Laura thrashed and tossed sheets off of her bed as she awoke form the terrible dream. She stopped after a few moments of tossing and turning, but not before she ruined most of her bed press.  Moist sweat patted her brow and slivered down her face like a small river. Her chest pounded with involuntary busts of respiration as she began to calm.

     She pushed her self-upright with her arms and her chest continued to heave with the constant panting. Her arms glimmered with perspiration and with wild eyes she scanned the void darkness of the room. After a few frantic moments, she allowed her head to drop, and her breath to slow to a steady pace.
     She sighed and mumbled to herself “Just another dream”. 
     A flash of light boomed in the periphery of Laura’s vision so she tensed. Laura turned her head and saw flashes of light as it illuminated the edges of her window. The sound of her feet as they echoed on the floor reverberated in her ear drums. But, she couldn’t quite sense the familiar texture of the carpet grace the soles of her feet.
     She ignored this lack of stimuli and glanced at the floor to prepare for her ascent but stopped cold in her tracts. A long jagged line trans-versed from one hip to the other, with destroyed body tissue left in its wake. The line’s edge seemed to have curled up, with bits of damaged pink skin protruded out in a grotesque display of mutilated flesh.
     She glared at the scar with a face of disgust and questioned its origins. Then the thoughts hit her like a train, with images rampant as they flashed across her mind. The crashed car, the ambulance, and the dimly lit operating table, loomed in the dark shadows and crevasses at the back of her mind.
Laura once again notices the flashes outside her window and snaps out of her trance.
     She thought, what’s going on out there?
     She cast her eyes over the small room as she inspected it for anything to help her reach the window. After a few moments of search, her eyes found a charcoal black wheel chair on the opposite side of the bed shrouded in shadows. Her expression hardened as they rested on the wheelchair, and the beaded sweat on her arms quivered as she convulsed in anger.
     I don’t need you, she thought.
     After a few moments of thought, she pressed into her hands and vaulted to her feet. Her legs collapsed almost immediately after she stood, so she latched onto the wall for support. Laura regained her balance and leaned onto the wall; her shallow breaths shattering the hushed still of the room. Still holding firm to the wall, she dragged her feet across the lush carpet and with great caution put one foot in front of the other.
     She panted from the effort and silently cursed under her breath as she thought, when did walking become so difficult?  
     After a few stumbles and minor tumbles, she reached the window frame and unlocked the latches that held the window in place. A blast of fresh and frigid New England wind rushed to meet her. She shivered, but didn’t return to her slumber. She let herself off the support of the wall and leaned on the windows edge and looked out at the city.
     Brooklyn was lit up like a Christmas tree, and people celebrated wherever they could.  The celebration seemed to be centered on the Brooklyn Bridge five blocks down, with congregation based at the bottom of the bridges decent. Fireworks exploded overhead, casting the city into a varsity shades and colors. People danced in the streets and they cheered whole heartedly as the clock struck twelve. When the final chime echoed across the city’s streets, the congregation exploded in cheer, and dissipated into their homes.
     Like a fly on the wall Laura stayed until the last of the observers left, taken in by the sights and atmosphere. However, her thoughts soon turned gloomy at the sight of the waning celebration.
     She quietly sobbed and thought. I’ll never be able to do anything like that ever again. I can barely reach a window without help, much less celebrate New Year’s like everyone else.
     She turned away from her window, without the will to dwell on those thoughts further. Her delicate hands closed the window, and she leaned her back against its frame. Her head rested on the glass of the window and she closed her eyes. She dreaded the next step.
     After this pause she pressed her hand against the wall again and began the trek back to the bed. She put her whole body’s weight on her left side for support and focused her vison in front of her feet .They quivered and shook from weight they supported. The wind laced and caressed her pale skin in a crisp embrace, almost as if it wanted to comfort her through the struggle. The frigid chill seemed to hesitate over her scarred skin, then left as quickly as it came.
     One of Laura’s legs buckled beneath her, and her hand slipped off the wall that had supported her.  As the ground rushed up to meet her she gave a quick yelp, and rotated to her side, hitting the ground with a definitive thud.
     Laura opened her eyes and saw lights flicker to life in the other room. Soon after she heard the beat of marching legs coming from the other side of the door. Laura groaned and watched the door come ajar followed by a tsunami of blinding bright light flooding into doorway. A shadowy figure raced toward Laura as she shut her eyes to block out the light that rushed to meet her.
     “Laura, are you all right?”
      Laura’s eyes fluttered open, and as she rubbed her shoulder and lied, “Yeah Ms. Eliza, I’m fine. I just fell down is all.”
      Eliza sighed and grabbed Laura by her waist lifting her back into a standing position. Laura grabbed onto Eliza for balance and together they trudged back to the bed. When they made it Eliza laid Laura out on the bed, and sat down next to her, and flicked on the light switch.
     “Can’t you just call me mom?” asked Eliza even though she already knew the answer.
     “Afraid not”, answered Laura as she tried not to look Eliza in her eyes “But thanks…. for the help.”
     “Speaking of which, why were you out of your bed?” Eliza inquired while she gave Laura a hard look. “You know what the doctor said. If you want to get better,” she clicked her tongue “you must rest and stay in bed.”
     “Sorry about that, I was having, um …, unpleasant dreams again, so I couldn’t go back to sleep, explained Laura. After I woke up, I watched New Year’s happening outside my window. On my way back to the bed my hand slipped off the wall I was leaning on and I fell down. You saw the rest,” stammered Laura, as she inclined her head toward the floor.
     Eliza extended her hand and tilted Laura’s chin up to face her and remarked “You know if you want to talk about it to, I’m here for you. I want you to remember that, I’ll always be here for you. At least it’s somewhat good news. You can move your legs!”
     Laura smiled at this and wrapped Eliza into a gentle hug and replied, “Thanks again Ms. Eliza, it’s just sometimes I feel like I’ll never recover.”
     Eliza released Laura, got off the bed, and walked to the door.  “You’ve come from not being able to move a toe to almost walking in six weeks, you’ll recover. I’m sure of it.”
Eliza almost walked out the door to retire for the night, but turned back and questioned “You remember what tomorrow is though, right.”
     Laura pondered for a second before replying, “No I don’t recall. What is it?”
     “It’s the first day of your physical therapy, so try to get some rest tonight. You’ll need it,” answered Eliza, before she flicked the lights off and darkness enveloped the room again.
“Good night”, added Eliza as she secured the door behind her.
      Laura laid in the bed in the bed and stared into the new void of darkness before murmuring, almost to herself, “good night …. Mom”, before she slipped into unconsciousness.

 “Steady… steady … steady…, you’re almost there.”

     Laura tightened her grip on the parallel bars and whipped sweat off of her brow. Her arms quivered from the effort as she dragged her legs forward and let her weight be taken be hands.   She swung her left hand forward onto the bar, her hand white from her grip.  Just as she was about to make it to the end, her hand slipped and she started to spiral toward the floor.
      Laura, saw the floor rising up to meet her in its embrace. She twisted, curled, shut her eyes, and braced for impact. Suddenly Laura’s decent grinded to a hasty stop. She opened her eyes and saw a hand grasping her arm.
     “I got ya”, stated Reina, as she let Laura down on the floor.
     “You okay Laura?” questioned Reina with a hint of concern in her voice.
     Laura, still shaking from the nerves of the fall, replied, “Yeah I’m fine, thanks for the catch”.
     “No problem, it is my job. I just didn’t expect you to fall like that though. You were so close too.” moaned Reina.
     “Yeah, maybe next time”, replied Laura halfheartedly as she pulled herself back to the bars. She leaned over the railing and continued with a huff of frustration, “I just don’t feel like I’m getting better, and never will.”
     Reina`s expression was one of shock as she replied, “How could you say that. Six months ago you could hardly take a step, now you almost just finished the parallel bars.”
     “Still, we’ve been at this for months and I can still can’t take a few steps without collapsing!” snapped Laura.
     “I understand that you’re frustrated, but it takes time to heal,” replied Reina knowing. “I’ve seen lots of people come here with a variety of injures and you’re one the fastest recoveries I’ve seen.”
     Laura’s face softened, and she replied “Sorry I snapped at you, I am just frustrated with myself.”
     “Yeah, it’s all right, but you shouldn’t be hard on yourself. You’ve come far in a short amount of time. Sooner or later you’ll finish those bars,” answered Reina with an air of confidence.
     “Speaking of which, are you done for the day or do you want to give it one more go around?” inquired Reina.
     After a moment of thought, Laura replied “Yeah, I’ll give it one more go”
     “That’s my girl”, cheered Reina as she clapped her hands together.
     A few moments later they were back where they started, with Laura standing in between the bars, and Reina watching from the side.
    “Hey Laura, this time remember that this is as much physical as it is mental. You have to visualize finishing and you’ll do fine.”
     Laura nodded back and she took a deep breath in and out. She carefully took her first step slow and steady, and eased into the next one, always keeping her eyes glued on the finish.
        “Keep going,” ordered Reina.
        Laura increased her pace, letting the natural rhythm take over her conscious directives. Her arms strained from the effort, and her breath became quick and raspy. She kept increasing her pace and was almost in a speed walk toward the finish.
        Reina kept pushing her insisting, “Laura you’re almost there, keep going.”
     Laura legs gave out again, and she started to collapse again. However before Reina could catch her again, Laura had elevated herself back up. She glared at the end of the bars and kept going.
        As she entered the final stretch, Laura released her hands from the support rails and dropped them to her side. Weaving left and right, she struggled to correct her balance. She eventually righted herself and took on step after the other toward the finish.  Breathing so quickly that she thought that she might pass out, she kept going even with her legs burning as if they were in flames.
     As she crossed the finish, Reina ran up and grabbed Laura before she collapsed on herself from exhaustion.
     “Laura you walked, you really walked!” said Reina as she beamed at Laura.
     “Yeah, I guess I did.” said Laura.