natf

Excerpt: Justified Means? (working title)

I take a sip of water from the tube fitted at the head of my bed. Slowly but surely I am becoming able to move as I reach for the pain medication syringe and gas-inject it into my neck. Grabbing my book from the bedside cabinet I read for a few minutes while my body gets used to the idea that the pain has gone for now before I slowly sit myself up on the bed and transfer to the wheelchair. Luckily I sleep without clothes on in these days of environmentally controlled homes and so, once I manage to get into the chair, all I need to do is to gather some clean clothes together before I make my way to the bathroom and pull myself up out of the chair using the wet-room grab bars. Once I am vertical and stable, the jets of the insta-shower can lather, wash and rinse me as I just stand there gripping the grab-bar for all I am worth. I am sure that showering used to be much more exhausting for people with multiple sclerosis back in my grandparents’ day. My great uncle Rebus had the same chronic disease and, back in those days, there was not even as many treatments as there are today. As I stand there starting to dry off as the insta-shower switches to the warm air drying jets, I am feeling immensely grateful for invention, progress and current medical understanding.

/ 30,000 words for IndyWriMo

crossposted to natf and natnowrimos