Having A Place

Karen

It's been about a week and a half since we brought Emma home from the hospital after her accident. Her medication makes her drowsy and she sleeps all the time. She is out of it half the time and she's just not herself and she knows it. She is a completely different person since all of this happened because of her medication. The only time she seems to be closer to her normal self is when the medication is wearing off, but she is in a ton of pain. She hates taking her medication because of that and puts up a fight every time we give it to her. I just want my daughter back.

Other than the issues with the medication, she has been recovering well and has been more mobile. She says the pain isn't as severe so that is a plus. She still needs some help getting up and down the stairs, but for the most part she is walking around with her crutches by herself.

Emma has a doctor's appointment to see how everything is healing. We just finished up breakfast and Emma was in the shower and Elijah was in the living room with Jimi. I had just finished loaded the dishes in the dishwasher and decided to go check on Emma. I knocked on her bedroom door and I didn't hear anything. I slowly opened the door and saw that she wasn't in there. I didn't hear the water running in her bathroom, but I did hear her rustling around. I walked over to the bathroom door and knocked on it.

"Everything going okay sweetie?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm just brushing my hair" she said.

"Alright, we have to leave in a half an hour" I said.

"I'll be ready" she said and I walked out of her bedroom and into mine. I walked to my closest and picked out a pair of jeans and a gray V-neck t-shirt. I got dressed and went back to Emma's room.

"You ready to go sweetie?" I asked.

"Yep" she said and walked over to me and I helped her down the stairs.

Just as we reached the bottom of the stairs, Maggie walked through the door.

"Hey Maggie. Thanks for coming over and watching Elijah" I said.

"Not a problem. I'm glad to see you're doing better" Maggie said to Emma.

"Thanks" Emma said.

"Ready to go?" Jimi asked.

"We are" I said.

"We'll be back in a little while Elijah. Be good for Maggie" I said and kissed the top of his head.

"I will" Elijah said with a smile. We headed out to the car and went to the hospital.

Jimi tried to find a spot close to the doors, but was unsuccessful so he dropped Emma and I off at the doors. Emma and I walked inside and I checked her in at the reception desk.

About ten minutes later a nurse came out and called Emma's name. The three of us stood up and followed her back. Jimi helped Emma up on the exam table to sit down. The nurse checked everything and then went to go get the doctor.

"Are we still going to ask him if I can get a different prescription?" Emma asked when the nurse left.

"Yeah, if you still want to" I said.

"I do. I'm tired of being tired all the time" she said.

"Alright, we'll ask him" I said softly and tucked her hair behind her ear. A few minutes later, her doctor walked in.

"Hey Emma, how are you feeling?" he asked cheerfully.

"Good" she said.

"How has the pain been?" he asked.