"Mr. Craw," the doctor said patiently, "you and your wheelchair cannot fit in a regular car currently, and until you get more comfortable with transferring yourself places, this will have to do."
The doctor pushed Francis into the seat and locked him in, keeping him secure and Poppy started the car.
The doctor closed the door and Poppy flinched, taking the car out of park and beginning to drive away, not saying anything but stealing small, nervous glances at him.
She was quiet for a moment, looking out onto the road as they took off. "Is there..." She sighed, knowing how empty the words sounded. "Is there anything I can do to make this better?
She nodded slowly, glancing down at her hands. "That's fair. I guess that was a kind of stupid thing to say."
"Yeah," she admitted, merging lanes. "But still. I can figure out a better thing to ask than that." She glanced over at him almost nervously before extending a hand to him cautiously.
She seemed relieved, rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb. "Do you want to talk about this?" she asked gently. "About physical therapy or about the wheelchair or the car? Or do you want to talk about something else? Or... I don't know. Do you not want to talk? That's okay. That's okay too."
"I don't like this car, I don't like this wheelchair, and I don't like the idea of never being able to walk again."
She nodded slowly. "Okay. Well, the car we can get replaced. As you get used to this temporary state of being, we'll have more and more options, and soon we won't need a car that's wheelchair accessible. As for the wheelchair, there are amazing pieces of technology that we can look at. Seriously, Craw. You should see the things that they've invented. Finally, about not being able to walk again..." She sighed, pursing her lips as they pulled into the driveway. "I'll be honest with you. It sucks. It really, really sucks. Something happened that was out of your control and now you're facing a possibility that sounds dire." She parked and didn't meet his gaze, putting the keys in her bag. "But it's a possibility. Not a guarantee. We have choices to make. We can either let this potential future take a hold of us and accept it, or we can be determined to change it." She sighed, running her hand through her hair distractedly. "And I know that's easy for me to say because I'm not in that chair. But it's the truth. Those are our two options. I'll follow you wherever you decide to go, but you need to make that choice."
She nodded, getting out of the car and coming around to his side to pull out the ramp, opening his door and beginning to unhook the wheelchair.
