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Chapter 13

She started rehab being unable to move at all, but after six weeks at Mount Sinai, Annie had regained some control of her neck, shoulder and upper arm muscles. She was still wearing the neck brace when she was sat up, and could manage the power wheelchair with a sip’n’puff straw. The therapists were working her hard to try and regain the use of the rest of her muscles but there was little response from the muscles controlled by the nerves below C-4. Despite the hard work and well-wishers encouragement, Annie’s progress stalled and the ‘Q’ word was now being attached to her condition. The medics began to talk about adapting instead of recovering and it became obvious that the focus had moved away from her regaining the use of her body and towards learning to live with a disability.

After a further four weeks of rehab, Annie was released from inpatient to outpatient care. She would continue with therapy and they would monitor her condition, but spinal shock should have worn off three months prior and she was officially told her chances of further recovery were only fifty percent at best. She was given her official status as a C-4 quadriplegic and told to get used to the idea that she was likely to remain that way for the rest of her life. Annie glanced at her useless braced hands as the tears ran down her cheeks in the doctor’s office as her fate was revealed.

“Annie, you have done really well in rehab and I know you will continue to work hard, but take heart from the fact that you have some arm movement so you aren’t going to be completely dependent. You could barely breathe on your own when you came here and now the trache is ancient history,” the doctor pointed at the now healed nickel-sized scar between her collar bones at the base of her neck. He talked some more about returning to work and learning how to cope with everyday tasks in a different way as well as how to direct those who would help care for her in the tasks she could no longer do for herself. “Remember they are your employees and you are in charge. Don’t allow them to dictate your care, even though you will inevitably feel you have to make life easier for them. None of us likes to think we are a burden to others and you shouldn’t accept short-cuts for them because it takes longer to do some things properly.” He went on for quite a while, as did a number of other specialists with whom she had to deal with. Eventually the ambulance arrived to take her home to her apartment.

The transition happened relatively smoothly at the beginning of April, with Nate having set up a care team for her. Nate had moved in some time before the accident so he was in place to make sure she was well cared for from the start. He provided the weekend care though as that was sacrosanct and allowed them to visit the beach house with a degree of privacy they couldn’t have during the week.

Annie was cleared to go back to work part-time initially, but soon got herself back into the rhythm and was working full-time by June. Her aide stayed with her throughout the day, providing those things she could no longer do alone like eating and drinking, fetching and carrying things around for her, setting up the iPad or laptop. Her secretary, Gloria, had moved to her new office with her and provided plenty of assistance with all the paperwork and her minions just did as they were asked when it came to research. Where she had rushed around at work like someone possessed in the past, she now had others come to her instead. She no longer had the physical ability to rush out to a meeting with a client; meetings now largely happened in her office, like the other senior partners at the firm. Clients who had had her at their beck and call for years, now found themselves summoned to her office instead. She enjoyed the change in the balance of her workload as a result. And in case you might think clients would go elsewhere, no longer wishing to be defended by someone who was obviously seriously disabled, think again. Annie was a terrific lawyer, whether she was in a wheelchair or not and her clients knew it. She also knew the law was on her side when it came to discrimination. Regardless of her limited physical capacity, it didn’t take long for Annie to show that her courtroom abilities had not diminished in the slightest. As a consequence she soon had an excess of potential clients queuing up for her services. Likewise, where the researchers had previously dreaded the sound of her heels marching down the corridor hunting for them, they now quivered at the sound of her powerchair zipping towards them instead.

Although she had a little movement in her arms, she didn’t have sufficient control to use a joystick so continued to rely on the sip’n’puff straw to control her chair. She could shrug her shoulders, but she didn’t have any grip to hold anything in her hands, nor did she have any wrist function. She wore braces on her wrists to prevent them deforming, but she still couldn’t use her arms effectively for anything other than the odd gesture. While she was able to flex her elbows slightly, she didn’t have the control to feed herself or brush her teeth, so writing, typing, even using the phone became impossible tasks for her nearly useless limbs. That meant an assortment of adaptations to her office, most involving voice operated mechanisms so she needed as little help as possible. With the desk-mounted microphone and joystick, she was able to operate the phone and her laptop quite easily and her letters were signed on her behalf by Gloria.

And so it went that an urgent phone call for her services came through from Pat Flannery’s office after he had upset a local government official in his weekly column. Unsurprisingly, legal advice had been sought by the official and Pat Flannery had just been served again. By the time he arrived in Annie’s outer office he was almost purple with rage after Annie had told him she was unable to visit his office and he had to catch a cab over to her instead. He’d been aware of her absence due to illness for a time but hadn’t had cause to defend him since before the accident, so when he thundered into her office in a foul temper to find her strapped into her powerchair and being given a drink of water from her aide, he almost fell to the ground in shock.

“What the hell?”

“Hey Pat, got yourself in hot water again?” Annie grinned at him whilst he was lost for words. “See why I couldn’t get over to your office now?”

“Jesus, Mary and Joseph,” the big Irishman muttered as he approached her desk. “Why on earth didn’t you say something had happened?”

“I don’t want any fuss about this,” she replied, “but you can still give me a hug.” He looked a little apprehensive, but came over to her anyway as the aide discreetly removed herself from the office. She wasn’t able to give him much of a hug in return as he put an arm around her shoulders.

“So are you going to tell me what happened or do I need to go out there and get the gossip version? Last time I spoke to Gloria she said you were in the hospital, but I didn’t know it was anything this bad.”

“I fell down some steps outside Nate’s office. It was dark and I was wearing heels, just one of those things,” she sighed. “I damaged my spinal cord.”

“God that sucks big time,” he huffed. “So how bad is it?”

“Bad enough, I’m paralysed from the shoulders down,” she lifted her left arm a little to show him how bad it was. “But that’s better than when it first happened, I couldn’t even breath so had a tube in my neck, you can see the scar.”

He looked closely at the healed trache scar. “How come you’re back here then, shouldn’t you be in hospital ‘til you get better?”

“I stopped getting better three months ago Pat, so I’m just getting on with my life. Starting with defending you again, so it would seem. Can’t you pick on someone who doesn’t get free legal cover from their union?”

He laughed at that and his melancholy passed briefly. “Its not my fault this time, I swear.”

“Let’s get Gloria in to make some notes, my handwriting was always illegible and is even worse now.” She paused, blew into the straw which controlled the computer and her phone lit up. Gloria came on the speaker immediately. “Can you come in with you legal pad, Pat’s in a jam again.”

Gloria entered a few moments later and sat beside Annie making notes as she asked Pat about his article. He opened his file and produced a copy of it which he held out for Annie to take without realising she couldn’t grasp it. Gloria took it instead whilst Pat apologised. Holding it for Annie to read, Gloria heard her boss groan as her eyes found the offensive content. “So you had better have the evidence to back your claim, otherwise you don’t give me much to work with here,” Annie sighed, then thanked Gloria for holding the sheet of paper for her.

“I do, he took a bung from this guy who works for the waste disposal contractors,” Pat Flannery huffed again. “I don’t know why you don’t trust me by now, I never accuse without some evidence.”

“I know, it's just the quality of the evidence is sometimes thinner than that paper,” she laughed at him. “So who’s the guy and can we get him to make a statement?”

“I don’t know about a statement but I can get him to talk to you. He came to me ‘cause he said the official was stiffing him for more cash in order to ensure they keep the contract.”

“I’m sure this happens a lot,” Annie replied with a nod. “Let’s talk to him and see if we can persuade the guy to drop his complaint or threaten to report him for corruption.”

“Sounds good to me,” Pat steepled his fingers. “You’ve not lost your touch Annie.” He was thoughtful for a moment. “Are we finished?”

“I think so,” Annie looked over the notes Gloria had made.

“Can we have a minute Gloria?”

“Of course, nice to see you again Mr Flannery.” Gloria got up and left to type up her notes for the file.

When she had gone, Pat eyed Annie carefully. “Are you going to be okay?”

“If you mean am I going to be dancing the jig anytime soon, probably not,” she raised her eyebrows at his question.

“I didn’t mean that, I was thinking more about money. I wondered if we couldn’t do something to help you out at the paper.”

“Thanks but really not necessary,” Annie was a little surprised.

“Well all of this can’t be cheap,” he waved his hand in her direction. “I’m guessing you’re having to get some help at home too.”

“I have to have help all the time Pat, even through the night.”

“See what I mean, that’s got to be costing a lot.”

“It does but most of it comes from my health benefits, plus I was well insured so the medical bills are all settled. The rest I can afford, senior partners are pretty well paid.”

He seemed satisfied by her answers. “Okay well if you need anything let me know. By my reckoning, you’ve saved the paper a fortune over the years.”

“Thanks Pat, but I’m fine, honestly.”

“What about the stuffed shirts here, not giving you a hard time are they?”

“The senior partners here are not stuffed shirts, they are well aware of their responsibilities to all employees including any with a disability. Besides, they have been more than accommodating and I was back after six months as a result. It's not as though I’m a construction worker after all.”

“True enough. Well I’m glad you’re back, though I wish it was in happier circumstances.” He stood and collected his files together and put them in his case. “I’ll be in touch soon, but look after yourself okay?”

“I will. I’ll be looking after you as well. I think we can get this guy to play ball with us.”

Pat came over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I don’t doubt it for a minute.”

At lunch, Annie’s aide fed her a light meal, some tuna salad and fruit. Annie was patient in eating now, no longer rushing down half a sandwich on the subway between meetings with her fourth or fifth coffee of the day. Now she sat, elbows on the armrests, braced hands in her lap, chair tilted back slightly to make it easier for the aide to do her job. After a few bites of food, Annie drank water through the straw of the feeding bottle, her numerous daily cups of coffee now reduced to just one. She always had an uninterrupted lunch break now, followed by a visit to the bathroom to have her leg bag emptied and a check of her diaper. The consequences of her accident would have seemed abhorrent to most people, but she was calm and unruffled as her chair tilted and flattened in her private bathroom. Her pants leg was rolled up to reveal her exceptionally slender calf. The aide removed the urine collection bag which had been strapped to Annie’s leg and emptied it in the toilet bowl. A new bag was connected to the catheter tube and reattached to her leg, none of which Annie felt. Her pants were now pulled down over her hips so her diaper could be checked and which was clean. As the aide refastened her pants, Annie breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn’t messed herself; it was the only thing she ever got embarrassed about.

At the end of the day, Annie was quite tired. Blowing into the tube, she entered the elevator to descend down to the street level. The security guard on duty stopped to chat in the lobby as the aide went to collect the van and bring it round to the front of the building. It wasn’t easy to find parking spots in New York, but the firm had arranged for a designated spot after her accident, unfortunately there was no room for the ramp to extend so the aide had to bring the van around the front. Annie didn’t mind, it made life easier anyway. As the van pulled up out front, she said her farewell to the guard and blew into her straw, carrying her powerchair out into the afternoon heat. The ramp folded out onto the sidewalk, allowing her to drive her chair into the back of the van. The aide strapped the chair down quickly and they were soon on their way to her apartment building. The reverse process was just as swift as she went into her building. The doorman had some mail, which he slipped into the bag on the back of her chair. They talked a while until the aide returned from parking the van in the garage below. Moving to the elevator, Annie and her aide discussed the plans for the evening and went up the eight floors to Annie’s spacious apartment. Once there, she was greeted by Nate, who had just arrived moments before. The aide was quite pleased as he usually let her go early if he was in from work. Nate kissed and hugged his fiancée as he met them at the door. Sure enough, the aide was dismissed for the day so the couple could share their evening meal uninterrupted. The aide would return the next morning to get Annie ready for work.

Annie and Nate enjoyed their meal, which the maid had cooked. It was Nate’s idea to hire someone to do the washing, ironing, cooking and cleaning, as it gave them more time to spend with each other rather than on domestic arrangements. The couple discussed their day with each other and Nate laughed when Annie told him about her conversation with Pat Flannery. They sat beside each other at the new dining table, the old one had been too low for Annie’s chair to fit under. The maid had prepared a rice and chicken dish which Nate patiently fed to his fiancée. Although the aide was supposed to take care of feeding, Nate preferred them to have some time with just each other, even if it meant him having to help Annie with basic needs.

Annie’s health remained good despite her condition and this was largely due to the high standard of care she received, both from Nate and her aides. She had a nurse who visited when she needed her catheter changing and to keep a check on her blood pressure and skin. Annie also had regular visits to the rehab centre for physical therapy and check-ups.

Annie’s mom and dad, who were both retired, usually accompanied her to the appointments if Nate was busy with his clients. They were very supportive of their daughter and wanted to be involved in her life even more now that Annie’s injury has left her with permanent consequences. Unlike Annie, however, they were constantly hoping for improvements in her condition and didn’t always understand why their ultra-competitive and ambitious daughter was so accepting of her physical limitations.

Annie and her parents attended an appointment with her doctor, nine months after the accident. They entered the consulting room and the doctor asked Annie a lot of questions about her health and regimen since he had seen her three months beforehand. He wanted to know about the checks she was having daily and weekly, how she was coping with her medications, what her bladder and bowel function had been like, her exercise regimen and physical therapy. Afterwards, he had her parents help him transfer Annie to the examining table to check her function and the condition of her skin. When he had finished the doctor sat them all down again at his desk and explained that there had been no further improvements in Annie’s function and the C-4 diagnosis remained. Annie’s dad immediately asked about other options and whether there were any new treatments in the offing that might help his daughter. Annie sat placidly and said little, knowing full well that she would never get involved in any such things, but appreciating her parents caring for her well-being.

A short while later the three of them entered a local Starbucks for a drink and a bite to eat. Annie had been way too skinny for her mothers liking before the accident and after nine months of paralysis, atrophy had started to set in and made her even thinner now. Annie hoped to keep the weight off for her health, but her mother was intent on feeding her up a bit after the doctor had told them Annie’s skin on her butt was relatively thin and she needed a new type of cushion to prevent breakdown and ulcers. Annie rolled her eyes as her mother paid for the huge blueberry muffins as well as the lattes with full fat milk. Annie rolled up to a suitable table and waited for her father to carry over the drinks. There was no way Annie could drink from the paper cup so her mother helped out.

Two weeks later, Annie visited the store where much of her specialist equipment had come from to collect the new cushion that the doctor had ordered for her. At nearly five hundred dollars, the cost was a bit of a stinger but if it saved her from an ulcer it was worth it. Nate lifted her out of the chair briefly as the old cushion was switched out for the new one. Although she couldn’t feel any difference as such, Annie could tell she was sat slightly differently than before, which probably meant the weight had been shifted off the problem area of her butt.

And so life went on. Annie’s paralysis caused her numerous small inconveniences and an occasional big inconvenience, but for the most part she managed. She and Nate fell into a happy pattern of living which suited them both and made each other happy. Their weekends at the beach house had become a regular habit once more, though they had to make up a little white lie about the trache scar on Annie’s neck. They hadn’t returned to the beach house for some time after the accident and their neighbours had noticed. When they eventually did start to visit again, Annie told them that she had had a bout of pneumonia over the winter and had to breathe on a ventilator for a while until she recovered. Such was the plausibility of her story that it was rarely mentioned after that. As the summer wore on, Nate and Annie started to think about planning their wedding now their lifestyle had evolved into what they wanted it to be.