Day 238

Should be Day 244.

One day, Dave burst into the living room, scaring the playing cards right out of Theodore’s hands.

“Burglars!!”

Alvin chuckled.  “That’s the sorriest looking burglar I ever saw!”

“It’s only Dave, Theodore,” Simon handed his brother two of the cards he had dropped.  “What is it, Dave?”

“You’ll never guess what happened at work today.  I got a call back from a specialist on the East Coast that I had called a few weeks ago.  The doctor said he looked at your X-rays and file and thinks there’s a good chance he could fix you!”

“Are you serious?!  That’s awesome!” Alvin jumped up and clapped Simon on the back. 

“Does that mean we have to take an airplane trip?” Theodore asked.

“No, the doctor offered to come to us.  He wants to do the operation as soon as possible.  I scheduled a consultation with him on Thursday at 9:00 a.m., but there’s a good chance you’ll get the surgery done that day.  What do you say to that, Simon?”

“I say…I can’t wait to walk again!”

 

On the day of the appointment, Simon was up early.  He couldn’t sleep from anticipation and worry.  Of course he was excited that the operation might be successful, but there was also a chance it could cause even more damage and ruin any hope he had left.  He had finally come to the conclusion that he couldn’t get his hopes up too high, and whatever the outcome, he would be alright.  He had proved that he could live a fairly normal life in his wheelchair and still do the things he loved most: spend time with his family and friends, read, and invent.  This gave him comfort.

  

When it came time to go, Dave lifted Simon into the front seat, and Theodore folded up the wheelchair and managed to put it in the trunk without getting crushed by it.  Alvin and Theodore talked to Simon about what songs they would sing in their upcoming concert, trying to distract all of them from thinking about the operation.

When they had arrived and found the room they needed to be in, the group took a look at their surroundings.  It was all white, with a painting of a tree on the wall, and smelled like rubbing alcohol and medicine.  The doctor walked in after they had been waiting fifteen minutes.

“Hello, I’m Doctor Sullivan.  It’s nice to finally meet you all in person.”  He went around and shook everyone’s hand.  When he got to Simon, he said, “I’m going to do my best to help you.”

Simon smiled his gratitude.  He couldn’t ask for anything more.