2# The Prosthetic

The paper written “I want to run faster than anyone else!” was still there on his wall. Metres away from that wall, James was sleeping on his bed. He looked miserable, seemed like he could not sleep tight because nightmares were frightening him.

He saw himself, running on the track for the final race. So fast and no one and there was no one in front of him, no one could stop him. Out of a sudden, he saw blood spilled out from somewhere. When he looked back, he saw his right leg broken, and left behind the track…

James woke up from the nightmare. With tears and sweat on his face. Looked tortured and painful. He touched his right leg; it was not there with him anymore.

In his room, it was totally messed up. Rubbishes scattered on the floor, his clothes everywhere… And also his prosthetic thrown by him onto the floor.

He still could not accept the truth that he lost his right limb. Touching his trousers hoped that it was still there for him. Endlessly, crying for something, which was not with him anymore.

At the same time, James’s father was at the living room. Talked to James’s mother’s picture at the altar, with tears.

“Doctor said it was a knee tumour. The cancerous cell would spread to the lungs in a very short time. Although from the outside it looked normal, but we had no choice.” He began to cry again.

“The removal of nerves and veins at the leg causes the foot unable to get nutrition, and everything. Therefore, the leg must be cut… I understand what the doctor said to me… But why? Why our son must accept this?”

In James’s room, he tore down the paper that he wrote before the race, leaning his head against the wall. Tore the paper into pieces, threw it onto the floor, and jumped back to his bed with his only left leg.

He took the photo taken when he won in his school race, the moment he broke his record, which was 11 seconds and 21. He stared at the picture, and said “Which one is more important for me?”

He threw the picture onto the wall, and his answer for himself was “My leg…”

James’s teammates came to visit. There were 5 of them. But his father declined to let them in. The reason was because he felt that those people were too much different with his son. They were not belonged to the same world.

He entered James’s room. James was covering himself with his blanket.
“Jim, there were your team mates came to visit you. But I called them to go back, I won’t force you to meet them…”

James remained silent.

Weeks after, 3 of his team mates came for visit again. Once again his father refuse to let them in. Since that incident James had never meet his old friends and mates anymore.

Time flies, months later, there was just only a person who never give up trying to visit him. Anne, James’s team mate. She always left some books at the doorstep for James. At the last time she came, she left an application form for him. Mail school application form.

“Jim…” His father called him outside his room’s door.

“Your friend brought you a form for mail school. If you do not want to study for high school than you should consider about this…”

“Whatever.” A simple word he replied.

After two years of studying by mail for high school, Anne brought him the certificate. This time James’s father would really like her to see his son.

“Jim, she is the only friend you have left. She has never stop try to visit you. So I think at least you should go and thank her…” Outside James’s door he said.

“No thanks dad, please tell her that I do not want to meet her…” James replied.

“Alright, I’ll tell her not to come anymore”

In James’s mind, he kept on thinking. Hoped that she would not come to his place anymore. He did not want to see her again.

“It’s impossible for me to see her anymore…”

James pulled his trousers at his right up and revealed his right leg after the operation. His right leg was cut off, but he remained his right foot. The foot was reversibly joined to his thigh. With the foot sole facing up.

It’s a kind of surgery called “Rotation”. Removal of leg but remains the foot and joins it to the thigh. In order for easier wearing of artificial limb so that the person can still involve in sport.

One day, James left a note on the table for his father.

“I went out for medical appointment.”

James walked to the hospital for check ups as usual. Without using walk sticks, seems that he could walk on with the prosthetic. Just that he could not walk as a normal person does, and his pace was slow.

In the hospital, James heading to the clinic which he had appointment with. At the corridor, James heard someone called him.

He turned back, he saw someone with wheelchair moved swiftly to his back. Seems that the person was trying to play with him. James turned back again, now he saw whom exactly the person was.

“Hello James! This is Jonathan, you can call me Jon.”

This guy who appeared from the middle of nowhere had freaked James off.

“You cut it off?” He asked.

Jonathan approached him closer and touched at James’s right knee.

“Very good!” He said.

“Huh?” Before James could react with what the stranger said, there was a guy behind him who was on the wheelchair as well.

“Oh… you are James… This is Brian”

“What?” James felt strange to have two strangers appeared who knew his name.

“Alright I got to go!” Jonathan said, and he added,

“You should use the wheelchair!”

“Alright Jon, let’s go…” Brian called.

Two of them went off with their wheelchair, like playing with each other at the corridor. Numbers of questions appeared in James’s mind. “Who are they? How did they know about my name and my condition?”

Somehow, these two guys could be considered as the most important people who led James back to the normal path…

To be continued…