*Chapter 19*
*The Art Of Walking*
"Finally I get to go home!" Genesis cried.
It had been a week and two days since she
had woken up. Her doctor, Dr. Allin had said she
could go home tomorrow.
"Finally!" Ike cried. "We've missed you!"
Genesis smiled. She had gotten her voice back
completely, and had been feeling a lot better. She
could sit up and reach things a lot better, even
though sometimes her had shook a little. But that
was awesome compared to what she had been like a
week ago. She had tried walking once two days ago,
but fell almost right away.
"Hey Genesis. Wanna try walking again?"
Taylor asked.
"Sure," Genesis replied.
Zac helped her out of bed and she put her
arms around Ike and Taylor for support.
"We'll carry you out the door first,"
Ike offered.
"Ok," Genesis answered.
"All right now swing her around this way.
Oops, wrong way. To the left. My right. Your-uh-
left. Yeah. No! Stop!" Zac cried. He was directing.
"What?" Taylor asked.
"I need a drink. All this work is tiring
me out."
"Zac!" Ike cried. "Get out of the way!"
Taylor and Ike carried her out the door.
Genesis had one arm around each of them.
"Ok. Now we're going to put you down.
Ready?"
Genesis nodded.
They set her down gently. The second
Genesis's feet touched the floor, she fell into
Ike's arms.
"Oops," she mumbled.
"It's ok. You wanna go back to your bed?"
Ike asked.
"No. I can do it."
"I don't think you-" Zac began.
"I can!" Genesis exclaimed, determination
in her voice.
Ike held her up. He let go. She fell.
"That time you stayed up longer than
before," Taylor pointed out.
"Yep," Zac said.
After a few tries, Genesis was standing
without any help.
"Ok I'm gonna walk now," she declared.
She took a step and fell down.
"Ouch," she grumbled from her positon on
the floor.
Taylor helped her up to standing position.
She took a step and stood still.
"I took a step!" she cried.
"Go you! Go you!" Zac started dancing
around.
A few nurses looked at him like he was
completely nuts.
Genesis started laughing hysterically, and
soon Zac, Ike, and Taylor joined in.
"Genesis!" Mrs. Hanson cried as she
approached them. "What have you boys done to her!"
Genesis giggled.
"Nothing mom. We were helping her walk
and Zac started-oh forget it. It's to rediculious,"
Taylor began to explain, but stopped.
"There's nothing too rediculious for
Zac," Mrs. Hanson laughed. "Are you ok?" she
asked Genesis.
"Yeah. I mean, as fine as you could be
for me right now."
Mrs. Hanson came over and inspected her.
"What happened?" she asked. "I never got
the whole story."
"Well, I don't know. They said someone
attacked me. I have no idea. The last thing I
remember is being in my living room wondering
who changed the channel."
Mrs. Hanson noticed some cuts and bruises
on her face, and some on her arms. "What happened
to your finger?" she asked.
Genesis toyed with her broken finger.
"It's broken," she answered.
"Oh," Mrs. Hanson replied. "Well boys I
think Genesis has done enough walking for today.
Bring her back to her room. Your father wants to
go somewhere."
They carried her back into her room.
"Bye Genesis!" Ike called as they walked
out the door. They all waved. Genesis looked
at the clock on the nighstand next to her.
"Wow 8:00 already. I'll just go to sleep."
She sat up. "Oh great. I gotta go to the
bathroom."
She didn't want to call a nurse. It was
embarassing having to be helped in the bathroom.
She also felt she had been asking too much from
Alexis. Sure, she was a nurse, and that was her
job, but she felt like a slave driver, asking
for so many favors.
She took a deep breath. "I can do this,"
she whispered.
She sat up, pushed off the sheets, and
swung her legs over the side of the bed. 'On
three,' she thought. 'You can do this, just try
your best,' she gave herself a pep talk in her head.
"One..." she said aloud. "Two.... Three..."
She pushed herself down. Her legs went
weak, and she nearly fell. She grabbed the bed
for support. She finally was able to stand still.
She let go of the bed....and fell. After a few
tries, she managed to stand on her own.
"Yes!" she cried. She covered her mouth,
realizing she had yelled. She didn't want a
nurse to come and make her get back in bed.
She stood still. "Um...now how am I going to
get there?"
She took a step, and fell flat on her
face. "Ouch," she grumbled. She realized she
had the tube attached to her wrist still. She
ripped it off. "Ok. This is it. The moment of
truth." She shook her head. "I've got to stop
talking to myself. Well...it's not so much talking
to myself, it's answering myself that's the problem.
Oh well."
She took another step. She almost fell,
but regained control by grabbing the bed again.
After about fifteen minutes of non-stop trying,
she finally managed to take three steps.
"That's a record!" she exclaimed.
She finally made it to the bathroom door.
"Yes!!!" she cried. "Woohoo! I rule!"
She tried to jump up and down. Big mistake.
She fell to the floor.
"Crap," she grumbled.
But that didn't matter. She had made it
to the door, her destination. She was contented.
She noticed she didn't have to go to the bathroom
anymore. She smiled. She was too tired to walk
back, so she crawled back and climbed into her bed.
She had successfully walked.