Facing Fears-Part One

7:35 PM

"Jenna?" It was Dad's voice. His hand patted her cheek gently. Jenna
opened her eyes. She was lying on the ground. Her parents' faces
hovered over her. There were other sounds around her, other voices and
running feet-along with the faint smell of smoke.

"Sweetheart are you all right?" Mom asked.

"I don't know" Jenna said. Her body felt weird, her hands tingling
sharply-that same pins- and- needles feeling that she would get in her
feet sometimes after they'd fallen asleep. Something was wrong. Jenna
knew it but she couldn't figure out what. "What happened?" she asked.

"You tried to stand and you fainted," Dad told her. "Probably shock;
you've had a pretty rough time."

"Rudolpho and Franco?" Jenna said as memory flooded back. "What about
them? They're not-" she had a vague memory of someone-dad-hitting
Rudolpho, but Franco-

"Relax," Dad said. "They're both under arrest now-they can't hurt you
anymore."

"Do you think you could walk with our help?" Mom said.

"Yeah I think so." Jenna could feel hands supporting her back as she
tried to sit up. That's when she realized. Everything else felt
fine-except for her feet-no not just her feet but her legs--Jenna lay
back down on the ground. She swallowed hard, trying to fight her
growing fear.

"Jenna what is it?" Mom said. "What's wrong?"

"My legs." In spite of her best efforts Jenna could hear her voice
shaking slightly. "I can't feel my legs."

Dad and Mom exchanged glances. "Jenna I'm going to put my hand on your
right foot, okay?" Dad said. "Try and move it a little."

"I'm trying," Jenna said. "Is something happening? Is it?" Their
silence was scaring her. "Please just tell me." Again she tried to
sit up, but Dad gently pushed her down.

"Everything's okay, munchkin," he told her. "We're just going to take
you to the hospital and get you checked out. What I need from you now
is to be really still and try not to move at all. Can you do that?"

"Yes," Jenna said. She heard her dad talking to someone, his voice now
frantic-sounding in contrast to how calm he'd seemed just a minute
ago. Mom smoothed Jenna's hair back from her face.

"What's wrong with me?" Jenna said. "I don't understand."

"You'll be just fine, sweetheart," Mom unclenched Jenna's hand and
held it tightly. "Try not to worry." The next thing Jenna knew some
people were lifting her onto what felt like a board, putting something
around her head and neck so she couldn't move it. She felt the sting
of an IV being inserted into her hand and taped in place. Mom didn't
let go of her other hand the whole time.

"Into the ambulance-" a man's voice said. "Call Galilee General and
let them know we're bringing her in."

"Lee I'll ride with her," Mom said.

"Dad?" Jenna called out, suddenly anxious. She tried to turn her
head to see him but the soft restraints wouldn't let her.

"I'm right here, Jenna," Dad said. "I'll follow you and Mom to the
hospital. And don't worry-everything will be just fine."

The stretcher was put into the ambulance. Jenna could hear the sirens
as they sped down the street. Jenna thought they'd probably given her
a sedative or something-within a few minutes she began to feel sleepy,
her eyes closing and her mother's face blurring in front of her.


Galilee General Hospital

Tuesday, August 13, 2002

12:30 AM

"Lee would you just please stop pacing and stay still?" Amanda said.
"This isn't doing you or Jenna any good."

"Well what the hell else can I do?" Lee said. "They've been running
tests for hours now-so far they haven't told us one blessed thing."

"Well you were the one who told them to run every test in the book."

Lee ran both hands through his hair. "Amanda, I know what I did-but we
should've heard something by now."

"I'm sure we'll hear something soon," Amanda said. "We still don't
know what's happened."

"I know what happened," Lee said. "When I knocked over Rudolpho Jenna
fell too. Somehow she must have twisted her spine in the fall and
injured a nerve or something--I don't know." His head sank into his
hands. "If we'd come clean earlier this never would've happened. What
if she never walks again?"

Amanda rubbed his back. "At this point we don't know exactly how it
happened."

"Well isn't it kind of obvious?" Lee snapped. "I'm sorry, Amanda-I
guess I'm just stressed. I didn't mean to take it out on you."

"I know how you feel, believe me," Amanda said. " But I just can't
shake the feeling that there's something we're missing here."

"Like what?" Lee said.

Just then the waiting room door opened. Dr Kelford entered, along with
Dr. Pfaff.

"How's Jenna?" Lee said.

"That's what we wanted to talk to you about," Dr. Pfaff said.

"And just what are you doing here?" Lee said to Dr. Pfaff.

"Lee-" Amanda said.

"I called him in for a consult on this one Lee-I think we might need
him. Just hear me out," Dr. Kelford said. "We've run almost every test
we can think of, CT Scans, blood tests, x-rays-and they all tell us
one thing."

"What's that?" Lee said.

"She isn't really paralyzed." Dr. Kelford said. "Not in the physical
sense."

"What do you mean, she isn't really paralyzed?" Lee said. "I saw her
with my own eyes. Jenna was terrified, she wasn't faking it."

"Not consciously, no" Dr. Pfaff said. "But her subconscious could be
doing it to her. Psuedoparalysis is generally a physical response to
an emotional trauma. You have to admit that Jenna's been through a lot."

"I don't know," Lee said. But then he thought back to Jenna's
flashback in the van, that terrifying blank stare she'd had when
Rudolpho had been holding a gun to her head--"You said you've run
almost every test-are you sure there's no physical reason?"

"There's one more test," Dr. Kelford said. "But we'd like you and
Amanda to view it yourselves."

SMK SMK SMK SMK

"We can watch the test from here," Dr. Pfaff said as he led them into
a room. "This way we won't affect the results. The window is a one-way
mirror-she won't be able to see us."

Lee looked at his daughter. Jenna was lying flat on the bed in a
hospital gown, electrodes attached to her lower legs. The electrodes
themselves were attached to what looked like a small computer monitor.
Dr. Kelford was there, bent over the monitor. Even from this distance
Lee could see that Jenna's face was pale, the shadows under her eyes
nearly as dark as the bruise on her cheek.

"Poor thing, she looks exhausted," Amanda said. Lee took his wife's
hand, squeezing gently.

"Anyone would be after all the tests they've run," Dr. Pfaff said.
"Don't worry, Mrs. Stetson. After this she should be able to rest. The
results on this one will be conclusive.."

Dr. Kelford had his back turned now, saying something to Jenna, who
nodded. Kelford turned around and Lee could see that he was holding a
large needle attached to a cord.

"What is that for?" Lee said.

"The test is called an electromyogram, or an EMG," Dr. Pfaff said. "It
will test and record the electrical activity of her muscles-tell us if
she's really paralyzed. He's also running a nerve conduction test at
the same time -the electrodes on her leg will send out mild electrical
impulses to help to tell us if her nerves are damaged."

"Will it be painful?" Amanda asked.

Dr. Pfaff shook his head. "Probably not. The mind is a powerful thing.
If Jenna's subconscious is telling her she can't move or feel her legs
then she probably won't."

"Probably?" Lee said, looking at the size of the needle.

"Well sometimes an unexpected pain will cause the limbs to move," Dr.
Pfaff said. "Either way, that oscilloscope there-" he pointed to the
monitor "-will show a reaction."

"And if the paralysis is real? " Lee said.

"Very little or no reaction at all." Dr. Pfaff said.

Lee pulled Amanda closer to him. Together they watched as Dr. Kelford
inserted the needle into Jenna's legs at different points. Jenna
didn't move or show any outward response , but Lee could see it-a
definite reaction on the monitor. He turned to Dr. Pfaff.

"Tell us what we can do," he said.