by C.L. Mozena
Chapter 39
Orion woke up again, six days later. This time, he was much more awake, and ready to be healed. Like it usually does, the heat of healing soothed him. He found it odd, however, that he didn’t need any healing below his waist. Although, he thought, I never felt any pain in my legs, so I probably didn’t need to be healed there. King Frederic was there, along with Tanya. They both looked slightly worried.
“There you are, Orion!” Joshua exclaimed as he straightened up. He sounded rather nervous for a healer in training. Joshua had been studying medicine on Olhoe as well as Lunspae, and was getting top marks.
Slightly fatigued from healing but pain free, Orion was ready to get out of bed and back to his normal routine of studies and training. He turned to swing his legs over the bed, but found that he couldn’t. He tried again, but his legs refused to obey. He tried to kick the covers off so that he could see what was wrong, but his legs remained still. He leaned forward and rubbed his leg, thinking that it might be asleep, but no amount of rubbing helped. He realized that he couldn’t even feel his hand on his leg. He looked up at everyone’s downcast faces for an answer.
“What’s wrong with me?” he asked, “Why won’t my legs work?” Nobody said anything. Orion turned to his brother. “Josh,” Orion was getting worried, “what’s wrong with my legs? Why can’t I move them?”
“You’re back had been broken,” Joshua said quietly, staring at the floor, “and-,” he stopped.
“And what, Josh?” Orion was getting panicky. Joshua studied the floor tiles, determined not to make eye contact. “Josh?”
“Your spinal cord was ripped in half.” Joahua said to the floor.
“So? You healed me, Josh,” Orion said, confused. The pained look on Joshua’s face made Orion think the worst, “didn’t you?”
“I tried, bro,” tears welled up as he raised his eyes to Orion’s, “I tried! But healing doesn’t work the same way on the nervous system.” He leaned on the edge of the bed, “Your spinal cord is in one piece, but the scar tissue from healing is blocking the signal from getting through.” Tears spilled over and streamed down his face, “I’m sorry, Orion. There’s nothing I can do. You’re paralyzed from the waist down. There’s nothing anyone can do about it.”
The news stunned Orion. He wasn’t sure if he heard right. He turned to look at his father and Tanya, hoping for a different answer. Neither one would look at him, but their distraught expressions said enough. ‘You’re paralyzed from the waist down. There’s nothing anyone can do about it.’ The words echoed in Orion’s mind as he stared at his knees, willing them to move. He realized that this also meant that he’d never walk again, either.
A knock on the door startled them all as another doctor came in. Behind him came a nurse, pushing what looked like a high backed golden chair. Orion wasn’t the least bit interested in what the chair was for, although he was sure that he knew the answer.
“Good day, all!” the doctor said, over enthusiastically. Orion ignored him. He sighed, realizing that his poor attempt to cheer everyone up wasn’t working. “ I have something for you, Prince Orion,” he said, stepping out of the nurse’s way and presenting the gold chair. Orion miserably glanced at it, then returned to examining his blankets.
“As soon as we found out that, um,” the doctor seemed rather embarrassed to be there, “that you, uh, wouldn’t be able to walk,” he said quietly, “we began working on this,” he gestured to the chair, “so that you can still get around.” He paused, but Orion said nothing. “It’s made out of the finest materials. It has 24 karat gold overlaying a steel frame, the cushions are silk stuffed with feathers, and,” he twisted it around so that Orion could see that it was sitting on large wheels, “it’s back wheels have a round handle on them so that you can move without aid!” He seemed pretty excited, but Orion wasn’t impressed. The only thing that would impress him now would be to get up and walk out of the hospital room. “It was finished only three days ago, Majesty. We’ve been working on it non-stop.”
Orion looked at the chair again. It was pretty grand, but Orion was still miserable. So it’s come to this, has it? He thought, sighing. I’ll have to rely on this chair because my stupid legs won’t work anymore. He noticed the dejected look on the doctor’s face.
“It’s very nice, doctor,” Orion said, determined not to let his own misery spread. “No, really, I appreciate it. I really do. As much as I’d like to get up, this is the next best thing. Thank you.” That seemed to satisfy the doctor as he bowed and left with a beaming smile on his face. The nurse followed, eager to leave. Orion was left alone with his father, Joshua, and Tanya. For a while, nobody spoke. They just stared at the chair.
“Orion,” King Frederic broke the silence, “I just want to let you know that, although I wasn’t there for you when you lost your eye, I’m here for you now. I’ll help you get through this.”
“As will I,” Joshua agreed. “I will do everything I can to help.”
“Me, too,” Tanya chimed in. Orion looked at each of them in turn, a smile creeping onto his face.
“Thank you,” he said, warmth filling him. It wasn’t like the heat of healing. It was the feeling of being loved. He was so used to being alone and having to fend for himself, that this new feeling was a bit startling. “Now how about I give that chair a try?” Tanya held the chair steady as King Frederic picked Orion up and seated him among the purple cushions. Joshua knelt down and placed Orion’s heels on the footstool. Orion reached over the chair’s arms and tried moving with the wheel handles. He found that it wasn’t hard at all. The chair glided along the floor, and the cushions were soft.
Back at his own room, Josh was unable to lift Orion from the chair to his couch. Orion, having learned how to levitate back on Lunspae, lifted himself out of the chair and landed, less than gracefully, on the end of the couch. That gave Tanya an idea.
“Hey, Orion, why don’t you just levitate yourself all the time?” She asked. Both boys looked at her. “I mean, instead of getting around in that chair.”
“I can’t,” Orion said, panting, “I could barely lift myself just now. I’d never be able to levitate long enough to get from place to place.” He was sinking back into depression, the reality of his situation weighing heavily on his mind. Joshua, on the other hand, was lost in thought.
“Could you excuse us, Tanya?” He asked, not looking at her. “I’d like to speak to Orion alone.”
“Oh, um, okay,” she replied uncertainly. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then. Goodnight, Orion.”
“‘Night, Tanya,” Orion was staring at his knees. His stupid knees that wouldn’t bend and straighten when he wanted them to. Orion wanted to beat some feeling back into his legs to relieve some frustration and to make them work, but he knew that wouldn’t work, so he just stared gloomily at his stubbornly still knees. Joshua watched as Tanya left and shut the door behind her.
“Orion, listen,” Joshua said, leaning on the arm of the couch next to Orion, “it might work. If you try hard enough, you just may be able to pull it off.”
“Pull what off, Josh?” Orion asked, glancing sideways at his brother. He didn’t want to think about anything. He felt that if he could fall asleep now, maybe he’d wake up in his bed with two working legs. He hoped that the fight with the lunimorves could be a nightmare that he could push out of his mind.
“Levitation!” Joshua threw his hands in the air, a big smile on his face. “If you practice levitating as long as you can every day, you could eventually levitate for an hour. I can.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me, Josh,” Orion shot him an unbelieving look.
“No, seriously, bro. Don’t you think it would be worth it to try?” Joshua leaned back on the arm of the couch and looked into Orion’s eyes. “Wouldn’t it? I mean to be able to get around without the chair.” Orion thought this over. A smile spread across his face as he imagined l
evitating next to the chair rather than sitting on it.
“Alright, Joshua,” Orion said, a new hope rising in his chest, “Start your teaching!”
Every night, when Orion would normally be training with Alex in the courtyard, he and Joshua would practice levitation in Orion’s room. Joshua said that Orion was making progress, but Orion never showed any headway. He didn’t want to implant any false hope into everyone until he was sure that the levitation was working, so he and Joshua kept Orion’s levitation lessons a secret. Joshua called the lessons physical therapy. Tanya kept her promise to help by spending evenings with Orion before Joshua came in. She would meet Orion in her parent’s room while he continued teaching her parents sign language. Without realizing it, Tanya began to look forward to the time she would spend with Orion, counting down the minutes until he would meet her in her parent’s room.