Secrets 2: Looking Through Different Eyes

Things were pretty low-key until Devin’s next appointment.  I drove him to the hospital early so the technicians could perform the MRI first, and then I took him to a diner for a hot chocolate and a slice of pie while we gave the doctor time to study the MRI.  We still had to sit in the doctor’s waiting room for a while before we were eventually called into his office, and after we entered, I could tell Devin was extremely anxious, yet hopeful, as we sat down. 

“It’s nice to see you again, Devin, and I believe I have some good news to share with you.  I’ve studied the MRI and everything is looking quite good, considering the trauma you experienced.  The fracture appears to be showing signs of mending already, which is much sooner than what I was expecting under the circumstances.”

“Does that mean I don’t have to wear this thing any longer?”

“No, it is much too soon to do that and it would be far too risky for you to go without the immobilizer.  Those areas are beginning to mend, but they have a long ways to go before they’ve completely healed.  Let’s wait and see what it looks like in another two weeks.”

“Damn, I was hoping you’d let me take this thing off today!”

The doctor     chuckled.  “You certainly are impatient.  What’s your hurry?”

“This damn thing is just so confining.  I feel like a baby in a swaddling blanket, possibly placed in a cradleboard so my mom can carry me around on her back while she’s working, kinda like Native Americans used to do.” 

“Oh, come on.  It’s not that bad.  I’ll admit that I’ve had a few other patients that have felt similarly, just not as strongly as you do.”

“I just don’t like the fact that I can’t take care of myself and I feel like I’m being a burden to Mac.”  The doctor then glanced over at me, as if he was seeking my input. 

“I don’t really mind,” I blurted out.  “I love Devin and I’ll do whatever it takes to get him back to 100% again.”

“That’s what I thought,” the doctor responded, “since you’d told me he wasn’t just your roommate and friend, but he was also you fiancé.”  

“Ok, I’ll wear this damn thing if I have to, but I sure hope it’s only for two more weeks.”

The doctor laughed again.  “Ah, the impatience of youth.  As you get older you’ll learn that it’s often best to take your time and not rush things, because it can make matters worse.  With that said, I must apologize.  I’m sorry, but I have other patients that I need to see, so if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be going.  I’ll see you at your next appointment, which I’ll have the receptionist schedule for two weeks from today.”

We left the doctor’s office and picked up a card with the date and time of Devin’s next appointed on it before we exited the building.  As soon as we got outside, Devin turned to me and spoke. 

“Thanks for being on my side in there,” he snapped.  

“Hey, the doctor was right and you shouldn’t be rushing this.  I don’t want you to take off the immobilizer, reinjure your shoulder, and then have to be in the immobilizer again, possibly for an even longer time.”

“I’m telling you, I’ve got it covered.”

I didn’t say anything more until we got in the SUV.  After I started the engine and began driving, I finally spoke.  “Maybe you’re right and you do have it covered, as you claim, but could you be accelerating the healing in a way that might be exposing what you are?  Will doing it your way allow others to figure out that you’re a skinwalker?” 

Devin sat silent and didn’t say anything, so I continued.

“I’m just saying that if you do things your way and heal your shoulder by transitioning those areas and causing them to heal faster that you may cause the doctor and his colleagues to become suspicious.  If that occurs, they might begin to question how it’s possible for that to happen so quickly and decide to study your case more closely.  This may lead them to eventually discover what you and your family have been trying to hide.” 

I paused and glanced over at his to see his reaction and his cheeks were blushed from embarrassment and his head was hanging down, so I decided to continue.  I had to make certain that he understood.

“If that happens, then it may in turn shine a spotlight on your family, and that might also include me, and it could end up exposing all of us.      Should that happen, then we would all undergo intense scrutiny and we might even become labeled as a ‘new class of witches’, ‘demons’, or ‘devils’.  In any case, we would become the focus of all kinds of religious zealots and other bigots that crawled out of the woodwork.”

“Ok, ok.  You’ve made your point, so focus on your driving and make sure we get back to the house in one piece.”

Devin was fairly moody for the rest of the day, and only part of it was because I’d pointed out why he couldn’t heal as quickly as he hoped.  I believed most of his ill humor was due to the fact that he had built a scenario in his mind where the doctor was going to do exactly what he wanted and allow him to remove the shoulder immobilizer.  He’d also been convinced the doctor was going to allow him to start driving again, walking to the dining hall for meals, and attending his classes in person.  However, now he realized that none of those things were going to happen.  

Since Devin was so upset about this, he was not only morose for the remainder of the weekend, but it carried over into the following week as well.  In order to avoid me, he began spending most of the time with his nose buried in one of his text books.  He would only engage in brief conversations with me during meals or at bedtime, and even those were limited to impersonal matters. 

I was willing to allow him to wallow in self pity for as long as he wished, since I’d already tried to reason with him and explained why I felt this was a bad idea.  It was also to give him all the time he required in order to process everything, and then ‘hopefully’ he’d come to the same realization on his own. 

Unfortunately, that wasn’t my only concern.  I wasn’t entirely convinced that he was only blaming the doctor for his current predicament and felt there was a chance that he was also blaming me.  If that was the case, then I certainly wanted to give him the time he needed to sort this out and realize that wasn’t the case.

Devin’s mood appeared to be improving during the following week, and although I was hoping it was because he’d finally worked things out for himself, I wasn’t convinced that was the case.  There was a chance that it was because he was anticipating the doctor was going to allow him to remove the shoulder immobilizer at his upcoming appointment, and honestly, I hoped he was correct. 

It hadn’t been easy living with an unusually quiet and gloomy Devin, and my only reprieve had been when I went to one of my classes.  It was due to the fact that listening to my professors give their lectures was better than being at home with a quiet and withdrawn Devin.  It also gave me a chance to chat with my classmates, once the lecture ended. 

During the ride to his appointment on Friday, he looked at me and spoke.  “This might be the last time you’ll have to drive me to see the doctor.” 

“Why? Don’t you like the way I drive or have you recruited someone else to drive you?” I replied as an attempt to down play his current expectations.

“Oh, I have no problem with your driving and I haven’t recruited anyone else to drive me to my appointments.  It’s just that I hope he’ll let me take off the shoulder immobilizer today, because I hate feeling so dependent on you for everything.”   

“Devin, we’re planning to get married after we graduate and spending the rest of our lives together.  I have faith that if I ever need help from you that you’ll gladly provide it to me with no exceptions, and I want you to see that is all I’m doing for you now – giving you the help you need until you are well again.”

“Ok, I get that and I’m really trying to adjust, but it’s just not easy for me.  You see, I haven’t been dependent on anyone since I started high school.”

“Weren’t you dependent on Gramps and Faith when you lived with them?”

“Only for a place to stay and for meals, but other than that I took care of myself.  I even did my own laundry.  That’s why college wasn’t as big a deal for me as it was for you.  I still love my family, but I wasn’t as dependent on them as you were.  I know some of that had to do with my ability, since I knew I could handle just about any situation that arose, but you wouldn’t even be in college if it wasn’t for your parents paying your way.”

“Isn’t your family paying your way?”

“No!” he said, but then he suddenly stopped speaking when we arrived at the hospital.  “Look, I’ll tell you the rest of it after I have the MRI, because I’ll have plenty of time to explain it to you before we have to go to the doctor’s office.”

I didn’t know what to think after he left, because I wasn’t sure what he was going to tell me.  I thought he told me during our freshman (1^st) year of college that his family was paying for it and that’s why he hadn’t needed to take out any loans.  Rather than spend the time trying to figure this out and attempting to predict what he was going to say, I temporarily put it out of my mind.  Instead, I perused a few of the outdated magazines in the waiting room until he returned. 

“Do you want to go to the diner?” I asked. 

“No, because I don’t want to talk about it there, and I don’t want to talk about it in the doctor’s waiting room either.  Just drive over there and park, but we’ll remain in the SUV while I tell you the rest of the story.”

After I drove over and parked close to the doctor’s office, he looked at me before he spoke.  “Is there anything you want to ask me before I start?”

“Yes, what did you mean when you said ‘no’ when I asked if your family was paying your way?”

“Ok, when I graduated from high school, Gramps, Pops, and my dad gave me a very generous graduation gift.  They helped me open a brokerage account using my share of the family’s wealth so I could pay my own way from that point on.”

“I know you told me your didn’t have to take out any loans and that your family was well off, but you didn’t explain that they’d already given you the money to pay for college on your own, plus a lot more.”

“At the time I wasn’t ready to tell you everything, because we’d just reconnected after being apart for many years and I wasn’t sure if things were the same as before I left.  I wanted to be certain that I could trust you, and now I’m positive that I can.”

“I’m glad to hear that, but doesn’t a brokerage account mean all of your money is tied up in stocks and bonds?”

“No, I also have a money market account and that comes with a debit card.  I also have checks to use when a place doesn‘t accept the debit card.”

“Ok, I see now, but do you know how to manage your stocks and bonds?”

“My dad is teaching me, and he’s also there to answer my questions until I’m ready to do it on my own, and hopefully even longer than that.  For the time being, though, I basically own the same types of stocks as the rest of the family, although not nearly as many shares, and I’m invested in some bonds as well.”

“I’m impressed.”

“That’s pretty much it, so let’s go inside and wait in the warm doctor’s waiting room, instead of sitting in the cold car any longer.”

Since he’d spent so much time explaining his situation to me, we didn’t end up spending so much time sitting in the waiting room before we were called into the doctor’s office. 

“I just finished looking at your MRI,” the doctor said as we sat down, “and it appears that you no longer need to wear the shoulder immobilizer.” 

“That’s great!  Can I take it off now?”

“Yes, that will be fine, but take it with you in case you need it again.”

“Ok, I can do that, although I hope I never have to wear it again.” Devin said as I helped him remove the immobilizer.

“I’m still not sure how you managed to heal so quickly, because you haven’t even worn it for a full five weeks yet, and I’ve never seen anything like this happen with anyone else before.  In fact, when I mentioned it to my colleagues, they said they’d never seen anyone with similar injuries heal this quickly.  Normally, patients with similar injuries will take six to twelve weeks to reach this point.”

“I guess I owe my healing powers to all the vitamins I take.”

“They probably had some impact on your healing ability, but not to the extent that I’ve witnessed.  But now that you no longer need to use the shoulder immobilizer, you’ll be able to start your physical therapy sessions three times a week.  If you progress at the same rate that you healed, then I doubt you’ll need to continue the sessions for more than three or four months.  That would be contrasted to the six month period that is generally required for someone with a similar injury.  However, the therapist will be the one to make the final determination about how long you’ll need the therapy sessions.” 

“I was hoping for better news.”

“That is better news.  I just suggested that you would probably be able to eliminate two or three months from your recovery process.”

“Yeah, and that’s great, but can I start attending my classes?”

“No, that would be too risky.  And since you brought it up, remind me about what you’ve been doing since this happened?”

“My professors have been sending me videos of their lectures so I can watch them at the house, and I’ve done everything else online.”

“Then you should continue doing the same things until you are released from physical therapy.  I know the injuries to your shoulder appear to be healed, but you still need to be careful.  If you’re on campus with so many other students around, then there’s still a chance that something might happen that would undo the progress you’ve made so far.  I certainly wouldn’t want to see anything like that happen to you.” 

“Why?  What could happen?”

“Well, something could occur if someone wasn’t paying attention to what they were doing and forcefully bump into your shoulder.  They might even knock you down in the process and either of those actions would be enough to undo the progress you’ve made.  It could also be something as simple as one of your friends coming up from behind and slapping you hard on your damaged shoulder, so it’s best that we err on the side of caution.”

“What if I promise to be more alert about what others are doing when I’m on campus?”

“That would be helpful, but you might not be able to spot everything the other students are doing, and there are additional possibilities as well.  It could also happen if you slipped and fell while walking around campus and landed on the sidewalk, or even on the frozen ground, and that might also result in you reinjuring your shoulder.  For those reasons, let’s continue to play it safe for now and I suggest you do everything the same way you’ve been doing for the past few weeks.”

“Ok, I guess I can wait a little longer until I start going to my classes and to the dining hall again.”

“And I also want to see you again after you finish your first week of therapy, so I can be certain that it hasn’t resulted in any changes.”

“Ok, I’m willing to do that too, but can I at least start driving again?  It’s just that I feel bad that Mac has to spend so much of his time bringing me to each of my appointments.”

“I understand how you feel, but let’s continue playing it safe.  From what I can tell, it doesn’t appear that your friend minds doing this for you.”

“Yeah, but I still feel bad about doing it to him and I wish I could do some of these things for myself.”

“Again, I understand how you feel, but let’s continue to take our time and play it safe.  And please don’t be afraid to call my office if you’re experiencing an unusual amount of pain in those areas or having any other problems.  Otherwise, you’ll just have to show up for your next appointment.”

The doctor then told Devin the name of the physical therapist he was recommending and where her office was located. 

“Will she be able to schedule these sessions so they don’t interfere with my classes,” I asked, “since I’ll have to drive him there?” 

“See, that’s what I was talking about,” Devin interjected.

“That will be up to the therapist, but I’m sure something can be arranged,” the doctor replied while looking at Devin.

I thanked the doctor for his help, and Devin did the same thing as an afterthought, and then we went out to the front desk and waited for the receptionist to finish with another patient.  Once that patient had been taken care of, the receptionist called the therapist’s office to set up Devin’s first week of appointments.  After we’d agreed with the dates and times for each session, the receptionist handed Devin a card with the information written on it.  She also handed him a second card that informed him about the date and times for his next MRI and the follow up consultation with the doctor.  She’d scheduled those for a week from Saturday, and then we went out to get in the SUV so we could head back to the house. 

“See, I told you he’d take me out of the immobilizer,” Devin said as soon as we were in the SUV, “but I wish he would have allowed me to do some of that other stuff. 

“Yes, you were correct about him agreeing that you no longer needed the immobilizer, and thank god he didn’t follow up and ask you any more questions about how you’ve been healing so quickly.  I thought he was getting a little too curious about your healing prowess when he mentioned that neither he nor his colleagues had ever seen anyone else heal as quickly with a similar injury.” 

“Yeah, that definitely was a break, and it was a much better break than the one I got at the dog park.”

“Bad pun, but you’re right, and now I have a question for you.”  

“About what?”

“I know that when you’re released from the physical therapy sessions that you’re going to want to start transitioning right away, and the question I have for you is this.  Are you going to be able to transition into Bear with all that hardware in your shoulder?  When I asked Pa if you’d be able to do it, he just said that knowing you that you’d find a way to do it.  He said you’ve always seemed to be able to adjust for other unusual situations in the past, and you’d probably be able to do it now as well, but I’m not so sure.” 

“He’s right and I’ve usually been able to do things like that before, but this time it’s going to be trickier.  I’m pretty sure that I’ll still be able to do it, but I’ll just have to make a few minor adjustments in order to pull it off.”

“What kind of adjustments?”

“Obviously, a dog’s skeleton is different than ours.  Dogs have two scapulas, but they’re on the side of its body, yet still above the front legs, and I’m hoping the size of the plates won’t be a problem.   A dog doesn’t have a clavicle, though, so I’ll have to figure a way to move the bone with that plate in it to a nearby location where it won’t affect my mobility.  Possibly I’ll be able to move it to one of the ribs on either side of Bear’s body.”

“Ok, that might work with Bear, but will you still be able to transition into other animals as well?”

“That will depend on which animal you’re talking about.  I don’t think the larger animals will be a problem, because all quadrupeds have scapulas and I should be able to move my clavicle to one of their ribs.  However, I may have to experiment with each species to see if this is going to work before I’m certain, but I can usually make the required adjustments when needed.  The difference is that I’ve never had to do it with surgical plates and screws embedded in the bones before.”

“Yes, that will probably make it more difficult, but whatever you do, just don’t force anything, because that might make the situation even worse.  It could also cause even more damage, possibly permanent damage to you, and that would make the doctors very suspicions about how something like that had happened.”

“Yeah, you’re right and I promise I won’t try to force anything.  If I can’t make the adjustments easily, then I either won’t transition or I’ll ask the doctor if he can remove the plates.  The problem is that if I’m going to ask the doctor to remove the plates then I’ll have to come up with a good reason for why I want the doctor to remove them.”

“Yeah, you couldn’t very well tell him it’s so you can transition into different animals and other humans.”

“No, I wouldn’t be able to do that.  Come to think of it, I might have to ask the doctor to remove the plates anyway, since I probably won’t be able to transition into animals smaller than Bear with those plates inside of me.  I’m sure the combination of the three plates will be too large to fit into the bodies of amphibians, reptiles, and some of the smaller mammals.” 

“Yeah, especially since one of the plates is curved, kind of like a boomerang, but with one arm longer than the other.  It’s not straight like the other plate on your scapula and the one on your clavicle.” 

“Yeah, that would definitely cause me difficulty fitting it in to some species’ bodies, and birds will present a unique problem.  Even though the plates and screws are supposed to be fairly light, the weight of the plates and screws combined might be enough to either prevent me from flying or hinder my ability to fly.  Of course, that would depend on if I could even incorporate the plates into the skeletons of the various species of birds in the first place.”

“Then why don’t you wait until you can have the plates removed before you start transitioning?”

“Let me see if I can transition into Bear first, before I make any other decisions.  Like I said, I should be able to transition into the larger animals and other humans without too much difficulty, but I promise that I won’t try to transition into any animals that are smaller than Bear.  I’ll also need you to help me think of a logical reason why I might need the doctor to remove the plates without making him suspicious about my motives.”

“Ok, I’ll try to help you come up with something.”

Devin appeared to be satisfied with my response, and when we arrived at the house he immediately called his dad to tell him the good news.  I heard him talking to someone, but the call didn’t seem to last for very long. 

“What’s up?  Was there a problem?” I asked. 

“No, he didn’t answer, so he’s probably with a client.  I left a voicemail telling him that the doctor said I was healed and didn’t need to wear the shoulder immobilizer any longer.  I also let him know that I’d be starting physical therapy sessions next week.” 

“Oh, I thought you’d want to tell him those things directly, not in a voicemail.”

“Nah, a voicemail is just as good and he’ll call me back if he has any questions or wants to talk about it further.”

Devin was in a much better mood for the rest of the day, and that night we both slept better than we had in a while.  Devin slept better because he didn’t have to sleep while lying on his back, as he had when he was in the immobilizer, and we both slept better because we were able to spoon with each other again.  And when we awoke the next morning, Devin was also able to get dressed by himself. 

“Damn, it feels good to be able to do this for myself again,” he stated.  

“I’m sure it does, although I certainly didn’t mind undressing and dressing you each day.” 

“I’m sure you didn’t, you perv,” he replied and then laughed, “but it still bothered me that you had to do those things for me.  And this week might also be the last times that you’ll have to go to the dining hall to get our meals and then bring them back here for us to eat.  I can’t wait until I get to do that with you again.”

“It will happen soon enough, just don’t try to rush it or wish it away.”

When we went to his first physical therapy session, I was pleased to discover that Devin’s physical therapist was a very firm, no nonsense, strictly all business female.  Even though Devin is bi, I was fairly certain that he’d be able to concentrate on the exercises and not on her.  I’m not so sure the same would be true if his therapist had been a cute guy.  I have a feeling that Devin would have been spending most of his time checking the guy out instead of concentrating on the exercises, so this should work out much better. 

Once the physical therapist got down to business, she explained that she’d be starting him off with some simple exercises, which Devin appeared to be doing without any difficulty. 

“You did very well today,” the therapist stated when his session ended.  “I’m a little surprised.  People that just got released from wearing a shoulder immobilizer take a little longer than that to stretch their muscles again.  They’re also tentative about how their shoulder is going to hold up as well.”

“I’m not worried about how my shoulder’s going to hold up now, and I’ve always been in fairly good shape, so my muscles didn’t really have time to atrophy enough that it bothered me.  Does this mean I might be able to finish up these sessions even sooner?”

“Let’s not try to rush this.  Next session I’ll have you do some exercises that are a little more difficult.”

“Ok, but I doubt I’ll have difficulty with those either.”

“You certainly don’t lack for confidence,” she stated, and then Devin and I left her office.   

When we got back to the house, we decided to do some studying for a while and I let Devin use the dining room table.  I studied in the living room for a while, and then I went over to the dining hall to get out supper.  I had just gotten back to the house when I heard Devin speak. 

“Look!  I’m able to study using two hands,” he proclaimed as he held the book above his head with both hands. 

“Yes, you’re a big boy now,” I teased, “so clear off your books and set the table so we can eat our supper.”

“You’re right.  I feel like a little kid again, since I’m just learning to do things on my own again.”

I got a kick watching him lift his glass with his left hand to take a drink, and then he would look over at me and grin. 

“Ta da,” he said in a sing-song voice as he set the glass down on the table. 

“I’m impressed that you didn’t spill anything,” I replied as I smiled back at him.  He also helped me clear the table after we finished eating, but he let me wash the dishes.

When we went to bed that evening, Devin wanted to make love, and I was all in favor of the idea.  It had been a long dry spell, but finally I felt we could do it without his reinjuring his shoulder.  Needless to say, we both went to bed with smiles on our faces as I spooned behind Devin with my arm across his chest.