“It really is.” Ez gently hugged me back, before giving me a broad smile. “I’ve told everyone I can think of. I can’t stop talking about it, really.”
“Daddy must’ve been so proud.”
“Ancestors, Dad was bawling over the phone. I’ve never seen him like that.” Ez’s eyes got misty. He was getting a little choked up himself.
“He’s excited for you, Ez. All of us are. This is great news!”
“We really worked things out between us. Dad’s been so helpful since I’ve started this whole thing. I feel like we’re really bonding. I mean, all of us in the family have always been close, but I never got to have that special connection with Dad like you do, until now.”
“This is incredible. I’m thrilled this is the path you’ve decided to take.”
“Yeah, and it’ll be a good job, one that will be steady enough to support Opal,” Ez said. “She and Marina are gonna need a fresh start once we’re out of here.”
I was hesitant to ask if Ez was ready to be a dad, but I figured we’d have that conversation later. “Are you worried about being able to keep up with a job?” I asked cautiously. Ez did his best, but his physical well-being wasn’t optimal most of the time.
Ez shrugged. “Dad managed to make his job work for him, so I figure I can make my dreams work for me, too. I know people say that disabled people can’t work in the medical field, because the job takes long hours and a lot of stamina. But I want to try and change that, too— make working in hospitals and other care facilities more accessible, so more disabled people can hold careers in places like that. Because I really think if we had disabled people treatingotherdisabled people, the stigma and judgment in medical facilities could change.”
I thought that was a great idea. Doctor Marsh had done all she could for me, and I was thankful for that, but she was able-bodied and extremely healthy. She couldn’t relate to me or understand what I was going through, not to mention she didn’t have the experience of being disabled, so she was less likely to believe me when I relayed my symptoms to her.
Ez would be a good doctor. He knew what it felt like to be ill, so he’d be inspired to come up with more creative and innovative solutions to the struggles of his patients. “I know you can change things, Ez. You’ll do your best to help anyone who needs you.”
“I do want to have patients and help people, but my main focus would be working at a research facility,” Ez stated. “I really want to use my career to fix and reverse medical conditions, not just smother patients with pills or short-term solutions.”
“That’s fucking amazing. I really couldn’t be happier that you’re pursuing this.” I looked down at all the papers. “Is that what you’re working on now?”
“Well, a cure for CMSS isn’t the only thing I’m investigating,” Ez confessed. “I wanted to start with something that’s a bit more of a mystery.”
It dawned on me slowly. “You’re trying to figure out how to mend my spine.”
“Yes,” Ez confirmed. “I want to help you walk again.”
I began curling inward. Everyone wanted me to get better. At this point, I felt pressured to go back to my old life, instead of being supported to live a different existence on my own terms. I knew my brother meant well, but part of me wished he’d just leave it alone. He should be working on finding a cure for himself, not me.
“And what kind of information did you find out?” I crossed my arms.
Ez glanced away. “I… uh… might’ve snuck into the records office during one of my treatments and stole a couple of your files.”
“What were you thinking?” I snapped. “If you had gotten caught—”
“Yeah, but I didn’t get the stuff I really needed,” he said in frustration. “What I stole only creates a partial picture of your injury and the treatments that failed to cure it. They have the rest hidden somewhere.”
“Yay, that’s not scary,” I mumbled. I wondered where the rest of my medical files were.
“They’re probably in the Warden’s office. We all know how obsessed he is with you.”
It made my skin crawl to think of the Warden going over documents about my body and what was going on with it. “We’re not getting in there anytime soon.”
“Exactly. So I’ve got to try and piece together the full story of your injury with incomplete information. Which is aggravating, to say the least.”
“Ez, this has got to be taking up all your time. You’ve got classes and other things to focus on.”
“It’s actually very interesting.” Ez’s eyes sparked. “I’ve never realized how fascinating the body is. Don’t worry, I’m still keeping up with everything. This is more of a free-time thing.”
I let out a short, irritated gust of breath. “Just don’t get caught, okay?”
“You’re one to lecture me, after all you’ve done. I deserve a free pass.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
