tragedy, Mr. Thomas.” She wanted him to see that too, not just Lily, because he would inevitably influence how Lily felt about herself. If she lived in an atmosphere of despair, it would affect her deeply, and Jessie didn’t want that for her, or for any of her patients, no matter how catastrophic their accidents had been, or their injuries as a result. And an upbeat attitude about what lay ahead was essential to her recovery now. It was part of why she wanted Lily to go to Craig Hospital, to get her life going again, in the best possible way. “She can still lead an amazing life, and we want her to, Mr. Thomas. There is a huge range of things she will be able to do—drive a car, go to college, learn a profession, go into politics, marry, and have babies. The only thing she can’t do is use her legs. The rest of her is still intact. We just need to refocus her goals.” There was more to it than that, but Jessie wanted to stress a glass-half-full theory, or even entirely full or close to it, rather than a glass-half-empty mood of catastrophe, which Lily would pick up on rapidly and respond to, either way.
Bill’s face looked tense and angry again when he answered, “She’s not going to be skiing again, or going to the Olympics. She will never win a gold medal now, and she’s been training for that for five years. She’ll never dance or walk again, she won’t walk down the aisle at her wedding, and how many guys do you think are going to marry a girl in a wheelchair, no matter how beautiful she is?” There were tears in his eyes. It had been all he could think of since Lily had been in the accident, and even more so after Jessie’s prognosis after the surgery that she would never walk again.
“The right one will marry her. I did my residency at Stanford with a man who had a spinal cord injury similar to Lily’s. He was in a wheelchair, and he wanted to do neurosurgery because of what had happened to him. He got married around the same time I did, and last I heard he had six kids. He married a wonderful woman, also a physician, who is crazy about him. She’s at the forefront of SCI research, probably because of him. Great lives can still happen after an accident like this.
“I’m not telling you it’s easy, and I won’t lie to Lily either, but I have seen personally what people can achieve. With the right attitude and training, Lily will be able to do great things. And it could have been even worse. She’s paraplegic, not quadriplegic, she has full use of her upper body and upper limbs. She won’t have to run a wheelchair by using a breathing tube, although some of the people who have to do that are remarkable too. And more important, she’s alive.” A number of people on the chairlift hadn’t been as lucky, and there would be several funerals in town in the coming days. Others had been killed who had come to Tahoe just to have some fun and ski, as Lily had.
“I’m not going to just let it end there,” Bill said with determination. “I’m starting to contact the experts in spinal cord injury around the world.” The implication was still there that Jessie was a small-town doctor, and others were more capable than she. But Lily’s injury was what it was, and no one would be able to change that or reverse it, until research came up with new solutions, hopefully in Lily’s lifetime since she was so young, but not yet. Jessie had already done, and was doing, all that anyone could, whether Bill recognized that or not. He still was in denial, and wasn’t ready to give up. Jessie knew that ultimately it would be hard on Lily if he was not able to accept the realities of his daughter’s life. But she also knew that it was early days yet, and sooner or later he’d have to face the truth.
Bill Thomas was a fighter and used to getting what he wanted. He had achieved remarkable things and was not ready to give up on this. And he would have done anything in the world for Lily. Jessie admired that in
Bill’s face looked tense and angry again when he answered, “She’s not going to be skiing again, or going to the Olympics. She will never win a gold medal now, and she’s been training for that for five years. She’ll never dance or walk again, she won’t walk down the aisle at her wedding, and how many guys do you think are going to marry a girl in a wheelchair, no matter how beautiful she is?” There were tears in his eyes. It had been all he could think of since Lily had been in the accident, and even more so after Jessie’s prognosis after the surgery that she would never walk again.
“The right one will marry her. I did my residency at Stanford with a man who had a spinal cord injury similar to Lily’s. He was in a wheelchair, and he wanted to do neurosurgery because of what had happened to him. He got married around the same time I did, and last I heard he had six kids. He married a wonderful woman, also a physician, who is crazy about him. She’s at the forefront of SCI research, probably because of him. Great lives can still happen after an accident like this.
“I’m not telling you it’s easy, and I won’t lie to Lily either, but I have seen personally what people can achieve. With the right attitude and training, Lily will be able to do great things. And it could have been even worse. She’s paraplegic, not quadriplegic, she has full use of her upper body and upper limbs. She won’t have to run a wheelchair by using a breathing tube, although some of the people who have to do that are remarkable too. And more important, she’s alive.” A number of people on the chairlift hadn’t been as lucky, and there would be several funerals in town in the coming days. Others had been killed who had come to Tahoe just to have some fun and ski, as Lily had.
“I’m not going to just let it end there,” Bill said with determination. “I’m starting to contact the experts in spinal cord injury around the world.” The implication was still there that Jessie was a small-town doctor, and others were more capable than she. But Lily’s injury was what it was, and no one would be able to change that or reverse it, until research came up with new solutions, hopefully in Lily’s lifetime since she was so young, but not yet. Jessie had already done, and was doing, all that anyone could, whether Bill recognized that or not. He still was in denial, and wasn’t ready to give up. Jessie knew that ultimately it would be hard on Lily if he was not able to accept the realities of his daughter’s life. But she also knew that it was early days yet, and sooner or later he’d have to face the truth.
Bill Thomas was a fighter and used to getting what he wanted. He had achieved remarkable things and was not ready to give up on this. And he would have done anything in the world for Lily. Jessie admired that in
Similar Books
