Learning to Fly

            

He awoke to the relentless beeping of what seemed to be a heart monitor, the flickering LED lights and the stench of disinfectant burning his nostrils. Blinking furiously, Jamie tried to restore his sight. The world was a blur around him and he groaned in discomfort. The woman sleeping to his right woke with a start.

            'Jamie! Oh Jamie, my sweet boy! You're finally awake,' she whispered repeatedly. Realising who this woman was, Jamie started to speak.

            'Mu- mum?' he croaked out, his throat feeling like sandpaper. It had been a matter of days since he had spoken last. The relieved look on her face was enough to make Jamie search his memories as to why he was in the hospital. The world around him was coming into focus but his memories were still a haze.

            'Yes. Yes, it's me. Here have a drink of water and then I'll go get the doctor,' she seemed to be at a loss for words. She lifted the cup to Jamie's lips and the water as it slid down his throat was like rain in the middle of a drought; long awaited, divine.

            Once his mother had been persuaded that he would be alright alone for the mere minutes that she would take to find the doctor, all that Jamie had to keep him company were the haunting memories of the accident. Cold. Tumbling. White snow and green trees. The flashing of the sun through the trees. Twigs slapping his face, burning left in their tracks. Blue and red flashing. Talking. 'This one's got no hope.' Tingling down his back and legs. Whispering about him? Black. Nothing. Not only did these flashes of memories leave Jamie petrified, but he was desperate to discover the extent of his injuries and the impact they would leave on his life.

            His sense of dread did not dissipate when his mother walked in with the doctor in tow, both ashen faced and silent. They stood together at the end of Jamie's bed, the doctor assessing vitals and holding an A3 sized envelope.

            'I'm glad you're awake Jamie. It was quite a fall you took,' Doctor Blackwood stated emotionlessly, as though he'd said it a thousand times before.

            Sensing Jamie's apprehension, his mother started to speak.

            'You had an accident Jamie. You were on your snowboard and hit a tree. You never reached the bottom of the hill. I was worried sick.' Growing increasingly nervous with each word, she started to ramble and eventually burst into tears.

            'Please, just tell me what's wrong with me and when I can go home,' Jamie pleaded with the doctor. Not only was he anxious to know his injuries but he was desperate to find out how his snowboarding would be impacted.

            'There's no easy way to put this Jamie. You dislocated your spine and your left knee, broke your right elbow and had a very large concussion,' Dr Blackwood explained unsympathetically. 'No one saw you fall so we weren't certain as to what happened. You were found unconscious and then airlifted to the hospital.'

            Jamie hadn't listened to a single word he had just been told other than 'you dislocated your spine.' A sudden thought came to him.

            'Can I walk?' Jamie burst out with fear lacing every syllable. Never being able to walk again was something he had never contemplated. It had never occurred to Jamie that something like this would have happened to him. It couldn't be real. He must have been dreaming. It was ridiculous. He could still walk and who were they to tell him he couldn't?

            The doctor coldly and clinically explained, 'The injury you sustained wasn't a spinal cord injury so you haven't lost feeling to your legs. The dislocation of your spine has caused subluxation of the discs between the vertebrae and spondylolisthesis, which is when the vertebra slips forward to cover the one below it.' Never mentioning walking, Jamie was about to ask again as the doctor turned on the light behind the x-ray and started to speak.

            'As you can see here, the spondylolisthesis is evident in the overhanging vertebra-'

            'But will I walk again? And what about snowboarding? What do I need to do to get back on my board?' Jamie interrupted. He looked to his mum for an explanation that wasn't so medical and was sorely disappointed when she tried to take his mind off snowboarding.

            'Oh Jamie, I know how much you love it, but let's focus on getting you back on your feet,' his mum bargained, her voice filled with sympathy.

            The doctor started speaking to his mum and they both left to find a nurse. Jamie's only company were his thoughts. The snow, it was his kingdom. He lived and breathed snowboarding. It gave him indescribable happiness; the feeling, it was like seeing to a blind man. Nothing compared to the feeling of being on his board and there would be no one that could ever stop him from riding again. Having mustered all his strength Jamie started wriggling his toes, followed by his ankles and finally lifted his knees. Breathing heavily Jamie promised that he would never give up the fight. He would make it through, for himself but also for his kingdom of ice and snow.