Chapter Twenty-Four

Jessica left the house at a run, terrified that she would be too late. When she arrive at the hospital she rushed to the IC where William was waiting for her.

William embrace her as she burst into tears. He wanted to offer her some kind of comfort but was unable to do anything but hold her close and share her pain.

Choking on tears and fighting for control Jessica managed to ask "How is my baby?"

"I, I don't know," William confessed remembering how the police had refused to let him see Robert at the scene. Then the EMT's requested he not ride in the ambulance so that they had more room to work. William had followed behind the ambulance with the police officer that had been assigned to his sons case. When they arrived at the hospital, Robert was already on his way to the operating room.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Jessica shouted taking her frustrations out on the easiest person available. She needed someone to blame, someone to vent her anger on so that she didn't feel so helpless.

"Honey, please calm down," William pleaded.

"Calm down? How am I supposed to calm down when my little boy is hurt, possibly dieing or dead," Jessica said dissolving into tears.

William took her into his arms and held her tight, trying to be strong for the both of them. Once she had a attained some control, William guided her to a chair and sat beside her. He held her had as she sniffled and jumped in anticipation whenever someone came into the waiting room. William felt numb, unable to grasp that his feelings of dread had come true. He had endured several days of intense dread and feelings that something terrible was going to happen. He had experienced these feelings before, ever since his alien abduction but they had never been this strong before. He help by wonder why this was happening to him. Why should he be given the ability to sense something was going to happen without the ability to know what or how to prevent it? Worse yet, could this just be a manifestation of his PAASD. Maybe he needed a stronger medication to control his anxiety. A voice broke into his troubled thoughts.

"Mr. and Mrs. Bennett? I'm Dr. Johnston."

William stood up to shake the doctors extended hand. "How is my son doctor?"

"Come with me so we can talk," Dr. Johnston suggested. William motioned for Jessica to come with them and they followed the doctor into his office.
 

When they were seated, Doctor Johnston spoke "Your son is a very lucky little boy. He suffered a head contusion, lacerations and a broken leg. We were able to fix all the damage. The leg was the most worrisome injury due to multiple fractures that required surgery. He'll require intensive physical therapy in the next several months so that he does not acquire a permanent limp."

"Thank you doctor," William said in relief.

"When can we see our little boy?" Jessica asked.

"He's resting now but I can have my nurse take you to his room Mrs. Bennett. Your husband and I can set up a schedule for your son's physical therapy."

 

When the nurse left, Jessica sat beside the bed, brushing her son's hair from his face. Tears slid down her cheeks as she thought of how close they had come to losing him. She didn't know how she would have managed if the worst had happened, she didn't think she could bear losing a child. She prayed it would never be something she would have to experience.

She must have dozed off as the next thing she was aware of was William shaking her shoulder. "Honey, are you alright?"

"Oh William what would we have done if we had lost him?"

"Shhh, don't think about that now. Be thankful that he's going to be alright and he'll be able to come home soon."

Sighing deeply, Jessica leaned into William and smiled "When can he come home?"

"Doctor Johnston said he would have to stay in the hospital for about a week and if everything goes well we'll be able to bring him home after that."

A week later Robert was sitting up in his hospital bed listening to Doctor Johnston tell him to take it easy when he got home and to remember to do his exercises to strengthen his leg muscles. He tried to listen and nodded in agreement to everything the doctor said. He was a little concerned about his first therapy session and his mind was on that then on what the doctor was telling him. He hoped Dr. Johnston would tell his parents because he wasn't going to remember any of it.

Physical therapy was every bit as bad as Robert feared it would be, it hurt. The therapist wouldn't let him quit, even when he had tears running down his face. The therapist kept telling him he had to push past the pain, to think of all the benefits. Robert tried his best, he wanted to go home, he wanted to ride his bike, he wanted to run, to do all the things he use to do without thinking. Every session he had kept his goals in his thoughts and when the pain became really bad he was able to push through it. In time the cast came off and his therapy sessions became more intense. But it all paid off in the end, he was back to doing everything he had been able to do before the accident. Although he never quite got over his fear of being hit by car and would stop riding his bike until the car would pass, eventually he quit riding altogether. 

 



He and Evelyn were finally finishing elementary school and would soon be entering high school. As she last days of their childhood was drawing to a close they received an invitation from the school to receive medals for participating in Scouts. So they dressed in their uniforms for the last time and the entire family attended the ceremony. Robert was glad he was able to walk up on the stage to accept his medal. It would have been a perfect night accept the fact the announcer had to tell everyone about him being hit by a car and almost dieing. He wanted to forget it ever happened but no one would let him. He could see how it affected his parents, it was in their eyes, the way they looked at him. He did his best to ignore it and hope it would get better.