Forked Roads Back

5 - ARCHIE

THE FIRST THING I hear when I wake up is the sound of machines beeping.

They've grown to be the norm throughout the last few years of my life... but I'm now beyond thankful to say that today will be the last day I'll be hearing them. Hopefully forever.

Three weeks ago I underwent the last of four surgeries I'd had to fix various niggles from the accident. I now had metal in pretty much every socket, thanks to Dad, and I couldn't help but laugh when I thought Matt would have called me bionic.

It's been a painful road, and it's taken a long time, but now, nearly a year after the accident, I'm finally able to starting getting back on the road and start healing. The doctors, after previously promising I'd always walk with a limp and have shoulders hanging unevenly, have now promised I'll be able to be a normal guy. After a few months of rehab on my knee and my shoulders, I'll be able to walk and run like a normal human being, without a cane or a crutch. And I'll finally be able to pull out of this dark shadow that Dad had cast over me. I would finally be able to be free.

It wasn't just my body healing, it was my mind too. I don't know whether it was the surgeries or not, but the dreams have slowly been dissipating. After having them every night, I now only experience them once a month maybe... and I cannot tell you how incredible it is to have a full night's sleep. After months of having only an hour, sometimes turning to sleeping pills to help dull the ache, it's been emotional ride. And it's a ride I'm hoping I can put behind me... New York has finally started doing what I hoped for my fresh start. For nine months now, I've been able to lead a semblance of a life where no one knows who I am. Sure, I may still be the Archie Wall that was heir to the Wall Enterprises fortune, but no one at college knew that about me. To them I was just plain old Archie.

I smile as a knock rings on my door.

"Yup!" I call and my doctor walks in with a smile on his face, flicking through the papers attached to a clipboard.

"How's my favourite patient?" he asks. He says it to every patient, but it does the trick of putting smiles on all those patients faces. It took him a while, but after my second surgery, he finally got one from me.

"Excited to get out of here," I tell him as I push back the cover and swing my bandaged leg over the side of the bed for him to examine. "Please tell me I'm good to go," I beg with over-exaggerated desperation.

He chuckles and puts the clipboard down next to me. "All signs point to yes, Arch. But let's take a look."

Crouching to take a look, I take encouragement from the fact he doesn't grimace, and that the bandage doesn't smell like last time. It means it's finally healing the way it should and that my stitches have held.

"Looks good."

He moves my knee around gently, moving it from side to side and then up and down before refastening the bandage.

"There's still a bit more healing to do, plus the rehabbing once it's fully healed, but that's nothing you can't do at home on a comfy couch and plenty of films," he chuckles. "Finally the right direction."

"Well, that's good news," I reply sarcastically. "I'd hate to be going in the wrong direction."

He smirks as he stands and steps back, crossing his arms. "Can you put any weight on it?"

I nod, standing gingerly. "I can, but not loads." I'd been able to hobble to the bathroom on it, but I'm still favouring my other leg. It's to be expected when it hasn't fully healed, so Doc doesn't seem fazed by my answer.

Using the hand I still have on the bed, I stand so I'm putting equal amounts of weight on both of my legs. It hurts a lot, but it's a lot better than a few months ago when I couldn't put any weight on this leg at all. I'd torn ligaments and tendons as well as snapping my shinbone in two, so this leg would take the longest.