They called it type-B Paraplegia.<a class="link link--external" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2Fb5%2F34%2F76%2Fb5347678395ef2e607e6493e1e2bd25c.jpg&amp;hash=63cf06ca938a85fb328f3fa56742b793" href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b5/34/76/b5347678395ef2e607e6493e1e2bd25c.jpg" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank">Heather Lewis</a>could still feel her legs, could still suffer the agony of an itchy foot that she could not reach, but she had no motor function at all below the hips. After three operations on her spine to try and repair the damage, six months in hospital, and four court appearances looking pathetic to get the sympathy of the jury, she was ready to go home. She had told the doctors, "Look, I'm probably going to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair, no matter what you do. You've tried your best, it's time to move on and accept what is."<br/><br/>She was still in mourning for Mike, her husband, who had not survived the crash that put her in a wheelchair. She had been too ill to attend the funeral. April, their one child, had come home from college when she heard, had worked with Michael's family to get everything sorted out. It was not something she would ever get over. The bastard who was driving the truck that hit them had walked away from the accident with barely a scratch. He had gone through a red light, claiming that his brakes had failed. Turned out, his pick-up had failed it's SSC and he hadn't done anything about it.<br/><br/>His licence had been revoked, of course, and he was sent to prison for three years, of course, but while Heather was not a vindictive person, she felt that was no where near enough of a punishment for what he had done to her. So she took out a civil action against him and won, the court awarding damages to the sum of everything the bastard owned and then some. He would be paying her money until the day he died!<br/><br/>That, along with the various insurance claims, had paid for the remodelling of her house. She had yet to see it, but April had showed her pictures. And now, finally, she was going home.<br/><br/>Getting into the car was ... entertaining. She had tried to follow the instructions being given by the physiotherapist, and had only bumped her head once on the door-frame. Finally settled in the passenger seat, her wheelchair folded in the back, she had nervously strapped herself in. The seat belts had done nothing to protect her or Mike as the massive SUV had crushed their tiny little VW. She closed her eyes as April pulled into traffic.<br/><br/><i>"MIKE! LOOK OUT!" She had shouted too late, the huge black shape baring down on them. MIke's instinct was to hit the brake. Which had been wrong. The car had stopped right in the path of the other vehicle, there was a massive crunching noise of shattering glass and tearing metal, and searing pain in her arm, neck, back and left leg.<br/>
</i><br/>Heather opened her eyes again. Closing them didn't help. This was not that day. She flinched as they drove through a green light at an intersection. Not even the same intersection. Breathed again when they reached the other side safely.<br/><br/>April must have noticed. Heather forced a smile and said, "I couldn't stand to loose both of you." Left it at that, and stared fixedly at the road ahead until April parked her car on the driveway outside the house. It looked the same, except the step up to the front door was gone, replaced with a smooth concrete ramp. That and it had been winter the last time she'd seen the house. There had been snow on the yard and piled up in the streets where the ploughs pushed it. Now it was summer, everything was green, flowers were in bloom, bees were buzzing, birds were singing.<br/><br/>As Heather waited for April to bring the chair around, she took a deep breath of the fresh air. It felt good to be alive, especially when she considered how close she had come to not being. Mike would want her to carry on, she knew that. They had often talked about the "what ifs", usually while lying in bed at night, and the one thing they were both adamant about was that if one of them went, the other was to carry on and make the best of it.