“With all the patients you’ve seen, I’m surprised you remember.”

A small piece of chocolate-colored hair fell over her ear, and she tucked it back as she looked at me. The brown didn’t just wrap me like a blanket; it took me to a place far away from here, where the hurt wasn’t racking my body.

“If you ask me about a show I’ve watched on TV or a book I’ve read, I won’t be able to tell you much about the plot. But someone I’ve cared for, I’ll never forget.” She spread the warmth across the top of my leg, her touch like a tickle. “Patients are memories I hold on to forever, each a special moment that’s shaped my life.”

“Whitney,” I said, reading her badge, “I’m going to ask you something, and I need you to be real with me. I feel like everyone in here has filled me with a lot of bullshit, and I need the truth.”

She paused her movements, her stare returning to me.

“What is my life going to look like? Will I be the same person I was before?”

She set the rag down, crossing her hands over the arm rail. “Your back is now going to become your priority, and with the injury you have, I would encourage you to take care of it, not risk its health by doing foolish things that would jeopardize your mobility. Your range of motion will be different; your posture will more than likely change. And as for your pain, it will certainly subside—you’re experiencing the worst of it now. But will you ever live pain-free?” She paused, and I saw the answer before she said it. “Probably not.” She moved the pillow a little, making sure my head had the right placement. “You have a long road ahead of you. It’s not going to be easy; you’re going to have to push yourself like you never have. So, to be straight up with you, no, you’re not going to be the same person you were before.”

An ache burrowed into my chest, like it was digging a fucking grave. “I’m envisioning a person I don’t even recognize.”

“Maybe you’ll like him more than the man you are now.”

The anger was back, bubbling away, making me want to lift the basin and throw it across the room.

“Caleb, I see a tremendous amount of fight in you. Not just in your body, but also in there.” Her finger came close to my heart but didn’t touch my skin. “I know you have the strength to do this.”

As she began to dry me with a towel, I stared at the ceiling, the truth of her response settling in. Aside from work, every activity I participated in was physical. Now, there was nothing but limitations that I hadn’t even begun to calculate.