"Well, Greg, here we are. You're
finally home. I bet it feels good to be out of that hospital after all this
time."
As soon as Greg sat down on the
couch Chiara jumped in his lap scolding him loudly for leaving her alone for so
long. As soon as he started petting her she settled in his lap and started
purring loudly. "It does, but it doesn't. So much has changed. It doesn't
feel like home without Dave here."
"I can understand that.
He'll be home as soon as he can, and after a couple of weeks you'll be able to
spend as much time with him as you want. I know that's not much comfort right
now. I'll help you as much as I can. Whatever you need just ask. If I can give
or do it for you, I will.
"I can't even begin to
imagine what you're going through. I know what I'd be going through if anything
happened to Dillon. He's my entire life, as I suspect Dave is yours."
"Yeah he is."
Pete allowed the awkward silence
to continue for a few seconds before he suggested Greg show him around and
where everything was. "I gotta tell you, that's one of the biggest salt
water fish tanks I've ever seen. I have a fifty-gallon and it looks puny next
to yours. How long have you had it?"
"I dunno, at least ten
years."
"Have you ever had problems
with the cat?"
"Chiara? Yeah, at first she
tried to bat the fish, but eventually grew tired of it and left them alone. She
never tried to jump on top of the tank." Both guys laughed at the vision
of Chiara jumping on top then falling in.
“How does she get along with
Dave?”
“She loves him. The first time
they met she jumped into his lap, settled down and started purring. She’s never
done that with anyone before.”
“Cats know.” Pete left the
sentence hanging. Nothing more needed to be said on that subject. For the next
half hour Greg gave Pete a guided tour of the house. “How about I whip us up
some dinner?”
“I need to go grocery shopping.
Dave’s sister took all the food to her house so it wouldn’t spoil.”
“Okay, how about we go grocery
shopping tomorrow? We can hit a fast-food place tonight or order in.”
“Sounds good. I have to go by
the bank and get some cash first.”
Pete responded, “it’ll be on me.
Consider it a ‘finally out of that damned hospital’ dinner. Where would you
like to go?”
Greg thought all of about two
seconds. “Arbys?” He asked.
“Sounds good to me.”
Over dinner the two men
discussed the level of care that Pete was going to provide. “Okay, here’s the
plan. You can see well enough to get around the house and take care of your
personal hygiene. Do you have a washer and dryer?”
“Yeah, in the basement.”
“You haven’t shown me that yet.
Do you think you can go up and down the stairs by yourself?”
“Yeah, that won’t be a problem.”
“Okay. Why don’t you show me the
basement and we’ll see how comfortable you are using the machines.”
“This way.” Greg was a little
hesitant at first, but he managed the stairs without a problem. “Doing my
laundry won’t be a problem. I never change the setting on the washer, and since
it’s electronic pushbutton it should be easy. I figure I can use my finger to gauge
the amount of detergent I put in.
“The dryer is a different story,
though. I’d have to figure out a way to set the timer ‘cause I use different
settings for different stuff. Sorting the clothes is going to be the main
problem.”
“I have a couple of ideas on
that. I see the knob has an indented pointer, so you’ll be able to tell where
it’s pointing. We can stick something textured where you normally set the dial.
I doubt you’ll have any problem cleaning out the lint trap. Do you use liquid
fabric softener?”
“No. I use dryer sheets.”
“Good. We don’t have to worry
about getting the bottles mixed up.”
“Yeah, that works. But what
about the sorting issue?”
“What do you separate?”
“Whites, colors, linens, and towels.”
“Okay, then we get a couple
extra laundry baskets so you’ll have one for each and you can sort on the fly.”
“That’s a great idea. Plus,
we’ll have a couple extra that I can use for something else once my eyesight
fully returns.”
“I like the fact that you’re
confident that it will return fully. Just don’t set your hopes too high though.
You’ll be a total basket case if it doesn’t.”
“Don’t worry. I understand that
there’s a chance it won’t come back fully. That reminds me. When am I due for
my drops?”
Pete checked his watch. “A
little over an hour from now. And that reminds me. I have something for you
upstairs. You did good coming down the stairs. Let’s see how you do going back up.”
Greg had no problem navigating the stairs. Once upstairs Pete handed him a
small box.
“What’s this?” Greg asked as he
opened the box. He saw it was a watch, but he couldn’t make out the face
clearly. “I appreciate the gift, but I can’t make out the watch face.”
“That’s what’s nice about this
watch. See the little button next to the stem?” Greg nodded. “Push it.”
Greg did and exclaimed in
surprise. “It opens!”
“Yeah. This way you can feel
where the hands are and know what time it is. Besides the face opening, this
watch is different than regular watches in that the hour hand is much shorter,
making it easier to tell the difference between the two hands.”
“Wow, that’s great. Thank you so
much. I bet blind people really love these.” He wasted no time putting on the
watch. “This is so cool. I haven’t been able to wear my regular watch obviously
since it’s digital. I missed having a watch.”
₪₪₪₪₪
Dillon came into Dave’s room
pushing a wheelchair. “Ready to get started, Dave?” Dave’s response didn’t come
right away. “You’re nervous. That’s to be expected. This is a big step for you,
pardon the pun. As we discussed previously, it’s going to be hard at first, but
trust me, it will get easier.”
“How do you know? Have you ever
been through something like this?” Dave asked, a little bitterness creeping
into his voice.
“Not exactly. A few years ago I
was riding my bike and a guy fell asleep at the wheel and hit me from behind. I
lost control of the bike and tipped over. The impact plus sliding several
hundred feet broke my leg in three places, and I ended up with second-degree
burns on my other leg from the exhaust pipe.
“I had to have three surgeries
to put my leg back together and four months of physical therapy, very similar
to what you will be going through so I could walk again.” He rested his foot on
the seat of the wheel chair and rolled up each pant leg so Dave could see the scars
on both legs. “Believe me, I know.”
All Dave could do is stare at
Dillon’s legs. “Wow,” he whispered.
“As you can see, I know a little
about what’s going through your mind. It’s okay to be nervous. I was scared
shitless, but I’ll be with you every step of the way, as will Greg. I’m pretty
sure he’ll be chomping at the bit until he can be here.”
“That depends on you. Physical
therapy like this requires a certain mindset on the part of the patient, and
the quicker you get into that mindset, the quicker Greg can be here.”
“What mindset is that?”
“I thought we talked about
that.” Dave just shrugged. “Hm. You may have been a little out of it from the
pain meds. Okay. This type of physical therapy requires a great deal of focus
and determination. For the first two to four weeks it’s absolutely necessary
that distractions must be kept to a minimum.
“No matter how well-intentioned,
Greg will be a distraction. I know how much you love him and miss him. I thought
I’d go out of my mind missing Pete. Like I said, the sooner we get you into
that mindset, the sooner he can be with you.”
Dave sighed. He threw the covers
off. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
Pete smiled. “That’s what I want
to hear.” As he helped Dave into the wheel chair Dave said, “I wondered if you
were going to have me walk there.”
“Not yet, but soon, I think.”
Despite his positive attitude,
Dave became a little apprehensive when he was wheeled into the physical therapy
suite.
Sensing his apprehension, Pete
stopped and came around to face Dave. He put a hand on Dave’s shoulder. “It’ll
be okay. Everyone is nervous the first few times, but you’ll get used to it.”
Dave simply smiled. “Ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Okay, let’s get the prosthesis
on you and get you on your feet.” Pete put action to his words and it
practically no time at all Dave was ready. He wheeled Dave over to where a set
of rings were hanging from the ceiling. After locking the wheels he said,
“Okay, Dave, grab the rings and pull yourself up. You may feel a little
lightheaded at first, but that’s perfectly normal. If it get’s bad, sit back
down in the chair. It’s not going anywhere and I’m here in case you start
leaning too far forward or to either side. Take it slow now.”
Dave grabbed the rings and
started pulling himself upright. He was half-way to a standing position when
his strength deserted him. “I’m sorry. I can’t do it.”
“Yes, you can Dave. You did
better than I expected for your first time. Most people can't get as far as you
did. Rest for a few minutes then we’ll try again.”
“Sadist!” Dave joked.
“You think I’m sadistic now,
wait until you’re up on your feet.”
Dave set his sarcasm generator
on ‘nuclear’ and responded, “I can hardly wait.” Pete shot him a weird look and
they both burst out laughing.
₪₪₪₪₪
Even with Dillon helping him with
the household chores, cooking, etc., Greg would fall into bed exhausted for the
first week or so. He missed Dave terribly, even though they talked on the phone
every night. All the surviving members of the LGBT Anti-violence task force and
the commissioner came to see him and kept him up-to-date on the investigation into
the bombing of the LGBT Center.
However, as the days passed by; he
became more and more angry at the fact that he couldn’t be there to help Dave. Rationally,
he knew from experience how the first two weeks were crucial in getting the patient
into the proper mindset. But since when is anger rational when it comes to being
separated from someone you love?
At last the day came when Greg would
be allowed to attend Dave’s physical therapy sessions.
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