“Emmy...Emmerika... Em we’re here!”

My mom’s nagging snapped me back to reality. The car was now parked in a dimly lit parking garage. We were at Mary Free bed.

“Now remember he can’t walk because his legs are shaking. And he can’t talk right now either, but you wanted to come.” She was giving me the same rundown of how this was going to go, about what to expect.

We stepped off the elevator onto the neurological floor and took a left at the second nurses station, down a hallway leading to the children’s section. My brother's room was at the end of the hallway on the left. My feet felt as if they were moving through quicksand and I suddenly began to feel nauseous. I slowly pushed the door open, checking with the nurse to make sure his roommate was awake.

I passed the homemade signs telling Johnny, a super nice kid with some muscle and neurological disease, to get well soon. My eyes drifted just past that to a skinny kid lying in the next hospital bed. His legs were shaking uncontrollably, bouncing up and down under the weighted blanket. Pictures of our family and me and Noah playing catch and having water balloon fights were strung across the wall.

He was pale, and almost unrecognizable having lost some muscle and weight. His eyes were drooping with exhaustion and he was fighting to keep them open. But still, Noah was my little brother and even though I felt like crying I knew I couldn’t show the pity I felt towards him. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

“Hey little buddy, how’s it going?” He hated when I called him little buddy. He stuck his tongue out and rolled his eyes. Brat. “You look awful,” I said, trying to tease a little more of his old self out of him. He grabbed the whiteboard by his bed and began writing.

He turned it around

Basketball? He swiped his shirtsleeve over it or air hockey?

“Definitely basketball, now’s the only time i’ll ever beat you. You look like you’re going to fall asleep any minute,” I laughed and turned to get his wheelchair. I heard the marker squeaking against the whiteboard and turned around to read it…

Oh yeah wanna race? Cocky today aren’t we, well two can play at that game.

“I dare you.”

Okay. Go get a chair.

I snapped and strutted out of the room, and down the hall where the extra wheelchairs are kept. I picked one of the newer looking ones and pushed it back to the room, not wanting to wear my arms out before the race. When I got back to the children’s hallway, Noah was at the end in his wheelchair, waiting. He still looked awful, but his eyes seemed a little more alive knowing there was a competition to be won. I worked him harder today than mom had in a week with her spoonfeeding him everything. Oh well, he’d sleep good tonight. I sat down and backed up to one of the tile lines.

“On your mark, set,” I adjusted my hands on the wheels, “GO!” I started pumping my arms, getting nowhere. Dad started laughing hysterically and waited until Noah was halfway down the hall before telling me he locked my wheels. I punched him in the arm before following me into the game room.

I Won

“No way, I was sabotaged!”

Sure you were

“I was! Okay tough guy, rematch on the way back.”

Okay, after I beat you at this too. Smart alec.

We played four games and he beat me the first three times and gave me the fourth game after I threatened to quit if he didn’t take it easy. He also won the rematch on the way back to his room. He had more practice than me so it really didn’t count anyway… Okay, so his personality is still there even if he’s a pale, exhausted, and skinnier kid than he was before. And even though he can’t talk, he manages to still be a sarcastic little twerp.
For the next three days we worked in the PT room, pulling his legs with rubber bands, forcing him to walk. We played more basketball and did more exercises, trying to keep him as awake and active as we could.

Three month later he came home. We hung banners welcoming him home, congratulating him on being able to control his legs again and walking without any help. A week after that, he woke me up, he was talking. I rubbed my eyes thinking I was still dreaming.

“Emmmmmmyyyyy!!!!!” He was jumping on my bed. “Wake!,” jump. “ Up!” Jump. “You!” Jump.  “Lazy!” Jump.

“Bum!” Jump.

“What the heck do you think you’re doing at 10 in the morning? You know I wake up after noon on saturdays” I replied groggily, rolling over. I still wasn’t sure if I was imagining all of this, maybe I just didn’t process it.
“Guess who can talk again?!” He was being sooo loud. I finally processed what was going on and squealed.

“OH MY GOSH!!!”

“And Emmy guess what else, I’m not ever going to shut up again, I have so much talking to make up for that whole time!” Noah darted out of the room and I heard him go downstairs, still running his mouth. He sure was annoying, but hey, after all that, I’m not complaining.