Trials and Tribulations [Chaelisa]

Chapter 72

“You didn’t give up on her though,” Chaeyoung noted compassionately, understanding Amy’s point of view.

“No, they didn’t.” Amy confessed. “I was at a complete loss if I’m honest. I didn’t know what to do for her. I didn’t think there was anything that I could do. I felt so useless. Her therapists are the reason that she is where she is today,” she acknowledged. “They’re the reason that she came so far. They never gave up on her, even when the doctors had written her off they continued. Without them, Lisa would be a different person and I would be too. They guided me through Lisa’s recovery almost as much as they did her. They gave me purpose, exercises to do with her; simple things which made me feel like I was helping, even though I probably wasn’t. The first time her physical therapists sat her up on the edge of the bed they let me stay and watch. One of them was sitting behind her, the other in front on a chair and they shared this pointed look with one another. The therapist behind Lisa, she smiled happily and she lifted up her hands to show me that Lisa was sitting actually sitting by herself.” Amy ran a hand through her hair, pausing momentarily.

“Lisa only managed a few minutes before she started to slump backwards again but I could tell by the look on her therapist’s face that she’d done well. It wasn’t long until she was able to sit out in an unsupported wheelchair on her own and then one day, when she was off the ICU, I came in to see her and found them in the middle of a treatment session. They had her standing up next to the bed between them. She’d needed a lot of help but she was on her feet and it was the first time that I’d been able to hug her properly since the accident. I think they thought that I was crazy.” Amy laughed, recalling what had happened next. “I hugged them both too, like we were old friends. I couldn’t help myself. I was so appreciative of everything they’d done for Lisa and for me.” She continued. “They were the perfect combination of assertive and patient, pushing Lisa forward in her recovery without being aggressive. I remember how invested they got in her rehabilitation,” Amy explained. “The money didn’t matter to them, that’s not why they did it. You could see it in the excitement they’d show at even the littlest things Lisa did. They were almost as bad as I was.” She laughed. “You should have seen Lisa’s speech therapists face when she came in one morning and asked how she was doing, the normal silence that usually followed her questions’ replaced with, ‘I’ve felt better.’”

“That’s so cool,” Chaeyoung remarked in admiration.

“Standing was really the turning point for Lisa though.” Amy said. “After that she came on in leaps and bounds. Her speech was improving every single day and before I knew it she was able to get herself out of bed and walk to the bathroom with the nurses. I remember, I was sitting in her room with her one day, playing ‘Four in Row’ like her physical therapist had encouraged me to and Lisa kept dropping the discs. She got frustrated and she knocked the game on to the floor angrily with her right hand. That was the first time that she cried because of what had happened to her.” She shared. “Up until that point it was like she’d not realised what was going on or what she’d been through, but, in that moment she realised and she cried.” Amy wiped at her eyes which were tearing up at the memory of her daughter’s anguish. “She asked why this had happened to her. She wanted to know what she’d done wrong, why the driver hadn’t stopped and I knew then that I’d get her back. It was the first time she’d referred to the accident without prompting. She was starting to remember the things that she was told and although it was hurting her, I took it as a good sign because she wasn’t vacant anymore, she wasn’t indifferent or uncomprehending, she was responding appropriately to something horrible which had happened to her. She had her mind back again, her thoughts, her emotions. She wasn’t just a shell anymore, she was a person again and I have never been more grateful for anything in my entire life.”