A trip to wonderland - Part 1

At 7 am I was ready. As requested by Abigail a few days before. I was standing in my alley, a light rolling suitcase in my left hand and my cane in the other.

At 7.05 am a van with a handicapped macaron parked in front of me.

The driver jumped out, happily greeted me and opened the lateral door. I climbed in without asking any question and was welcomed by Abi, who was sitting, wheelchair bound, at the back. She was not missing any leg... for the time being I guessed. She introduced me to Adam, our helper for the weekend and told me that he was a devotee friend of her who happily indulged in that kind of trip. This one trip she said was very special, as it was the final chapter of a bunch of trips at the same hotel. But before getting on the way, we would have to stop at Adam's shop. As it happened, Adam was the owner of a prosthetics shop. I was only mildly surprised.

At 7.25 I was stepping in was seemed to be the Ali Baba cavern for any pretender in the world, Adam told me to look around and to pick freely what was pleasing me while he was helping Abigail to get ready in the back room. As he rolled her out of my view, I started looking eagerly for what would fulfill my current fantasy. The steamy episode with Emma was still burning hot in my mind, even though over the last week, only professionally-themed e-mails arrived from her. Moreover, I've been slightly obsessed with a video on youtube featuring a very special kind of crutches, and I really wanted to try it out.


At 8.00 a stack of useful devices where bundled on top of a nice power chair that seemed to fit me perfectly and I was waiting for my two acolytes to come out of the room. The surprise almost made me fall on my comfortable butt when Abi showed up. She was... quite changed.

The least surprising were here legs. They were missing and two neatly bandaged stumps were popping out of a pale blue summer dress nicelly arranged under a strap keeping her diminished limbs down. What was more surprising was the use of a power chair, and the obviously pregnant belly, and the strap on top of it, bigger breasts too, enhanced by the strap  and rather heavy hard collar.
And a missing left arm, or at least well hidden in a fake hand prothesis that was resting motionless on the arm rest, strapped. She was driving the wheelchair with two fingers of an otherwise very limp right hand. As she moved toward me a bump on the floor made her right arm slip down slowly against her pregnant belly. I watched the hand slid slowly along the bump, it was utterly disturbing. Adam went to strap it too. I was speechless.

A pregnant triple amputee, quadriplegic. This was not something I was expecting from my hyperactive friend.

- I know it seems odd, said Abigail, but I'll explain later. It's your turn. Don't worry about me and go with Adam in the back room. I hope you can match me.

At 8h30 I came out of the room. Adam, after having a look at what I had chosen, went back in the store to pick better sized devices and helped me out with the heavy back brace that was blocking my neck. He also gave me a hand with the light carbon fiber KAFO braces that would adorn both my legs, and finally strapped my left arm in a heavy brace that wouldn't allow my to use arm crutches.

Learning how to use the gutter armrest crutches would come later, that would be the fun part of the trip. Adam arranged them at the back of my wheelchair and I sat in. Slowly. That was my first time in a power chair, I was not sure I would lack the lack of movement, but for now, my body was so heavily restrained that I couldn't wish for anything better. Struggle and pleasure time would be later.

At 8h45, Abi and I were securely installed at the back of the truck, and as Adam started the engine, Abigail asked me to unstrap her prosthetic hand and started slowly rubbing her pregnant belly while telling me the whole story.

I look and listened. Fascinated.