Chapter 14: A Leg Up

He and Kathy stayed long enough to watch Janet eat her lunch. It was still clear liquids, but she tucked in with their encouragement and ate everything on her tray. The nurse was even more encouraged and told them she would see about advancing her diet for dinner.

After sitting in the passenger seat of the orange goblin, he listened as his girlfriend cursed while wrestling the folded wheelchair into the back. “You’d think they could make these things out of aluminum or that carbon fiber they made the Space Shuttle out of,” she griped as she got behind the wheel.

“Hopefully, I won’t need it much longer,” he told her, then related his conversation with Dr. Merchant.

“Dude, that will be sweet. Then you can take me to Prom!”

“Babe, that’s next month. I doubt I’ll be strutting around on new feet that quick.”

“Oh!” she grinned. “Did Alan tell you his news?”

He shook his head.

“He got his learner’s permit and starts Driver’s Ed next week.”

“Oh wow! He must be stoked about that,” Peter replied with a hint of jealousy.

“Just act surprised when he calls,” she cautioned him. “He’s thrilled. I guess he’s trying to convince his mom to let him drive their Volvo. I bet he could part the Red Sea before she caves in.”

He got the call shortly after they arrived at his house and were processing orders.

“Hey, dude! Guess what?” he heard excitedly.

“What’s up?”

“I got my learner’s permit!” Alan exclaimed breathlessly. “I’ll be cruising soon!”

“Dude, that is awesome!” Peter tried to sound excited for his friend.

“I know, right? I will start my driver’s ed next week since I passed the written test. It was so freakin’ easy! And I think my mom is gonna let me practice in her car!”

“That’s too cool. Are you coming over to help with these orders today?” He tried to change the subject tactfully.

“Um, I can’t ... sorry,” he heard. “I gotta get my braces adjusted.”

“It’s okay. We’ll dock your pay accordingly,” he replied with a laugh.

“Oh no way, dude, I need to save for a car now!” Alan said defensively. “Um, speaking of which...”

Uh oh. Peter thought. “What?”

“Erm. This summer, I’ll be working full-time at Costco, so I don’t know how much I can help with programming.” His mom had worked as a manager for the chain since they opened their first Seattle warehouse six years ago. Since then, they had expanded rapidly and now she managed a store in Federal Way.

Peter felt a familiar twinge as his mind suddenly separated like a partition. One part was absorbed in the present while the specter remembered something significant. He mentally decided to look up Costco after recalling a recent article about the retail giant.

“Al, don’t sweat it, buddy. You picked up the slack when I was out. I can return the favor now. We gotcha, bro,” he assured his friend. He sat beside Kathy at his desk as they robotically copied disks, labeled them, and stuffed them into mailers. “Can you come by tomorrow after school?”

“Yeah, if Cher can pick me up and bring me home,” Alan replied happily. “I still have 50 blank ‘five-and-a-quarters’ and about 30 ‘three-and-a-halfs’. I’ll copy them tonight and bring them.”

“That would be awesome. I’ll see you then.” After he hung up, he found Kathy pressing her lips over his hungrily.

“I didn’t think you’d ever get off the phone with him,” she mumbled after they came up for air.

After completing the orders and updating the spreadsheet, they were thrilled to find PAK Gaming Co. grossing over $12,000. Endorsing all the checks and organizing the cash took time. She checked her watch and pursed her lips.

“Key Bank is closing soon, but I can still do the night deposit if I don’t make it in time,” she said. “Wanna come?”

He nodded and rifled through the mail in his desk drawer. “Yeah, I want to try out this ATM card and see how it goes.”

It took thirty minutes to complete the drive-thru banking, and Peter held a wad of $20 bills he withdrew from the teller machine. They stopped at McDonald’s on the way home and ate quietly during the drive. He was interrupted by a call from Dr. Merchant.

“Hey Doc,” he answered with his mouth full. “Sorry, I was eating.”

He heard a chuckle. “No problem. Hey, look, I contacted a colleague from an orthopedic group in Redmond, Dr. Chris Richardson, and he is willing to take you in and start the fitting process for new feet. Are you interested?”

Peter nearly choked on his fries. “Oh heck yeah!” he exclaimed. “When can we start?”

“Tomorrow, if you can make it, up there.” That was Thursday. He looked askance at his girlfriend as she pulled into the driveway.

“What is it?” she asked.

He covered the cell phone. “A doctor in Redmond can see me tomorrow to start fitting me for prosthetics!” he exclaimed.

She squealed excitedly and clapped her hands. “That’s awesome! I’ll skip school!”

He nodded eagerly and spoke into the phone. “We’ll be there. Um ... where do we go?” he asked breathlessly.

“Do you have a pen and paper?” the Chief Resident asked with a laugh.

“No ... but I will as soon as I get inside. Just a sec,” he replied, climbing out of the car and dashing for his house’s front door.

The next morning, they left for the Seattle suburb. On the way, Peter called the hospital and spoke to his mom. He explained the situation and promised to visit in the afternoon. Janet was cautiously optimistic as she shared words of encouragement.

It was a straight shot up Hwy 167 to North 405, which took just over 30 minutes with morning traffic. After exiting onto the Overlake thoroughfare, they stared in awe at the massive Microsoft headquarters building dominating the skyline. Several buildings were under construction around it, proving Peter’s investment soundness.

When they turned north, Peter pointed out another skyscraper with a familiar logo. “That’s the Nintendo Headquarters!” he breathed excitedly. Kathy pressed her face closer to the windshield as she drove, taking in the sites. “We will be here one day,” he promised her.

She glanced at him, noting his familiar distant gaze, and didn’t comment on his firm prediction.

After checking into the clinic’s prosthetic suite, they met Dr. Richardson, a tall blonde man with an athletic build. He greeted them with a bright smile and encouraged them to tour the small facility with him.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Shipley,” he said. “We may not be as big as other industry giants, but we’re doing great things here. Things that are breaking the mold,” he added. “Come! Let me show you the future of prosthetics.”

It was a showroom combined with a working lab, with walls full of display items. There were metallic limbs of every sort: arms, legs, hands, and feet. He steered them toward the lower appendages, and Peter marveled at the futuristic-appearing prosthetics. Some ended in metallic feet with bony toes, others had a scooping spring-like metal blade, and others were encased in fleshy rubber with sports shoes laced up over the foot. He paused to wrap his knuckles on a full-length metallic leg, admiring the tough alloy.

“Ah’ll be bawk!” he grinned, using his best Arnold Schwarzenegger accent from the 1987 hit. Kathy rolled her eyes at him while Dr. Richardson smiled patiently.

Once familiar with the facility, the doctor handed him over to a pair of younger technicians who made him change into paper drawers. He was asked to move onto a hard bench, and they removed the hardened rubber pads from his stubs. Barry and Mike explained the mold casting process. His legs were covered with Teflon gel, and he stood inside two oval cylinders up to his knees, holding parallel bars. After adjusting his stance, they mixed a smelly gel and poured it into the molds, filling gaps around his calves and knees. They tapped the molds with rubber mallets to release bubbles.

“There,” Mike said confidently. “Hold this position for the rest of the day while we get Arby’s for lunch.”

His teasing did not affect Peter, who was enthralled with the process. “I’ll hold this all week to walk normally again,” he grinned. “Lunch is on me. Order enough for everyone.” They looked curiously at him when they realized he meant it.

The initial curing phase took 45 minutes, but they kept him in place for an hour before freeing him from the hardened material. Afterward, they obtained his height, weight, and minute measurements of his lower legs. They used cloth measuring tapes to record the diameter and circumference of each calf from the stub to his knees and calipers to document specific curves in the musculature of both legs. When the huge order from Mandarin Palace arrived, they paused for lunch, and Peter and Kathy met everyone who worked at Puget Sound Orthopedic Solutions.