Startled, Jim jerks awake. Another nightmare, the same as every night. Every time he falls asleep he dreams of the day his wife died. Three years ago he and his wife were driving down a dark road when a semi-truck swerved into their lane. His wife shot out the window and died instantly, but he was left to lie alone in this cruel world. Today was different though, he thought as he rolled out of him bedroom.
He had broken his back in the crash and was paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Or at least that’s what the doctors thought but today was the day of a procedure he was going to get to fuse his spine so he could walk. It was experimental and the doctors were not sure if it would work, but he was desperate for a try. He wheels into his kitchen and takes his antidepressant pills with the last few drops of orange juice left in his barren fridge. He then rolls down his ramp that he had installed in his trailer and rolls to his old Cadillac that has been modified to hand controls and drives away from his trailer park.
He arrives at the doctors right on time and fills out the necessary information and is led away by a nurse. She takes him to a large room full of serious faced doctors that help him onto the surgery table. He feels a prick on his arm and feels himself falling out of consciousness from the anesthesia. The last thing he remembers is the realization that he will be able to walk again.
He slowly wakes up and eventually tries to move his legs, nothing. A second later a solemn faced doctor enters the room and informs him that the surgery was unsuccessful. He feels the same feeling he felt when he found out he was going to be paralyzed and breaks down in tears. Eventually he was allowed to leave so he stares his rolling towards his car. But on the way out he sees a beautiful young lady, also in a wheelchair, and all alone. He stops and rolls up to her. He had never been on a date since his wife’s death, but he figured nothing really mattered anymore and asked her. Her reply put a smile on his face for the first time in years.