Splat!

 

            I went out the back door onto the deck where Kim had been giving her feet a bath. I saw her lying face down, motionless, on the ground. Her dad’s black and red hunting shirt glared at me.

 

            I called her name. Nothing. I quickly went to her, knelt, and called her name.

 

            “Kim! Are you all right?”

 

            Nothing. Then she moaned a little, moved her head a little, and said, “I’m OK. I just need to lie here for a few minutes.”

 

            “Can you move?” She moved her feet a little.

 

            “Can I help you sit up? Can you roll over?”

 

            “Yes, I think so. It’s hard to breathe. I think I had the wind knocked out of me.”

 

            As carefully and gently as I could, mindful of her surgically repaired spine, I helped her roll over onto her side, and then sit up. In her left hand she had a pair of long pointed barber scissors. It had been under her body when she fell.

 

            We rested there for a minute. She described what had happened, how she lost her footing stepping off the porch to dump the tub of water, her damaged knee giving out on her. I stood and moved behind her, put my arms under her arms, and lifted her to her feet. She hung tight as we walked slowly back to the house, and I helped her up the stairs, amazed that she could walk at all.

 

            (As you can imagine, it is very painful to re-experience this as I write.)

 

            This took place about a week ago. Kim is slowly recovering, though she reinjured her knee, and some days she feels like she is “going backwards.” Her chest is sore, as is her back and her nose, which made a direct hit as she landed. In fact, she is sore all over. Kim jokes that she felt like she was in a Roadrunner cartoon: Splat!

 

            We have spent a little time noting some things we are grateful for:

·      She fell onto woodchips, not hard wood.

·      She was wearing her dad’s heavy shirt, which provided some padding.

·      She did not fall with a twisting motion that would lead to broken bones.

·      Despite her hitting her head, she suffered no concussion. We spoke with Genne’ on the phone, and she talked us through some tests to make sure.

·      Her nose is sore and a bit red, but not broken.

·      Her cage in her back is apparently undamaged, though her whole back is sore.

·      I found her a few minutes after she fell – though we are not sure how long it was. Kim was in shock. Glad I was home.

·      Those scissors . . ..

·      We still have each other.

·      A few hours after her fall, Kim cooked our dinner. Those of you who know her know how stubborn she is.