She's Coming Home

New friends

Gabby POV
Maya- sorry Andy, it's a chaotic
Andy- did you drop your phone again?
Maya- it wasn't me it was Gabby!
Gabby- hey you put it near me
Maya walked over to me so her could lean against the stander for balance
Maya- anyways, Andy meet my new friend Gabby.
I try to say hi but Maya's in the way of using my device. I start trying to push her off, I get her pretty quickly, I'm getting better at targeting things with my arms but the rest of my body does whatever it wants so my head falls again. Maya walks away.
Maya- what was that for!
I eventually get my arms back on the tray so I can get my head back up.
Gabby- you block eye gaze
Maya- oh sorry, can I go on the other side? I need something to hold onto.
Gabby- yes other side fine.
She gets over to the other side and we both get situated.
Maya- ok, sorry Andy. Once again this is Gabby
Gabby- hi. Nice to meet you
Andy- hey, nice to meet you. So you're the one throwing Maya's phone around!?
She jokes
Gabby- not my fault. She put it near me, I can't control it.
Andy- so Maya this trip was just to make friends without me.
Maya- ya, starting a new club.
Andy- hey why am I never in any of your clubs?
Gabby- you don't want to join this club
Andy- what?
I dropped my head again and turned it to show all the scars on my head
Maya- firefighters with TBIs!
Andy- Gabby you're a firefighter too?
Gabby- yes. First paramedic then firefighter then volunteer first responder and medic in Puerto Rico.
Andy- wait a minute. Another Latina firefighter??
Gabby- yes. But the device doesn't do Spanish
Andy- well that sucks but we're definitely starting a club! Now Maya why didn't you invite me on this trip?
Maya- Andy we just came to meet Gabby, I didn't know anything about her until we got here.
Andy- fine, Gabby you'll just have to come to Seattle sometime to visit
Gabby- that will be a long time. Still inpatient, I haven't even been outside yet.
Andy- how long have you been there?
Gabby- 6 weeks
Andy- hey Maya was still in a coma at 6 weeks
Maya- oh whatever it's not a competition.
My head fell again and I got stuck I eventually managed to hit Maya.
Maya- what? Oh, need help.
She picked my head up but I had caught the oxygen tubing around my arm so when she lifted my head up it got pulled off.
Andy- Maya why am I staring at the ceiling again?
Maya- because I can only use one arm and Gabby got stuck.
Maya hadn't noticed the oxygen and I was struggling to breathe without it.
Gabby- Maya help
Maya- what's up?
The alarm starts going off on the pulse ox.
Maya- oh oxygen
She found it and put it back on
Maya- you good?
Gabby- ya, need a minute
Maya picked up her phone
Andy- what is going on with you two?
Gabby- my head fell, then I pulled my oxygen off
Andy- you two are a disaster
Gabby- yep
We kept chatting for a while then everyone came back over
Kate- ok, you've been up for half an hour, ready to lay down again?
Gabby- yes, I'm tired
Maya goes to stand against the wall so they can get me out. They lay me back on the table again and take the AFOs off. I sprawl out on the table, it feels great to just let my body move. I'm still tight and can't control the movements but it hurts a lot less when I don't fight it.

Maya- getting out is the best part isn't it?
I look at her
Kate- do you want to lay down for a while here before going back to your room?
I look at her. The table is great for stretching out and moving around but it's annoying that I can't use the device.
Maya- can I sit with you?
I look at her and she comes and sits with me.
Maya- I need to take this thing off
She starts taking off her wrist brace and then stretches her hand and wrist a bit.
Maya- want to see some stuff, what I've done for rehab?
She lays down next to me so we can both see her phone and shows me some pictures of her in the ICU and then when she wakes up and some videos of her moving around.
Maya- this day was great.
She shows me a video of walking into a firehouse and everyone is so excited, then whoever's filming, I assume Carina, moves over so you can see Maya. Everyone is so excited.
Maya- that was my first time out of the hospital, it actually didn't very well, I had a seizure and they had to take me back in the aid car but it was fun until then. This was my first time walking.
A video of her held in this harness over a treadmill with therapists moving her legs and then she starts moving her left leg by herself.
Maya- eventually I got this walker I could use by myself. Then this was the best day, 2 months ago
It's a video of Maya balanced against a wall and then Carina walks over and she pushes off the wall and takes a few steps on her own before starting to fall and Carina catches her.
We keep watching videos while we're laying together. It's really nice to see and we also both just need to rest.