Show Me the Meaning--Chapter 1


*1980* Jackie Littrell watched in terror as her son, Brian's eyes rolled back into his head. Her and her husband frantically rushed his brother, Harold, out of the room and called the hospital. Placing his five year-old body into ice and then steaming hot water until the ambulance arrived, Jackie kept her focus on her impact, not what she should have been worried about.

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Brian finally came to in the children's ward of St. Joseph's Hospital in Lexington, KY. He could hear someone crying but couldn't understand why, or who. Little did he know, that his family was right outside the door. Even his eight year-old cousin, Kevin, was crying. (note: this is, let's say, April of '80. don't get on my back saying, "Kevin is 4 years older than Brian!!!" DUH! I know that!!! Shaddup...) Brian took a long look around his room. He shared it with about 7 other kids. Three boys with casts were playing Jax on the floor, an older girl was reading a magazine, a boy and a girl across the room were playing "Rock, Paper Scissors" to see who got first pick at colouring books, and the girl next to him, also stuck in a stryker frame, was staring at the ceiling. Her face was purple and blue with bruises, as was the rest of her body that was showing. Her left leg was in a cast, as was her right wrist and shoulder. From first look, Brian thought she had been hit by a car, but when he noticed the black of a handprint branded on her cheek, he thought differently.

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*TWO WEEKS LATER* Lysha had grown fond of the boy who was stuck next to her in the hospital. They had learned a lot about each other. Brian had learned that although Lysha acted tough, she was really sensitive and gentle. Lysha had found out that Brian sang really well and also that he loved soccer a lot. But one day when Brian was sleeping, the doctors told his mother to go and make funeral arrangements for Brian, because he wasn't getting better. Lysha lay in shock for almost the whole day. This boy, full-of-energy, soccer-loving Brian, couldn't be dying, could he?

Later, when Kevin came for his daily visit, Lysha told him about Brian. Brian was still asleep, so they talked about it for awhile until Kevin had to go for dinner. Lysha cried herself to sleep as the boy next to her tossed and turned over the news he had overheard.

The next morning, Brian didn't act the same. He wasn't the rampaging, rambunctious kid he was the night before. It was as though the life had been drained out of him by some strange vacuum cleaner. When she asked him what was wrong, she was shocked at his reply.

Chapter 2