Page 46

He straightened up.

"What's wrong with me?"

"When you fell from the horse, you also struck your lower back. We're going to have to transport you to Richmond where they have the medical facilities to properly evaluate and treat spinal cord injuries."

"Spinal cord?"

"The faster we get you moved, the better chance you'll have for some recovery." he added.

The word some hung in the air like a soap bubble threatening to pop and disappear.

"No," I cried.

"Just relax," he said. "I'll send in your father," he added. My father? Was I hearing things?

Seconds later. Jake stepped into the room, his hat in his hands, his face looking like he had aged years. Every crevice was deeper, his eves dark and full of pain, the folds in his forehead thick.

"How you doin'. Princess?" he asked.

"Jake. I can't move my legs."

He nodded.

"I don't know why I let you get on her. Every instinct told me it was going to be bad," he muttered.

"Now, who's blaming himself for things beyond his control?" I tossed back at him. I had to keep closing my eyes because the room wanted to spin.

"I should have known better. I'm older, more experienced."

"Don't, Jake." I thought a moment. "Did you tell the doctor you were my father?"

"Yeah. It made all the paperwork easier for now. These places..." he mumbled.

I opened my eyes and reached up for his hand.

"You are already more of a father to me. than I've ever had. Jake," I said.

He pressed his lower lip under his upper, tightening his jaw. There is something about tears coming into the eyes of a gown man that makes me feel even deeper sadness. I know that no one should be beyond feeling and crying if he or she needs to, but someone like Jake who has seen a great many things in his life and survived so much trouble just looked like he was too rock solid to mourn anything in public.

"I'll go see about the ambulance," he said and quickly left but not before I saw a fugitive tear travel down those toughened cheeks.

It was a very uncomfortable ride. I had to be strapped tightly to keep my movement to a minimum, not that I was about to get up and dance. Even lifting my head an inch off the pillow put me on a merry-goround. I welcomed my intermittent naps.

The trauma center in Richmond was busy, but efficient. Once I was handed over to the doctors there, they quickly made a diagnosis. They evaluated my lungs and then concentrated on my spinal injury. I was given a neurological examination, tests of my reflexes and then put through a series of other tests and machines to determine just how bad the injury was.

It all seemed like a blur and before I knew it, I was in a hospital room. waiting. Two doctors appeared in the doorway. They conversed softly with each other first and then approached the bed. One was much older than the other, gray-haired but with bright blue eyes and a kind face. The younger man had dark brown hair and hazel eyes. He looked more like a scientist than a doctor. I didn't feel he was looking at me as much as he was looking at a medical problem.

"I'm Doctor Eisner." the older man said. "This is Doctor Casey, my assistant." He smiled and looked at his clipboard. "So your name is Rain?"

"Yes," I said. I felt my lips move. but I spoke so softly, I didn't hear myself.

"Interesting name," he remarked. "Well, my dear, here's what we know about your injury. You've had damage to an area on your spinal cord we describe as L3 and L4." He turned the clipboard revealing a diagram of the human spine.

"As you see," he continued, his voice sounding like that of a teacher. "the spinal cord is about eighteen inches long and extends from the base of the brain, down the middle of the back, to about the waist. There are nerves that lie within the spinal cord. We call them UMNs, upper motor neurons, and their function is to carry the messages back and forth from the brain to the spinal nerves along the spinal tract. These nerves that branch out from the spinal cord to the other parts of the body are called LMNs." He smiled. "Lower motor neurons. They communicate with the various areas of the body, send messages to initiate actions, like muscle movement. Understand so far?"

I nodded, holding my breath.

"The spinal cord," he said pointing to it, "is surrounded by rings of bone called vertebra. In general, the higher the injury in the spinal cord, the more dysfunction a person will experience. So, if you follow down with me," he said running his pen along the diagram, "you can see that your injury is