Debbie pulled out some cookies she’d bought at the bakery and put on a new pot of coffee.
“Ock… tor… rob… ber… un… gee,” a quiet voice came over the monitor on the table next to the couch.
Robert turned and went into the room; Debbie followed. Ric shook his head. Why did she know the doctor’s name but not his? It was frustrating.
Robert reappeared. Lisa put the cookies on a plate and placed it on the living room table. Debbie came out pushing Gini in her chair.
“Hello, sweet girl,” Lisa said, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek. Debbie pushed the chair over next to Ric and then made more coffee.
“Lots of people out shopping. It’s a nice day.”
They chitchatted, drank coffee, and ate cookies.
Gini lifted her hands up in front of her face and opened her eyes. The hands and arms moved around for a few minutes as the others talked. Then she thrust her tongue and moved her arms more slowly.
Debbie, suddenly realizing what she was seeing, put her hand over her mouth with a shocked look on her face. She got up and went to Gini, then knelt in front of her.
“What is it, Deb?” Robert asked.
She turned with tears in her eyes. “She just signed she ‘likes Christmas.’ Robert, she can see. She’s been learning from the DVDs with me, and I didn’t even know.” She lifted Gini’s hands and kissed them. “Baby, oh, you’re so smart.”
Gini put her hands up again and after a few tries signed: I want to talk and walk.
“I know, baby, I know.”
“Dee… bee… lah… uff.”
Chapter 5—Braille Cards
When Debbie saw Robert walking toward the unit, she waved him in. She and Gini had just finished their morning therapy, and Debbie was fixing lunch.
Debbie was concentrating their therapy on Gini’s hand coordination. She had bought large crayons, about an inch in diameter. Over the last week, Gini had become able to hold them if Debbie helped her squeeze her fingers around them. On the butcher paper that covered the table were several big circles in blue, red, and green. Closer to Gini were small marks on the paper.
Robert sat down in one of the chairs. “What are you doing, sweetheart?”
“Sir… ka.”
“Can you draw a circle for me?”
Debbie was watching. “Do you want to stay for lunch, Robert? We’re having toasted cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.”
“That sounds good.”
Gini thrust her tongue; she tried to make a circle with the red crayon, but there was little or no movement of her hand. “Sir… ka.”
He reached over and took her hand and helped her draw one. She spread her fingers and dropped the crayon, then carefully stuck out her index finger and made a circle in the air. “Sir… ka.”
“Yes, very good, Gini.” He put his hand gently on her arm and then stood up.
“How long have you been working on this?” He picked up her chart and started flipping down to read the entries.
“With the finger, for a week or two. I just got the crayons this week. She can hold them if you help her put her fingers around them.”
Robert put his entry on the electronic tablet and set it back on the counter. When he looked back at Gini, she had pushed the five crayons together using the sides of her hands. Four had the pointed ends up, and one was down—the black one. It was obvious she was trying, by pushing with her palms or sides of her hands, to figure out how to turn the one so they’d all match. He watched her going through a thought process. She eventually got the black one out of the row, and after a few minutes turned it right to match the others.
“Gini, that’s amazing.” He sat back down. “Amazing.”
Her eyes had been closed the whole time. With her left hand, she reached up the paper. “Boo… sir… ka.” Her hand was on top of the blue circle Debbie had helped her draw. Robert just shook his head. It was unbelievable how far she had come in such a short amount of time.
Debbie put the crayons back in the box and removed the butcher paper, then she wiped Gini’s hands and helped her to hold a carrot stick with her left hand.
“How’s the walking going?”
“A… ron… waa… awk.”
Robert smiled and brushed down her hair.
“We’ve got her feet on the floor. Don’t we, baby.”
“A… ron… waa… awk.”
“I don’t think it will be long before she’s out of that chair.”
Gini started signing slowly.
Debbie chuckled. “Well, let’s not get carried away.”
Gini giggled.
Robert looked at Debbie for some help.
“She said she could run a marathon.”
Debbie broke the sandwich into bite-sized pieces and fed them to her and lifted spoonfuls of the soup for her to eat. Gini made several attempts to put the carrot in her mouth but never quite figured out how to do it. After a few minutes, the stick dropped to the table.
Debbie kept working with the crayons, and Gini got better at holding them, fisted-style with her left hand.
“Baby, tell me what color this crayon is.” Debbie held up the green one.
“No… uff.”
“Open your eyes.”
Gini slowly opened her eyes for a few seconds but said nothing.
“Now, tell me what you saw.”
“No… uff… no… know… see.”
“Baby, you can see, just concentrate.”
“No… uff… no… know… see.”
Debbie continued other methods to determine if Gini could see or not. She and Robert had discussed it several times.
“I know she can,” Debbie said. “Otherwise, how would she know what time it is? She always gets on me if it’s one o’clock and I haven’t put her in bed for her nap.”
“That could just be her
