A pained look flashed across the doctor’s face before he schooled his features into that eternal calm all medical professionals exuded. “Let’s take this one day at a time,” he said. “I’m not saying no, but I’m not saying yes either.”
Mitch tried to suffocate the bubble of hope that welled in his chest like a balloon. According to the doctor, he had every right to assume things weren’t as bad as they seemed. He couldn’t allow himself to believe he was in the clear. Not yet. Not until the swelling in his back went down and he could roll his ankles, flex his calves, and tense his quads of his own free will.
Not until he was up, walking.
He reached across his body with his right hand and pinched his left forearm, certain he was dreaming. Even the potential that he could walk again was enough to lift his spirits considerably.
Nope, definitely awake.
Dr. Rogers smiled at him, turning to leave the room. “I can assure you this isn’t a dream. Of course, I can’t say for certain until the swelling goes down and we can get a better idea of the whole picture, but I’m optimistic.”
Almost immediately after Dr. Rogers walked out the door, Kiera came rushing in.
“Oh my God, babe,” she said, crawling onto the bed next to him without regard for his injured state. “What happened? I got the update that you were carted off in the middle of showing a house and came straight here.”
Looking at Kiera, Mitch wondered where that fondness he’d experienced for her that day in the hills had gone because right now, she was pissing him off.
“Kiera,” he said firmly. “I have a back injury and I really need you to get off this bed.”
His patience for this girl had gone down with the feeling in his legs.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry.” She quickly scrambled off and pulled a chair up next to him, reaching out to tightly grip his left hand in hers. “What’s going on?”
“I’m paralyzed,” he said flatly.
Since he’d woken up in the hospital, he’d had some time to think, and those thoughts brought him to the realization that everything in his life was about to change, things he had absolutely no control over.
But one thing he did have control over? His relationship with Kiera. The road from this moment on was going to be difficult, and the companionship he’d needed from Kiera a few weeks before simply didn’t play a role in the new scope of his life.
Was there a softer way he could’ve told her what was happening with him? Yes.
Could he have told her about the doctor’s news, that he would most likely walk again? Also yes.
But he didn’t.
“You’re paralyzed?” She repeated, face leached of all color. “As in…you can’t walk?”
“Correct,” he said.
“Like…ever?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “My back is broken. I currently can’t feel anything below my waist.”
“Not even your dick?” She blurted.
Mitch rolled his eyes, not bothering to bury the impulse like he normally would. “Not even my dick.”
“Well what the fuck am I supposed to do now?”
“I’m sorry?”
“I mean…my boyfriend can’t walk, can’t even use his dick. We don’t know if you’ll ever get that feeling back.” She hopped up from her chair and started pacing. “What am I going to do?” She wailed.
Mitch almost laughed. Truth be told, he had expected this reaction. It didn’t surprise him that while he was the one laid up in a hospital bed with a fractured spine and no feeling in his lower extremities, Kiera was making it all about her.
“Look,” he said calmly. “Things are going to be really hard for me while I get used to my new normal. I think it’s best if we break up.”
Kiera stopped her pacing and faced him, narrowing her eyes. “You did this on purpose.”
