Point Of View 2 [*Do not read until you've read the same chapter of ATW]

Chapters 67 & 68 Reckless / Lawyer up

*James*

"You are healing up well, Mr. Gallo." Dr. Giovanni is pleased with my progress. After my last seizure, the doctor wanted to see me to run some further tests. Today, Casey brought me.

"Do you think I will ever be back to normal?" I have to ask this. Usually, Dr. Giovanni is always a positive person, never worrying about anything, telling me it all takes time. But today he looks up from my chart with sympathetic eyes. That last seizure did something. It made the doctor no longer assure everything is fine or for me not to worry. No longer telling me it all takes time.

"You've come a long way, James. It can take up to a full year for brain injuries to heal. But you need to be prepared if a year, two years, five years go by, and you are still the same as today. This may be as far healed as you will get. But you just don't know. Everyone thought you would never wake up out of the coma, and you are here with me now. Talking. Walking. Comprehending things."

"Bu-but this could be as far as it goes?" My eyes fill with tears. "Is there anything more I can do to guarantee I will fully heal?"

The doctor sighs, knowing the answer. "You should be very proud of yourself and the hard work you've put into your recovery. You are a miracle, son. Most do not pull through the way you did."

I nod and wipe my eyes with my hand. I need to see the blessings for what they are. The doctor is right. I can talk and walk, and understand things. But I will always have seizures, always have coordination issues, always fumble with my words like that of a stroke patient. I will always need full-time care, and the doctor can see how torn up I am about this.

"Keep doing your PT exercises. Keep working on your coordination and speech therapy. Don't give up hope. Mr. Gallo, if anyone will surprise us with a full recovery, it will be you, sir."

*****

"I know it wasn't your best appointment, but don't let this ruin your day, ok?" Casey says while driving us home. "The doctor is right. If anyone is going to fully recover, it's going to be you."

"Yeah. But what if I don't?" I wipe my eyes again.

"Then you don't. Then you be grateful that the only things wrong with you are minor things. You aren't paralyzed in a wheelchair. You're not blind or deaf. Like he said, you can walk and talk and comprehend things, James- that is huge." Casey takes my hand and squeezes it while keeping her eyes on the road. "I'm proud of how much you've recovered. You don't miss one day of your PT exercises. You are always trying to work on your coordination. I'm proud of you, James. You should be proud of you, too."

I take Casey's words to heart and think of this as a true blessing. God gave me this life to live and I'm going to live it to its fullest. I could have easily become a paraplegic or brain-dead. I'm not. I can stand on my own two feet. I can read and could probably write if I had the hand coordination. And I'm here. I'm alive.

Today is a good day.

*****

*Trisha*

When Paul isn't with Julia, he is with me. When he heard I talked to Dave a while back when I was waiting for James and Casey in the Avalon parking lot, he went right into bodyguard mode again. So, just like old times, I drag him with me to run errands.

"You could be sleeping right now or relaxing, old man," I say as I purposely walk into Victoria's Secret just to embarrass Paul. I sift through some sexy lingerie. James seems to be a visual person, like Nate, so some new little sets are in order.

"I won't relax knowing you're out here alone, and he is still in L.A." Paul shakes his head at one of the lacy sets I pick up.

"Go with the red." He grumbles.