The First Time She Stood
Chapter 13 - The First Time She Stood
The rehabilitation team warned Clara not to expect too much.
She ignored them.
With braces supporting her knees and two therapists at her sides, she gripped the parallel bars.
Ethan stood behind the glass.
Mia pressed both hands against it.
Clara pushed.
Her arms shook.
Her left leg trembled.
For a second, her body rose.
Then she dropped back into the wheelchair.
“Again,” she said.
The therapist shook her head.
“Rest.”
“Again.”
The second attempt lasted two seconds.
The third lasted five.
On the fourth, Clara stood.
Not alone.
Not steadily.
But upright.
Ethan covered his mouth.
Mia bounced on her toes.
Clara looked at herself in the mirror across the room.
She had forgotten how tall she was.
The sight broke her.
She began sobbing.
One therapist moved to lower her.
“No,” Clara said.
She kept standing.
Later, exhausted in bed, she asked Ethan to bring Mia upstairs.
When Mia entered, Clara held out her hand.
“You touched my foot that first day.”
Mia nodded.
“I thought you were weird.”
Mia laughed.
“I was freezing.”
Clara squeezed her hand.
“You changed my life.”
Mia shook her head.
“No. Your nerves did.”
Clara laughed so hard her side hurt.
Then Mia’s smile faded.
“My mom would have liked you.”
Clara looked at her.
“Tell me about her.”
For the first time, Mia did.
Elena Ruiz had been stubborn, funny, and terrible at singing.
She worked long shifts.
She believed nurses saw the things doctors sometimes missed because nurses stayed after everyone important left the room.
After she lost her job at St. Matthew’s, she struggled.
Then she became sick.
Cancer.
By the time Mia understood how serious it was, they were living week to week.
Before Elena died, she told Mia one thing about Clara.
“I tried to make them listen.”
Mia wiped her eyes.
“I think she felt like she failed you.”
Clara reached for her.
“She didn’t.”
Behind the half-open door, Ethan heard everything.
And the next morning, he made a decision.
May you like
Elena Ruiz’s name would not disappear as a fired employee in an old personnel file.
He would find out exactly what happened to her.
