapist.”
“That’s so true,” Greg said, “I
had a therapist while I was going through my rehab there was a number of times
I got really depressed and the therapist helped me out a great deal. I don’t
know if I could have made it through without her.”
“But I have Greg to talk to,” Dave
said, shooting a loving smile at Greg.
“That’s true. However, a
situation may arise that, no matter how much Greg wants to help, he won’t know
how to deal with it. I’m not saying it’s going to happen. I hope it doesn’t,
but if it does, we’ll be ready to deal with it and help you along.”
Dave shrugged. I guess you’re
right. I don’t have to talk with a therapist if I don’t want to, right?” He
queried.
“Yes and no,” Doctor Madison
answered, “The therapist will want to talk with you initially in order to get
to know you.”
“When is that going to happen?”
Dave asked nervously.
“That depends. First we need
your written consent then you will fill out a short questionnaire. From there
we find a therapist that’s the best fit for you.”
“Let me see if I have this
straight.
“Dave, you’re gay. You can’t do
anything straight.” Greg garnered a look from Dave and a laugh from the Doctor.
“Okay, I sign the consent form, fill out the questionnaire, then I have to talk
to a shrink.”
“Almost; you will not be talking
to a psychiatrist or a psychologist. You will be talking to a psychotherapist
who is specially trained to help people in physical rehabilitation. After the
initial interview, you will not be required to talk to the therapist unless you
want to or need to.”
“I noticed you avoided
mentioning a specific gender,” Dave observed.
“That’s because we have both
male and female therapists on staff. It’s been my experience that people feel
more comfortable and can open up more to a therapist of the opposite sex. This is
not always the case. It all depends on how you answer the questions. That’s the
first step. The next step will be to fit you with a cup.”
“Uh…” Dave began hesitatingly.
“What do my genitals have to do with my prosthesis?”
Doctor Madison giggled. “Not that
type of cup. The cup will fit over your leg and will be connected to the rest
of the prosthesis. I’m not going to lie to you. It will not be a pleasant
experience. It won’t be painful, but it
will be uncomfortable.”
“Okaaay, so what type of
prosthesis will I be getting?”
“I’m not sure yet. It depends on
what your insurance will cover. I want you to have a full-leg prosthesis like
mine, rather than a cup connected to a bar connected to a wooden foot.”
“I’d rather have my whole leg
back, but I guess this is the next best thing.” Dave scrawled his signature on
the consent form then glanced at the four-page survey. “You call this short?”
earning him a snicker from Greg, who was watching and listening intently.
“You think that’s bad, you
should see the one for a hip replacement. It’s fifteen pages long.”
Dave shot her a rueful glance,
“I’m glad I’m not getting my hip replaced. I hate filling out these things.”
“I hear ‘ya. I’ll just take the
consent form and put it in your chart,” she said, taking the form. “I’ll be
back this afternoon to pick up the questionnaire.”
“If it’s a male therapist I hope
to hell he’s not gay,” Greg muttered under his breath.
“What was that?”
“Nothing, just thinking out
loud.”
“About what?”
“Nothing important.”
“You’re being evasive, Greg.”
Sighing, Greg decided to open up
and tell Dave about his fears. “I’m afraid if you get a hot gay therapist
you’ll leave me.”
Dave closed his eyes and
contemplated what Greg said before responding. “Baby, you’re my entire world. Nobody
and nothing will ever make me leave you. I love you too much to ever let you
go.”
Greg let out a breath of relief.
With a tear in his eyes, he said softly, “I love you more than you could
possibly imagine.” Dave grabbed Greg’s hand and they drifted off to sleep until
the lunch trays were served.
Shortly after lunch, Dave
started to fill out the questionnaire. “Damn!” he exclaimed.
“What’s wrong, baby?”
“Nothing; it’s just all the
information they want.”
“Such as?” Greg prompted.
“Height, weight, daily
activities, that sort of thing.”
“They need that information to
know how much stress will be placed on the prosthesis,” Greg explained. “You
don’t want to have one that will fall apart walking around the block. Once
you’re fitted with the cup, they’ll measure you to see how long it has to be so
that your leg and the prosthesis will be the same length.”
“Exactly right,” Doctor Madison
replied, entering the room with an older lady in tow. “Gentlemen, this is
Louise. She’s a psychotherapist. Louise, this is Dave and Greg. Dave is the one
who is going to be fitted with prosthetics.”
“I’m very pleased to meet both
of you. I just wish it was under better circumstances.”
“We’re pleased to meet you as
well,” Greg replied, “It’s better to meet you under these circumstances than
not at all.”
“I appreciate that.” She turned
to the doctor and asked, “is there somewhere on the floor I could get a
wheelchair to take Dave somewhere more private for our discussion? I mean no
offense to you, Greg; privacy laws and all that.”
“None taken.”
“There’s no need, Louise. He
signed a release form so anything and everything can be discussed in front of
Greg.”
Having noticed the two men in
the same bed she immediately knew their relationship, especially after seeing
the looks they exchanged when the doctor told her about the release form.
“Good. It’s always easier on the patient when they have a loved one by their
side.”
“Well, if everyone will excuse
me, I’ll start getting everything together so we can do the fitting tomorrow
afternoon. Then the fun begins,” Doctor Madison said with a smirk and left.
“Okay, ready to get started?”
Dave looked at Greg then nodded. For the next couple of hours the three went
over every question on the questionnaire pausing when Dave or Greg asked a
question. When the dinner trays arrived, the therapist left, leaving Dave and
Greg to talk over what they had learned. Although Dave was nervous, taking with
the therapist helped a great deal.
As the night wore on, Greg found
him wishing more and more that he could go back in time and prevent the
explosion from happening. The therapist had noticed in Greg the signs of
survivor’s guilt. Having checked Greg’s chart she found a release form allowing
Dave to be present during any discussions that he normally wouldn’t be privy
to.
When the therapist mentioned
that she would like to talk with him while Dave was in physical therapy he
readily agreed, at least until he was out of the body cast and could go with
him. His greatest wish however was that his sight would come back. He was
starting to see flashes of light, which gave his ophthalmologist encouragement.
The next morning Dave was so
nervous he couldn’t eat his breakfast. Greg, knowing a little of what Dave was
about to go through, tried to calm him down. He succeeded, but not completely.
Doctor Madison walked into the room closely followed by an orderly with a
gurney. “It’s that time, Dave.” Dave kind of shrunk into himself. He so didn’t
want to go.
“You have to baby. The longer
you wait, the harder it will be on you. I’d be with you if I could, but know
that I’m with you spiritually, until I can be there with you physically.”
Dave leaned over and kissed him
gently. “I know baby. I’m just a little frightened.”
“Well, you’re doing better than
me. I was a total basket case when I started my physical therapy.”
“That’s because I have you to
help me.” As he rolled onto the gurney he looked at the doctor, “Doc, how long
is this going to take?”
“You’ll be back here before you
know it. Shall we?” The transfer to the gurney was accomplished effortlessly
and off they went to get Dave’s new leg and thus beginning what Dave came to
call later, the therapy from hell.
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