Debbie took hold of Gini’s hand and put it on her face. “Yes, Debbie, that’s my name. Baby, that’s my name.”
Debbie and Lisa were walking to their car in the parking garage that evening. Robert walked up next to them.
“Starting your long commute?” Debbie asked with a laughing tone.
“Yes. And you? I’m thinking yours is about a five-minute drive.”
The two women were holding hands, and Lisa hugged up close to Debbie. “We’re going to dinner and then a movie. You want to join us?”
“Gee, thanks, but I’m going to the grand opening of the country club tonight with John and Vicky. You should come before your movie.”
“Country club?” Debbie was surprised. “You’re a golfer in all your spare time?”
“Not yet. I thought I might give it a try.”
“Yeah, well I’ll believe it when I see you not being with your patients twenty-four seven. Have fun.”
“You, too.”
Debbie certainly admired Dr. Young. He was “good people,” giving every bit of his knowledge to his patients to help with their recovery, and he was good with the families. He appeared to be always smiling, and there was a twinkle in his light green eyes. With a tall, lanky body and slight slope to his shoulders, his walk presented as slow with a long gait, somewhat lumbering. His soothing voice put everyone at ease. If she’d ever thought a man attractive, her idea of attractive was Robert. Not gorgeous, as Lisa described Ric, but pleasant, gentle, and genuine. He showed he cared in such a graceful manner. She wished he’d find a woman and settle down to have a family, but she didn’t see that happening. He was too devoted to his work.
Every day both Debbie and Robert assessed Gini’s progress. There was no way of knowing if she could hear or see. She’d open her eyes for brief moments, more a spontaneous reaction than her opening them herself. She moved more and more every day, especially on her left side. She would bend her knee and pull her leg up, and she could roll to her right side on her own. She made lots of noises, including eee, eee, over and over. Lisa’s theory that she was saying Debbie was only that, a theory. Debbie was pretty sure Gini had no conscious awareness of anything around her. Since she moved more, they used a custom-made helmet to protect her brain. In the next few weeks, she would have surgery to put a metal plate in her head to replace the part of the skull that had been removed after the accident.
Robert’s routine with Gini never changed. Each time he saw her, he would take her left hand, putting her fingers on his cheek and her thumb under his bottom lip with his hand on top of hers. “My name is Dr. Robert Young.” He would repeat the statement several times. Then he’d wrap his right hand around the side of her face. “Your name is Virginia Anderson.” Week after week he had made the same statements before he examined her.
When Robert walked out of the forest when he was six, he was scared, in pain, and couldn’t remember anything. It was like he’d been in a deep dark hole his whole young life.
A man walked up to him. To Robert, he was a giant. The man was in all black. His chest looked huge, and he wore two guns on his belt, one funny shaped. With the dark, wraparound sunglasses and large helmet, the first thing Robert thought was the creature was an alien.
Seeing the fear on the little boy’s face, the man went down on one knee in front of him. He gently wrapped his hand around the side of Robert’s face. “Don’t be afraid, I’m here to help you. Are you lost?”
Robert slightly shook his head. The man raised his fingers and gently rubbed on Robert’s head, leaving his palm on his cheek. “Can you tell me your name?”
The warmth of his hand and the caring caress comforted Robert. He shook his head, and leaned his head so he trapped the man’s hand between his cheek and shoulder.
“I’m a police officer; my name is Chester. Have you ever ridden in a police car before?”
Again Robert shook his head.
Feeling safe with the man, Robert willingly got in the car. The officer reassured him all the way to the precinct that they were going to find his family.
When they got to the station, social services arrived, and everyone was asking him questions. The kind officer disappeared. Robert started crying and complaining of pain, so they took him to the hospital to check him out.
No one could get him to talk. Robert remembered how hard it was for him to think with all the questions and confusion. It was as if he had no brain.
Then a man walked into the hospital room. He was tall, wearing a button-down shirt and blue jeans. He came to the bed, bent down and wrapped his hand around the side of Robert’s face. “Do you remember me?”
Robert immediately recognized the voice and the warm caring feeling of his hand. He nodded.
“Do you remember my name?”
“Chester.”
“Good, you know my name, I’d like to know yours.”
“Robert.”
“Great, buddy. I like the name Robert; it’s a strong name.”
Robert never forgot the man’s kindness and comforting feel. He knew a lot of his patients were in the same mindset he was that day, and he wanted them to feel unafraid and know they were safe, so he incorporated kindness into his treatment.
Debbie always marveled at Robert’s caring. She’d never seen anyone do the hand on the face other than Dr. Young. It seemed the results were always amazing. She constantly appreciated that she worked with such a great man, a wonderful doctor.
Franco’s
