Boundless Love

Disbelief

Charlotte's POV...

I walk into the lounge to find Levi's parents sitting together on a small couch in the corner of the room, and Mark on his cell phone again, pacing back and forth.

The lounge was designed to be a comfortable place for anyone to unwind. The room is well lit, there are two small brown leather couches in each back corner and a large L-shaped brown leather couch in the middle of the room.  Two black leather recliner chairs near each end of the large couch. The whole facility, including this lounge room is adorned with Natural wood beams that accent the high ceilings. The contrast of the light walls and wood flooring give everything a rustic and inviting home-like feeling. An entertainment center with a 65" TV makes this room perfect for gatherings.

Emma jolts up from one of the recliner chairs as soon as she spots me enter the room and says, "Are you done with Levi? Can I see him now?"

"Just a little longer, my assistant Nate is in the room with him now."

Emma's eyes narrow, she huffs loudly, and I can sense that she's getting impatient with me. She must be so worried for Levi, I empathize with how she's feeling.

"If everyone could grab a seat in front of the TV, I would like to show you a presentation of our facility and help explain what Levi will be doing while he is with us," I instruct.

Everyone cautiously takes a seat on the large couch in the middle of the room. Apprehension clearly expressed on each of their faces. Levi's parents are sitting in the middle of the couch holding each other's hands tightly together. They've been very quiet and attentive during it all. Mark and Emma follow by taking a seat on either side of them.

I begin by showing them a video which is more of a virtual tour of the facility and an introduction to the important people who will be working with Levi every day. The second half of the video shows an example about each type of therapy that is offered.

At the end of the video, I take a deep breath and began explaining that because of the extent of Levi's injuries he would need 16 hours of therapy every day and his program would be complete in 12-18 months.

I bite my bottom lip while anxiously awaiting their reactions, the 12-18 months part is always hard for families to swallow. Immediately Mark stands up and starts rubbing the side of his face while pacing again back and forth near the couch. Tears begin falling again down Levi's mother's face, while his father just hugs her, then he looks up at me and nods his approval.

"18 months! 18 months! What am I supposed to do for 18 months, stay here? Go back? Why is it going to take that long for him to walk again?" The hysterical words come rushing from Emma's mouth.

I begin speaking as calmly as I can, "I know it seems like a very long time, I'm hoping to have him walking again, whether on his own or with assistance by 12 months, the last 6 months will be for Levi to learn how to function independently with whatever limitations he may have."

"You mean he might never walk on his own again? Why did we bring him here? I thought you were going to make him normal again?" Emma blurts out in frustration. I sympathize at where she's coming from, there are not many people who fully understand the ramifications of spinal cord injuries, and each injury is different.

"Shut up and Sit down, Emma," Mark suddenly demands.

That catches Emma completely off guard, and she sits down. If looks could kill, Mark would be dead.

Mark avery's his attention at me, "Have you told Levi everything? Has he agreed to stay here and go through with this therapy?"

"Yes, I've explained everything to him, and he agrees," I assure everyone.

I continue on, saying, "I want you all to understand, that I can't give you daily personal medical information about Levi, that information has to come from Levi himself if he wants to share it with anyone. You also have to understand that Levi needs your support as he learns how to do everything all over again, not just walking, but moving his arms and legs, learning to sit up on his own, feeding himself...basically everything we do easily on a daily basis, he will need to learn how to do all over again and he will need all the support he can receive from you."

Everyone's eyes stare at me in disbelief, while letting my words sink in, and they start to realize the reality of this whole situation.

This is the hardest part of my job. I've seen this reaction from every family member that has been in this room and it breaks my heart every time.

Mark turns to Emma and says," You can stay here with him as long as you need to, we can push back finishing the movie as far as we can push it.  It's on the last scenes now and Levi has luckily finished all his scenes already, we just need you for what's left."

Emma nods in agreement, then turns to me, "Can we go see him now?"

Levi's father walks up to me and assures me that he knows that he brought his son to the right place and that this is his best chance. He thanks me before taking his wife's hand and leading her to Levi's room.