Broken Record

6

Warning: Contains adult language, sexual content, and mentions survivor's guilt!

-Dylan-

The abrupt sound of loud knocking on my door had jolted me out of sleep. Taking a brief glance at the red numbers illuminating off my alarm clock reading 9 am.

I groan, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I knew who was on the other side of the door, it's my male nurse, Jacoby. He shows up around this time once a week to check up on me and help me with anything I might need. Upon checking the date on my phone I remember the doctor telling me around December 1st is when I will be evaluated to finally get rid of these vital monitors. Here's to hoping that today is the day because I don't think I can stand another night with them constantly beeping.

"Come in, Jacoby." I croak out.

The door opens and my nurse smiles at me.

"Good morning, Dylan. I'm sorry if I woke you up."

As I sit up in bed, Jacoby hands me a large Starbucks coffee as he greets me with a energetic smile. I really love how he always picks me up a coffee when he goes to Starbucks to his daily cup of caffeine. It saves me the struggle in taking 10 minutes to slowly fill the ground basket and many attempts to pour the water in the reservoir, almost always making one big mess.

"Okay, let's see how your vitals are without those irritating machines."

Jacoby unhooks all the wires and removes the oxygen mask before taking my vitals, his smile fades and he sighs after he unclasps the sensor from my finger.

"I want to try something. Let's see how you do without the machines for 15 minutes. In my opinion, you may need to have the oxygen for a little longer but I don't think you will need the other vital machines. If you have any trouble breathing, please by all means, put the oxygen mask back on."

While we wait, I lay back down to relax a little and check any notifications on my phone. I haven't heard from Jay at all, but Jordon texted me sometime last night saying he wants to talk to me soon, and George sent a message saying that he is available to help if I needed it.

After 15 minutes Jacoby checks my vitals again and smiles.

"Okay it looks like everything is going good. Your vitals are fantastic. I was a little worried when I saw your oxygen levels drop a bit but it all looks good now. Show me how you can walk with and without crutches then we'll work on your speech therapy."

Unfortunately even though it's been a few months my walking and balance is far out of whack. With the crutches I have a small wobble and a limp but I can walk pretty well, without the crutches, however, is a whole different story. I took two steps and ate shit.

"You'll get there, bud."

Jacoby helps me stand and hands me the crutches. We walk out of the bedroom and sit on the living room couch. He pulls out a deck of flash cards.

"We're going to work on multiple syllable words. Try to say them as fast as you can."

As he shows me cards of simple words I try to say them quickly but I find myself stuttering.

"Ba-Balloon. A-Apple. C-Cook... C-Cookie. C-Camel. B-Biscuit... F-Fuck. I can't d-do this."

Jacoby sighs.

"Dylan. Don't ever say you can't. You can do it, you just need practice."

He takes his laptop out of his bag and starts typing. After a few minutes of a lot of typing, he finally shuts his laptop.

"Okay bud. So the verdict is that once the doctor receives the documents and email that I just sent, you should be clear of almost all machines. The bad news is that you're stuck with the oxygen for a little while longer and you're still in therapy, both physical and occupational, and I don't suggest that you start driving or working just yet. The doctor might want to give you a call or see you sometime soon. With that said, do you need help with anything before I pop out?"