Chapter 4 - I HAD TO LEARN TO WALK WITHOUT FEAR
My spine was damaged, but not beyond recovery.
That distinction became my lifeline.
I needed months of physical therapy.
At first, I used a walker.
Then a cane.
The first time I stood upright for more than two minutes, I cried.
My physical therapist, Marisol, pretended not to notice until I laughed.
“Are you ignoring me?”
“Professionally.”
Good woman.
Recovery was humiliating in ways nobody warned me about.
Needing help getting into a shower.
Being afraid of closed doors.
Panicking when someone stood behind me.
Sleeping with lights on.
Waking because my ankles felt trapped even when nothing touched them.
I hated my body for remembering.
My therapist, Dr. Nina Brooks, corrected me.
“Your body is trying to protect you.”
“It feels like betrayal.”
“It survived.”
That word sat differently.
Survived.
Not won.
Not conquered.
Survived.
May you like
Enough.
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