006: Awake

Alexander's POV

I woke up to the strong smell of antiseptic and an odd sensation in my legs—

"My legs!!" My mind rampaged as my eyes immediately swung open. Swiftly, I sat up on the bed, almost scaring the nurses that had come to check up on me, and also waking Heather who seemed to be asleep.

"Alexander..." She called out weakly, a faint smile forming on her lips.

"Heather...my legs...I..I can feel them..."

Heather's dull eyes lightened a bit with joy. "You can feel them?" she asked with a smile. I could already tell that she knew that my surgery was successful, but still wanted to play along with my reaction.

"Yes!" I thundered excitedly, my hands gripping the edge of the hospital bed as I willed my legs to move. It was faint, just the slightest twitch, but it was there and it had been painful. I didn't care, if anything, the pain felt exhilarating. For a whole year I hadn't been able to move these limbs. But now I could, I could feel pain, I felt complete...

One of the nurses, still flustered by my abrupt awakening, cautioned me first with her eyes, "Mr. Forger, please try to remain calm. The procedure was successful, but the nerves are still healing. Overexerting yourself too soon could cause setbacks."

I barely heard her. My focus was entirely on my legs. "It’s not just in my head, right? This isn’t some...phantom sensation?" I asked, my voice shaking. My fingers moved to pinch myself just to make sure that all of this wasn't a dream. And sure enough it wasn't!

This was all too good to be true, my joy knew no bounds, and if I could, I definitely would have leapt up in joy.

With a bright smile, I turned towards Heather, who although had a bright luminous smile on her face, was very clearly tired. Everything was all thanks to her, she was an angel in human form, and for the first time in a long while, I was grateful for something—someone.

Slowly, I reached out and held her hand. With an appreciative smile, I gave her hands a gentle squeeze before riddling them with kisses. I had thought she would be another burden, but I couldn't have been further from the truth. I never would have been here if it weren't for her, and I genuinely had no idea how I was going to repay her.

"Thank you, Heather. Thank you so much." I repeated continuously while I filled her hands with kisses. Her once tired eyes were now wide with shock, and even the nurses had melted away at the lovely sight before them.

Heather turned beet red, her cheeks flushed pink, and her eyes failed to remain at a spot as she fought away the shyness that threatened to engulf her.

"Alexander, I didn't do anything—"

"Don't say that." I shunned her promptly. "You have no idea how much you've done, and you have no idea how grateful and indebted I am to you."

The pink on her cheeks spread to the tip of her ears, and she immediately lowered her head shyly.

"I am your wife, the least I can do is support my husband.." she whispered shyly.

I smiled at her words, no longer annoyed at the fact that I had a wife. She was definitely a gem, and I was the lucky one here. If not for here, I never would have left the house, I wouldn't have made it here—

My thoughts paused abruptly. I shifted slightly on the bed, and took a quick second to glance around the hospital. Compared to the hospitals I'd been to, this one would be considered mediocre. Yet, I had been cured here. I wanted to believe that I had simply run into the wrong doctors, but that simply couldn't be right. I had consulted the bestest of the best, from in and outside the country, and all of them had told me the same thing.

"I'm sorry, but you can never walk again.."

So how, how on earth were these low level doctors able to achieve what renowned orthopedists couldn't? Was it some sort of magic, I still couldn't wrap my head around it.

"You're finally awake, Mr Forger." A familiar voice interrupted my thoughts. I turned towards the door to meet Dr Harrington walking in. Just like Heather, I could see the tiredness in his eyes as well as his voice. He had likely just finished resting from one operation or another, and it was clear that he hadn't gotten enough rest.

I turned towards Heather with a curious look. "How long have I been asleep?"

Heather took a minute to stare at her watch before lifting her head to answer. "Thirteen hours."

"Thirteen hours?!" I exclaimed a lot louder than I had intended. "You've been here the whole time?" I asked and Heather nodded slowly before forcing up a weak smile, one that didn't quite reach her eyes. There had been no need for her to go through that stress, I thought it was stupid of her, but after seeing her smile, I felt happy that she had stayed by my side.

"The operation lasted for seven hours, and you've been unconscious for six more hours since then." Dr Harrington explained as he walked closer to my bed. He took a minute to examine my heavily bandaged legs before turning to me. "How do you feel?"

"Great." I replied sharply like an excited little boy. "You have no idea how grateful I am to you doctor."

"There's nothing to be grateful for, Mr Forger, I'm merely doing my job." Dr Harrington replied before taking the clipboard from the nurses. He went through the data they had collected so far and gave a subtle nod before returning his attention to me. "You'd need to stay in the hospital for at least a week so we can monitor your healing process properly. I know you're eager to use your legs once again, but it won't be that easy. Your legs should take at least three months to heal. And only then can you think of walking without needing support."

I nodded to every word the doctor said. I knew it would take a while to fully recover, but that didn't matter to me anymore. I didn't care if it took a year or ten, as long as I could use my legs once again, I was willing to wait.