The first thing I noticed when I began to open my eyes was a splitting headache that threatened to crack open my own skull, like someone was using a jackhammer inside my head.
The second thing I noticed was how sluggish I felt, like my body was stuffed with cotton, and my bones felt like they were made of broken glass. Crinkle and crack, Crinkle and crack, they went with even the slightest movement. Even breathing was painful for me.
The third thing I noticed was a sea of blurred faces as I blinked my eyes. After a few seconds, my vision began to clear and the faces came into focus. They were all familiar to me, except for two.
My mother, my step-dad, two of my elder sisters and their spouses, and my nieces. The other two was a doctor and a nurse, the former seemed to be flipping through a set of papers attached to a clipboard and the latter was preparing a batch of morphine for me.
At least, I'm pretty sure it was morphine... God, I hope so. I could definitely use some of the good stuff to help with the pain.
I saw the mouth of my mother moving, though I couldn't hear what she was saying. She sounded very distant and far away to me. Though if I had to warrant a guess as to what she was saying, I think it would be something along the lines of 'Welcome back to the land of the living'. The doctor then approached me, leaning in closer as his mouth moved, no doubt he was trying to ask me something. Lucky for me, my sense of hearing seemed to return as the doctor's voice became clearer and more audible to me.
"... Mr. Harper? Can you hear me?" The doctor asked. I tried to reply, but my tongue felt like sandpaper and my throat was dry, so I slowly nodded and mouthed 'water'. The message was immediately received as my mother had a cup handy with a straw and brought it to my lips, giving me a chance to drink down some of the liquid. Normally, I don't like drinking plain water, but in this instance, I didn't care. I immediately felt relief as the cool liquid went down my throat as I came close to almost moaning in relief.
After my drink, the doctor shined a small flashlight into my eyes, asking me to follow it. Undoubtedly he was checking to see if my faculties were still intact, regardless, I obliged and followed his instructions. After a few quick tests, it was confirmed that my brain was still okay. As far as I could tell, my memories are all intact, save for what happened in the car as it all happened so fast.
It was explained to me that I had been hit by a large semi-truck, which made me curse myself for using my phone while driving. I then thought to myself how cliche it was for people in the movies and in video games to experience tragedy in the form of a car crash, but then again, as cliche as it might be... the funny thing about car crashes is that it can plausibly happen to anyone. Kind of ironic, yeah? I was flying high and felt almost invincible due to my good fortune, and then reality decided to knock me sideways, almost literally.
The doctor then apologized to me and showed me a set of pictures, x-rays to be more specific. I'm certainly know expert in medicine or surgery, but even I could tell, just at a glance that the damage was bad. It made my heart sink all the way into my pelvis, like it was being sucked down by an antlion pit. The doctor explained to me that the crash had damaged my spine, extensively, leaving me paralyzed from the waist down, resulting in the inability to properly use my legs ever again.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Short answer: I would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of my life. Naturally, I asked if there was any kind of surgery or treatment available to help get my legs back in working order. It didn't really matter to me how much it cost, money wasn't really important to me, much less an object to me now given my new wealth. Sadly, there are just some things that not even all the money in the world can buy.
The doctor explained that the damage was too severe, that any attempts at surgery could only cause more harm than good. I nodded along and listened, or at least tried to. I tried to picture my life, being in a wheelchair. It made me think of my late grandfather, who I always affectionately referred to as 'Papa' as a child. I remembered him having a massive stroke that left him in a wheelchair as well. He was never quite the same after that.
I remembered occasionally pushing him around in his chair, his slurred speech, and that he was undergoing physical therapy. He seemed like he was slowly recovering, until a second stroke hit him hard, rendering him clinically brain-dead. I miss him a lot. He was a kind and patient man, and he helped teach me how to drive. The memory of him makes me wonder what sort of challenges I would face, and how I would need to adapt to this new lifestyle.
"Do you have any questions, Mr. Harper?" I heard the doctor ask, breaking my out of my musings. I slowly shook my head since I didn't really have any further questions and I wanted some time to think to myself. I then heard the doctor say something else, I didn't really catch it since I wasn't paying attention by this point, but I'm certain that he said I would be able to go home before the week was out.
Once the doctor and the nurse had left, I looked at my gathered family members to take note of their reactions. My Mom and step-dad were whispering to each other, no doubt discussing what they could do about me and for me, no surprise. Me and my mama always had a strong bond, admittedly, I've always been something of a Mama's boy.
Since my mother is a certified nurse, she could easily help take care of me, though she does have her own job to tend to, and I doubt she would want to quit, even if I used my wealth to help take care of her as well. Not really surprising given that she's the strong and independent type. My step-dad is retired now, he was a former Navy man and a retired state trooper, a highway patrolman that was medically retired after his Achilles tendon had ruptured.
He was always a jovial man with a larger-than-life personality, no doubt he could and would stay by my side if I asked, though I don't want to be a burden to him or my mother. With my money, it wouldn't be hard to hire a live-in nurse or something. After all, I didn't want my mistake(s) to impact their own lives too much.
I then looked to my sisters who were giving me sympathetic looks along with my brother-in-laws. My second sister, Ashley, or Ash as I usually called her, was often busy at her work and her now one-year old daughter, my younger niece. My third sister, Jordan, was also a nurse, but she lived out of town that was about an hour and a half drive, three hours for a round trip. I wouldn't dare ask her to drive back and forth like that, especially given her own job and family.
My younger niece, Callie Grey, was sleeping soundly in Ash's arms while my elder niece, Elle was busy with a coloring book. Given that she was currently six, I am unsure if she fully understands what is happening right now, but she has proven to be highly intelligent. Regardless, I don't really want to broach the subject with her anyway. Especially since Elle can and WILL talk a fellow's ear off if you let her.
My mother snapped me out of my thoughts, asking if there was anything that they could do for me, and I shake my head. I promise them that I'll figure things out. That I would adapt, endure, and survive. This seemed to put her and the others at ease as they all gave me their sympathies and offers of assistance if I needed it. My mother and step-dad then promised to come back and visit later before they all departed to return home and get some much needed rest.
I didn't want to say it to any of their faces, but they were all looking a bit worse for wear, especially my mom. They likely stayed by my bed for a pretty long time, waiting for me to wake up. A good thing too, it's always nice to have family that has your back.
Once everyone had gone, I found myself alone in my room with nothing but my thoughts. The silence of the room was almost deafening to me, as I reached for the remote that was on the table next to me. I then turned on the TV as a distraction, even if there was nothing good on, I could at least have the TV going for the sake of background noise to alleviate the silence.
I flipped through the channels, looking for anything that might be worth watching, until I came across a channel that happened to be playing one of my favorite movies since childhood. Disney's 'Alice in Wonderland' from 1951. Even better, the opening credits were playing, which meant that I hadn't missed anything. I decided to settle in and enjoy the movie... until I heard a knock at my door.
