The Man In The Chair

Chapter 2

Then I'm awake, with the dreams of my past gone and replaced by the hard truths that are today. Twelve years have passed since that traumatic crash and I can never recover from what I lost. That night I lost my father, a decent African American man who just wanted me to be the best that the world could offer. Not only did I lose my father that fateful night, but I lost a best friend and my freedom.

As now, I'm a crippled man who can't even sit up on his own. Because I'm paralyzed below the waist and have severe nerve damage in my left arm. So I've never been the same, and have had to adapt to all sorts of rough situations as a disabled individual. I can no longer take things for granted and have to try twice as hard to get through the life that I've been given. And from time to time, I start to wonder what changes my life would have had if the accident hadn't occurred. Yet, I have no time for thinking things like that.

After the accident, I had a rough couple of months in rehab at the hospital, I kept to myself a lot and started focusing mainly on my studies for school for the next few years. And with that determination, I was able to finish high school with honors. Then go on to graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in computer sciences. After that, I landed a job as a software engineer at GloboEngine International.

That's how I got to be here. Lying in a special hospital bed in my tiny apartment near downtown Los Angeles. Waiting for my hired medical assistant, Jeffrey, to come into the door to help me out of bed and get me ready for my boring job. So I lied and waited with my phone in my right hand, watching YouTube videos about the latest sports news. Until I finally heard the familiar jingle of keys coming from the front door, as Jeffrey entered.

"Man, I am so sorry that I'm late getting you up this morning, I got caught up in traffic from that accident on West 3rd street." He said frantically.

As he started rushing to take his drenched coat off his hulking shoulders, "I hope I wasn't too long."

"No problem, Jeff, it gave me some time to catch up on the latest highlights from last night's game," I responded. "But now that you're here, can you get me into my chair?"

"Of course," He answered as he came over to the bed.

Jeff turned on my wheelchair to put it in the right position. Then sat me up to help me get dressed in my business casual attire of khakis and a nice dress shirt. After he got me dressed, he transferred me over to my power wheelchair. Once I felt comfortable in my chair, I rolled over and parked myself at my pint-sized dining room table while Jeff went over to the pantry to get me a granola bar for breakfast.

After opening the granola bar, Jeff poured me a glass of apple juice from the fridge. And set them down on the table.

"Need anything else before I go back to work at the hospital?"

"Nah, I don't need anything else. Peyton should be here any sec."

And just as Jeff was about to walk out the door, I said, "Oh, I almost forgot! Please ask my mom if she is going to be off on Sunday because I haven't seen her in a while."

"I'll let her know, but I don't think she'll be able to because that woman's been working her butt off for that new doctor, Dr. Compton. Trying to get him acquainted with all his patients. So she's been practically living at the hospital for the last couple of weeks," he explained.

"Thanks, man, I appreciate it."

"No problem, Dak," he said. Turning back around and heading out the door.

For a few moments, there was silence in the apartment as the only sound that was heard was me crunching on my granola bar and drinking my juice. Until the out of nowhere, the door slammed open, and all I heard was Peyton yelling at me.