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Chapter 3

When she woke in the morning it was to the noise of a door opening and closing. The smell of coffee was like an alarm clock firing in her brain and forgetting her situation, she went to jump out of bed and hunt it down. It was then that the stark realisation hit her all over again; she was unable to move anything from the shoulders down.

As her memories of last night emerged, she relaxed and waited for Nate to come back in, which he did moments later.

“You’re awake,” he stated the obvious. “Breakfast just arrived, do you want breakfast in bed or would you rather get up?”

“I just want coffee, but I’d prefer to sit,” she replied.

Nate pulled the covers off and checked under her hips. To the relief of both, the pad was clean. He pulled it out from underneath her and put it in the seat of the wheelchair, then lifted out of bed and sat her down. She was getting used to him lifting her and found it reassuring that he took good care of her. He left the padded splints in place and fastened her in again. She leaned her head back into the rest as he pushed her next door. He had already laid out the breakfast things, two bowls of granola with strawberries sliced on top, a plate of muffins and Danish, orange juice and coffee already poured.

“I hope you don’t mind that I ordered for us both, you were sound asleep.”

“So long as there is coffee, I’ll be fine.”

Nate chuckled. “You can’t live on coffee, its bad for you. You can manage a bit of cereal, surely.”

Annie had to admit that the strawberries looked good. She nodded and let him feed her a few spoonfuls. He offered her a drink of juice, again through a long straw, which she accepted. More cereal and juice followed as he chatted about the morning news. He broke from feeding her for a few minutes while he had some of his own. Her juice all gone, she eyed the coffee. It didn’t seem appealing to drink it through a straw though.

“Can I have some coffee now? But please don’t make me drink it out of the straw.”

He met her gaze briefly, she seemed rather earnest about it.

“Sure, let me just adjust your position a little,” he stood and tilted the wheelchair a little more upright than it had been before. Again, she felt her chest push up against the strap and her shoulders fell slightly forward.

“Can you lift me up a bit,” she grunted, struggling a little for breath.

He lifted under her shoulder, pulling them back into the chair properly. “Better?”

She nodded.

He lifted the coffee cup to her lips and tipped a little. She took in the black nectar, but didn’t want too much and nudged the cup back away from her lips when she had a mouthful.

When breakfast was over, Nate asked if she was okay for a few minutes while he took a shower. She nodded, “Can you put the news on TV for me while I wait?”

He did as she asked and went into the bedroom to undress before going to the shower. Annie watched the news, moving her head around to test the limit of her ability. She could lean her head in any direction, but couldn’t shrug her shoulders, she discovered. Her arms and hands still had no movement at all. She even tried moving just one finger, but she sat and watched her hand remain perfectly still. She didn’t even realise at first the spread of warmth beneath her butt, she was concentrating so hard on moving, but eventually the smell of her own stool rose. She knew the second she smelled it what had happened. She called for Nate but he was in the shower and she couldn’t shout very loudly for some reason, she couldn’t catch her breath enough to raise her voice over the TV and shower. By the time he turned it off and trotted back into the room wearing a bath towel around his waist, he found Annie in tears where he’d left her ten minutes before. He didn’t need to ask what the problem was he could smell it.

Taking her straight to the bathroom, Nate tried to pacify her and she eventually quieted down. He removed the foam splints and her pyjama top first, leaning her upper body against his, then lifted her from the wheelchair to the shower chair. As he did so, he glanced back at the pad which had been sat underneath Annie and saw it was heavily soiled. He folded it up and threw it in the trash after he had secured her in the shower chair.

“Don’t worry, its not your fault. It was probably the coffee that did it,” he grinned at her. “We’ll soon have you cleaned up.”

He removed her pyjama bottoms and disposed of them as well, then spent the next half an hour showering her with a handheld shower. Clean, dry and back on the bed another twenty minutes after that left Annie feeling much happier.

He dressed her in loose fitting sweat pants and a T-shirt but didn’t bother with shoes. She watched as he pulled her arm through the sleeve and noticed how it just wobbled a bit. The same went for her legs, though before he pulled up her pants, he had fitted her with an adult diaper, which she felt disgusted about. Being dressed was hard work for Nate and she noticed as he finally lifted her in the wheelchair he was sweating a bit, nevertheless, he continued diligently to fasten and secure her in properly. When she was ready, she wondered what they were going to do, after all, apart from sit around and watch things, what else could she do?

Nate had an idea, but wasn’t sure she would be happy about it. He thought she would need to be really bored first so he simply pushed her in the sitting room and sat down to read the paper.

Annie quickly became bored and frustrated, he hadn’t even offered to turn on the TV or read to her. She asked him what was on the TV so he went to the channel listings and read them out for her.

“Nothing on worth watching,” she muttered.

“Would you like to do something else?”

“Like what?”

“What would you like to do right now, if you could just get up and go?”

Annie was thoughtful for a moment. “Go out for a nice long walk, that would be nice,” she said longingly.

“Okay, let’s go then. The grounds here are really pleasant.”

“No way! I’m not going out like this!” she was emphatic.

He sat and looked her in the eye. “Why not?”

“Why do you think?” she replied as if it was obvious.

“I don’t know, why don’t you explain to me. I don’t seem to recall any ill effects as a result of the waiter seeing you yesterday. So they only thing I can think is that its vanity and the judgement of others that worries you.”

She looked like her balloon had been popped. “I was just thinking that people would stare at me and think I was handicapped.”

“Well, they might and for all intents and purposes, you are. What I want to know is why it would bother you as you aren’t likely to see them ever again. Their opinion shouldn’t matter a damn, because they don’t know you.”

She thought for a moment and much to his surprise, she agreed. “You’re right, I shouldn’t care less what anyone thinks, but I am used to being seen in a certain way and yet the waiter just looked straight at the wheelchair and I knew that’s all he saw.”

“When you are in your suit for work and people see you, they are just seeing the fancy suit and the mobile phone, how is that any different?”

“I suppose I don’t feel weak and helpless.”

“Is that a physical state or a mental one?”

“I thought you had given up being my therapist, what’s with the shrink treatment?”

“I thought you were going to work less and relax more.”

“Touche,” she replied, falling silent briefly. “I think we should go for that walk now.”

Annie’s gut reaction to being wheeled out of the suite bordered on panic, but she concentrated on breathing and nothing else. She didn’t like being too reclined in the chair, insisting that she be sat quite upright, she felt less pathetic, but more vulnerable to gravity and hoped that Nate wouldn’t hit the wheels on anything or she might easily slump forwards. He was careful to avoid any sharp moves and took her to the elevator. She prayed it would be empty and audibly sighed with relief when it was. However that feeling didn’t last when two floors down the lift halted to let more people in. A couple entered and smiled nervously at her, then turned to face the doors. Silence enveloped them until the lift reached the ground floor.

The couple each stepped out but held the doors until Nate pushed Annie through, he thanked them, but she just flushed red again and looked down so as not to make eye contact.

As they left the hotel lobby, the doorman saw them approach and pulled open one door until it caught on the stop then held the other side so Nate could push the wheelchair through without having to wrestle with the doors as well. Outside, he rolled her down the ramp and onto the long driveway that extended into the car park. Beyond that was the start of the extensive grounds in which the hotel sat. Nate headed for a tree-lined path leading towards a lake in the distance. It was a very pleasant day and the sun warmed Annie’s face as she leaned her head back into the rest. She tried not to think about the fact that she couldn’t move a muscle, and relaxed, almost forgetting. When she wasn’t trying to move, she forgot that she wasn’t able to and just enjoyed the ride. They strolled for some time, mostly quiet but occasionally mentioning the things they could see along the way. Nate parked the chair next to a bench where they could sit and enjoy the view of the water beyond. He took her hand from the rest and gave it a squeeze, feeling nothing in reply, he looked at her, worried that she wouldn’t like him touching her intimately right now, but she was smiling.

“It’s really nice out here, I’m glad we came out.”

He was surprised she would admit she was enjoying herself. “I think its lovely, one of the nicest places I’ve stayed.”

“Food’s good too,” she admitted.

“Aah, so now you’re agreeing with me that this was a good idea.”

“I didn’t say that, but I’m not hating it as much as I thought I would,” she grinned at him. “I can’t deny I’m very relaxed, so it should keep you nagging me for the rest of the week.”

“If you would just let things happen without thinking too much, you would have a great time, in spite of being in a wheelchair.”

She looked across at him. “What did you have in mind?” It wasn’t so bad, she thought to herself and there was no one really around to see her anyway.

“I suppose it depends how adventurous you’re feeling,” Nate shrugged.

She laughed, properly. He knew her weakness; a challenge.

“I was thinking we could use the excellent spa facilities here, there’s a nice pool and treatment room, you could get a massage.”

She snorted at the ridiculous nature of his suggestions. “I suppose you are going to want me to go ballroom dancing next.”

“No, I did think we might dress nicely for dinner and eat in the restaurant though.”

She eyed him suspiciously. “Are you trying to make a fool out of me?”

“Babe, I would never do that,” he tried to placate her. “I just thought it would be nice to dress smartly and spend a nice evening having a romantic meal.”

“What with me being fed like a baby?”

“That’s not what its like,” he explained. “Its not how it looks either. It feels sort of intimate to share that with you, not babyish. Its hard to explain, but I think its nice to take time over food and feeding you slows the process down. We both sort of have a chance to converse and not rush through our food in silence like we normally do.”

She looked quizzically at him. He seemed genuine about it as he had the whole time he had been forced to help her out.

“I’ll think about it.”

Nate stood to get going again and put Annie’s hand back on the rest, carefully arranging her fingers. He checked her position and decided to give her a lift to take the pressure of her hips. Once she was comfortable again, they set off. Moving down towards the lake, the path encircled the whole thing, so they completed a whole circuit of it for the next hour. The end of the lake held a small café and seating area where, despite feeling awkward about it, Annie agreed to stop for a drink. Nate put the brakes on the wheelchair so Annie was safe whilst he went to the counter to collect drinks. While he left, Annie watched out to the lake and lost herself in the heat of the day.

Nate was going to order a latte for himself, two bottles of water and tea for Annie, she had indicated that coffee was off the menu after the consequences of drinking it that morning. He waited in line patiently as always, it was after all a virtue.

Annie watched a couple heading from the lake over to the café, they were happy and smiling as they approached the menu board stood out on the path nearby. They had a small dog with them which was busy investigating a tree with a good sniff about 10 yards from Annie’s table. She liked dogs, always had since she was small, so when it wandered closer, she clicked her tongue out of habit. Of course she would normally have let the dog have a sniff of her hand and then pet it on the head, but of course she could do neither at that moment. The dog’s interest however was gained and it immediately approached, had a sniff of the wheels and swiftly jumped in Annie’s lap, leaving her stunned.

Before the dog’s owner’s could react, the dog was standing in her lap, a front paw on each shoulder, merrily attempting to lick Annie’s face. As friendly and harmless as the little terrier was, Annie had been a little taken aback and gasped as he had jumped up, and uttered a small squeal. The dog in his excitement had trodden on her left arm, dislodged it from the rest and the momentum had tipped her sideways a little. Although the lateral support and chest strap prevented her from completely falling sideways, she had shifted over slightly and couldn’t move back.

The whole event took only seconds to happen, but time had seemed to slow to those watching on. Nate had heard Annie’s gasp and turned to see the dog perched on top of her while she tried to avoid the dog licking her face by moving the only part of her body she could control, he head, which turned from side to side as the dog kept trying. The dog’s owners meanwhile hadn’t initially realised the dog had wandered away from them as they perused the menu. When they heard the commotion and turned to see their beloved pet standing in the lap of a woman in a wheelchair, they panicked and immediately rushed over to get the dog off her. Nate was also rushing to get to Annie to save her from the marauding dog. The other handful of customers also started to realise something was up and one or two stood looking concerned as the owners quickly grabbed the dog’s collar and fastened the leash, giving him a scolding to boot.

Nate was more concerned with Annie than the small dog, now sat nervously on his haunches behind the couple who had turned their attentions to the poor crippled woman. The only person who seemed relatively unconcerned by the whole event was Annie herself, who completely unharmed, was now laughing with amusement at all the fuss.

The man and woman whose dog was now firmly held on the leash were both full of apologies and sought reassurance that she was alright.

The lady spoke first, animated and concerned. “I am so sorry about the dog, are you alright?” she wrung her hands together with concern, wanting to help Annie, but afraid to touch her at the same time.

“I’m fine, honestly, there’s no need to fuss,” Annie was still chuckling at the whole episode. “It was my fault for calling him over.”

“He’s not supposed to jump up at people, I don’t know why he did that,” the woman looked relieved the Annie seemed fine about it.

“Well I didn’t offer any resistance so I suppose he thought it was okay.”

Nate had arrived and looked concerned. “Are you sure you’re okay, babe?”

“Fine, honestly, he only licked my face.”

Nate pulled the bag from the back of the chair and pulled out some wipes. “Let me give your face a wipe over,” he quickly opened the packet and pulled one out.

“Thanks,” Annie replied as he finished. “See no harm done,” she grinned. “Well except for making me look like the leaning tower of Pisa.”

The couple looked on as Nate lifted Annie back so she was sitting up straight again and replaced her arm on the rest.

“Is there anything we can do?” The man spoke up now. “I mean, I hope there’s no damage to your clothes or anything, we can pay for dry cleaning if there’s any dirt from his paws.”

“I think its fine,” Annie glanced down at her sweats and couldn’t see anything amiss, her T-shirt also looked the same as it had been. “I understand why you’re so worried about me, but there’s no need, really.”

“But are you sure you’re not hurt?”

“I can’t move my body, but I can feel it and I’m not aware of any pain. I’m glad he’s a little terrier though and not a Great Dane!”

“What about your arm, honey?” Nate interjected.

“It’s fine, he just knocked it off and it just sort of took the rest of me with it.”

“Can we please get you a drink or something, just to make up for what Timmy did?”

Nate started to protest, but was surprised by Annie, who thanked them and said that they could if they were willing to join her and Nate.

Nate took a step back and wondered what had come over Annie. It wasn’t too long ago that she had refused to leave their room and now she was inviting strangers to sit at their table.

The man went to get their drinks, while the woman held onto Timmy, the dog’s leash and took a seat opposite Annie. Quick introductions were made, as Nate and Joanna shook hands. Annie introduced herself and apologised for not being able to, which made Joanna blush slightly.

“Don’t worry about it,” she smiled nervously and gave her a quick wave instead. “I was so worried that he had hurt you,” she pointed down at the small dog who looked more than a bit sheepish.

“Poor thing, he looks like a naughty boy who knows he’s in trouble.” Annie laughed. “Don’t punish him on my part, I love dogs.”

Joanna picked him up and sat him on her knee. “He’s a good boy really, aren’t you Timmy?” She stroked his head and back, making the little terrier’s tail wag again.

“He’s very cute,” Annie replied laughing. “I think he knows he’s forgiven now.”

Joanna’s partner returned and was introduced as her husband, Nick. He laid down the tray of drinks and shook hands with Nate and looked questioningly at Annie as if not sure what to do. Annie again introduced herself and nodded her greeting at Nick, who responded likewise and sat down. They chatted platitudes about the hotel and ended up laughing about the unfortunate incident, now certain that there were no ill effects on Annie’s well-being. Joanna and Nick seemed to relax a little after a while, though they looked on nervously as Nate helped her drink her tea, trying to avoid staring.

It was a curious thing that Annie had experienced, she didn’t really understand it herself, but rather than freak out about ‘the curious incident of the dog in the daytime’ as she and Nate would later refer to the whole thing, it had instead made her realise that her temporary disability had scope for interesting interactions with people. She hadn’t expected it of course, but there was something theatrical about it.

Annie was quite taken by the little dog, which amused Nate as he had no idea she was so sentimental. Eventually Annie braved asking Joanna if she could pet the dog. Joanna lifted Timmy and held him in Annie’s lap. Annie asked Nate to hold her hand so Timmy could give it a sniff. He lifted her fingers towards the dog’s nose and Timmy immediately gave them a sniff and a lick. Annie giggled as the sandpapery tongue tickled her fingertips, which hung limply from Nate’s hands. He took her hand and used it to stroke Timmy’s head and ear, whilst the little dog refrained from jumping up at her face this time.

As the couple made their goodbye’s Joanna lifted the dog from Annie’s lap and as she did so, caught the immobile woman by surprise, giving her right hand, now replaced on the rest, a gentle squeeze. They waved a goodbye and continued their walk with Timmy now firmly on his leash in case of other unsuspecting wheelchair users!