Rigid Crow

A Simple Request

We get word that the speech therapist is coming by during the weekend, so I meet up with Hinata again at the hospital after practice on Saturday to be with him when she gets here to start lessons.
"Call me Omura-san," she says when she arrives, smiling warmly. "It's my pleasure to meet you, Hinata-kun, Kageyama-kun. I've been assigned to be your speech therapist. First off, I want to know how you're doing, Hinata-kun. I need some questions answered. I understand that you have a simple way of communicating with Kageyama-kun, so if you want to use that way for now, that's fine with me. First, I need to know how your speech has been affected. Do you ever have trouble coming up with words to say or understanding others now?"
     I reach out my hand for Hinata to take and squeeze. He grips my hand firmly twice. I answer, "No."
     "Okay, good. Do you have trouble saying words correctly?"
     One squeeze. "Yes."
     "Okay. One more. Do your muscles feel weakened, like they're hard to work and get speech across, leading to slurred speech?"
     One. "Yes."
     "Okay, thanks." Omura-san marks some things down. "So it appears you have forms of apraxia of speech and dysarthria. You can recover from these things with work. It's going to take a lot of exercises, but I promise you, it's all possible. You see, when you had your injury, certain pathways that you used to speak with were destroyed. But the brain is an amazing thing. It can build new pathways, so that's why your body has to learn to speak again. The way to make new pathways is through lots of repetition. So don't get discouraged when you don't see immediate results."
"So this is doable? This has happened before?" I ask urgently.
Omura-san laughs, amused. "Of course it has! How else would we know so much? And speech therapy is an actual job, you know! Hinata-kun certainly is not the first to go through this."
"Oh. That makes sense."
     "So, Hinata-kun," Omura-san continued, "For these first couple sessions, were going to start with simple exercises that will help you recover your ability to speak. Our first exercises don't have to do with your voice. They will help get your mouth muscles working well again. For today, I'm going to teach you three exercises, and I want you to practice and repeat them throughout the week until we meet again. Sound good?"
     "Mm," Hinata grunts in affirmation.
"Wonderful," Omura-san says with a smile. "Here's the first thing I want you to try. Can you pop your lips for me?" She begins to pop her own to demonstrate.
     Hinata complies, and he's actually not half bad. He can make the quiet popping noise with his lips fairly well.
     "Well done!" Omura-san praises him. "So just do that as much as you can when you have the time. The next exercise is yawning."
     "Yawning?" I ask, incredulous.
     "Yes," Omura-san confirms. "For someone lacking in muscle control, it's a bit harder than it looks. Go ahead and try it now, Hinata."
Hinata tries, but he's having trouble opening his jaws widely.
     "That's okay," Omura-san assures him kindly when he gives up. "It will take practice, and that's why we do repetition. Now for the third exercise. Were you able to whistle before your accident?"
     "He was."
     "Wonderful." She smiles. "This is probably going to be the hardest exercise to master, because whistling is precise when your facial muscles haven't atrophied. But I know you can do it. You don't have to try now if you don't want to, but I will help you along the way, if you can promise me you'll practice."
Hinata tries to shape his lips into an o, but when he blows gently, no sound follows. Discouraged, he tried again, but he gets the same result.
I put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay," I say, trying to be encouraging. "You heard Omura-san. It's not going to happen right away. You'll get it soon."
     "He's right, you know," Omura-san agrees gently, with yet another smile. "You don't have to worry. We'll help you through all of it. And you will get well again. It may not be at the pace you expect, but you will. I hope you trust that."
     She spends the rest of the session getting to know us, mostly Hinata, and then she heads out for the evening.
     When she's gone, Hinata slowly reaches for Shimizu-senpai's teddy bear laying next to him, and holds it against him. He pops his lips as he does it.
     "Do you want another one of those?" I ask, pointing to the stuffed animal. It seems to make him happy, and probably gives him comfort when he's alone in here.
     Hinata's eyes light up with excitement. Really? Can I?
     "Sure. That's a simple request. I can ask the team-"
     Hinata grunts, stopping me. He grips the bear tighter and shifts his gaze. He looks embarrassed. Don't ask the team. I'll seem childish.
     "Ok, we don't have to do that. Maybe... what about I ask the team members you know, even Suga-san, Sawamura-san, and Asahi-san to give something of theirs to remind you of them. Like Shimizu-senpai did. That would be nice, don't you think?"
     Hinata seems content with this. Yeah.
     I make a mental note to still request stuffed animals. Hinata doesn't have to know. I just hope everyone still has something of theirs from their childhood left to give...

                           :::::::::::::::::::::

     It's incredible. By Tuesday, each and every team member, those still with us and those graduated (minus the new first years), has made an effort to give a sentimental toy of their youth to Hinata. Each animal is lined up on the table next to his bedside now. This means the world to him.
     Berry, the teddy bear from Smimizu.
     Bronto-chan, a dinosaur from Tsukishima.
     Stripy, a tiger from Yamaguchi.
     Rainbow, a unicorn from Yachi.
     Haru, a whale from Ennoshita.
     Nyaa-san, a kitten from Kinoshita.
     Wan Wan, a puppy from Narita.
     Lighting Bolt, a cheetah from Nishinoya.
     Gashan, a lion from Tanaka.
     Tiny, a bunny rabbit from Asahi.
     Daichi #2, an eagle from Sawamura.
     Sleepy, a deer from Suga.
     Even I found something to bring. There was a little stuffed octopus in the back of my closet. I had to pry its name from my mom, because I'd completely forgotten it. Turns out I named the stupid thing "Wiggly". Oh, well. Whatever makes Hinata happy.
     And it does. It really does. If something as simple as this lifts his spirits and reminds him of us, why the heck haven't we made a move to cheer him up before? It makes me feel really, really guilty.