Page 43 of Precise Justice

Robbie grabbed the metal railing and pulled. It took almost a full minute, but she did it and she was exhausted from the effort.

“I never, I can’t believe that was so hard,” Robbie said trying to catch her breath.

She was sitting on the edge of the bed, her feet dangling with the tubes strung out across the bed behind her.

“Take it easy. Catch your breath. Believe it or not, you did good. You’re pretty weak right now.”

When Robbie’s breathing was back to normal, Denny started again.

“Slide forward and get your feet on the floor,” she told Robbie.

Robbie complied and Denny said, “Good, now, all I want you to do is stand up. Wait! I’ll help you.”

Denny grabbed ahold of Robbie’s right arm under her shoulder then said, “When I count to three, stand up. I’ll hold you. Okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” Robbie replied while thinking,how hard can this be?

“Here we go. One, two and three,” Denny counted.

Robbie, with Denny firmly grasping her right arm, stood. When she became completely upright, lower abdomen felt like it had exploded and was on fire. The room started to spin; her legs felt like rubber and sweat broke out everywhere on her body. All Robbie could think of were the tubes running back across the bed and what would happen to them if she fell.

“I’m gonna fall, I’m gonna fall, put me down, the tubes…”

“You’re okay, I have you, you won’t fall.

“Sit down,” Denny finally said after what seemed like a half-hour of sheer, burning, pain, and torture. It was only, at most, four or five seconds.

“You’re okay, everything’s good, breathe,” Denny said.

Robbie’s breathing normalized and Denny helped her lie back down.

After lying back down, Robbie asked, “Am I still alive? Are the tubes still okay? That’s all I could think of.”

Denny, laughing said, “Yes, you’re still alive and the tubes are okay. Hey, you did good. How’s the pain?”

“All right, I guess, yeah,” Robbie replied after realizing the pain was just about totally gone.

“I’m serious. You did good. You stayed up for almost five seconds.”

Robbie took a couple of deep breaths then said, “I guess I’m all right. I didn’t think anything could hurt that much.”

“The worst is over. You hungry? You should eat something.”

“After that you want to know if I’m hungry?” Robbie asked. “Actually, I guess I am. How about a Danish and some juice?”

“I’ll have it brought in. I’ll be back in an hour and we’ll do some more,” Denny said.

“More? No, we won’t…”

“Yes, we will, It won’t be nearly as bad. The sooner you get moving, the better. You’ll see.”

Denny the nurse was right. Each time she came in, got Robbie out of bed and moving, was better than the time before. After the third day Robbie was getting up and walking on her own. The next day she was discharged and went home to start her new life as a female.

During her stay in the hospital, Dr. Friedman stopped in to see her, twice. Both times he stayed for an hour, a lot longer than Robbie wanted him to. Freidman would sit on the edge of the bed and hold Robbie’s hand while they talked.

A week after being released, Robbie had appointments with both the surgeon, Dr. Miller, and Friedman, separately of course.

Miller restricted himself to an examination of the surgery. When he finished, he was quite pleased to admit he had done a splendid job, his words. The pain was almost completely gone. Robbie was getting out of bed on her own and going up and down stairs without assistance or even a cane.