Crash and Burn and Never Learn

[D/N]

(Andrea Raymer continued from Tomorrow's Garden)

Andrea sure hoped this was going to be her last disappointment for a long time. Abbott Northwestern was the biggest hospital in the Twin Cities, and that government lawyer guy had promised she'd get all the premium-super treatment she needed at absolutely no cost so long as Andrea and her mother signed the form. So how come the rooms were still cramped and the food was still terrible?

Bah, never mind that. What had she been expecting, a celebrity wing or something?

OK, maybe a little bit. At least she had the room to herself once visiting hours were over.

Shifting her position on the bed, Andrea drew the swiveling tray in front of her and fired up her brand new MacBook. It was a task accomplished with several jerky motions, cursing under her breath each time. Then, once she'd gotten it in front of her, she had to press her right index finger down with her left hand just to turn the damn thing on.

Each awkward movement brought a fresh pang of frustration. The doctors had told her that it would take time, that it would take physical therapy, that even though they hoped she'd recover completely there was no way to be absolutely certain. And she understood that, sure she understood it just fine, but it was just... it was fucking annoying, that's what it was. She'd had a bullet propelled into her back, and it had taken a fortuitous bounce, except for one tiny piece of bone that had chipped away and gone into one tiny cluster of nerves. Just enough so that she'd taken a lurching step and fallen into the arms of the nurse the first time she'd tried to walk a couple days ago. All those movements in her right arm and leg had become maddeningly foreign to her. And while they thought she was progressing well enough that she'd be walking under her own power soon enough, returning full motor control to the finer motions of her right hand would take weeks or months.

And that meant she would be typing one-handed for a while. Ugh. Andrea was not a patient person. But they'd been back in St. Paul for a week now, and she needed to start getting reconnected. If nothing else it would give her an outlet to channel that frustration. Get her to focus on the positives again, like the fact that she was fully alive and back in the States and would be able to go home and enjoy some actual food in the next week or so.

The new laptop had been a 'gift' from her mother. She'd of course been the first person they'd brought in to see her. And actually, the meeting had gone better than expected. She'd talked with Mom, they'd both been cordial, and that had been that. The next day she was there again, and they'd come to an agreement of sorts. All very clean and professional. It would, in her mother's terms, "prevent any further damage to either of us."

Yeah, fuck you too, mom.

But whatever. Andrea had no intention of loosing any further matriarchal rants unto the world at large for now.

For now she had other irons in the fire and other fish to fry and oh yay all those old sayings were coming back to her. As long as the song lyrics didn't follow. But there was so much out there, there were so many paths to walk and so many opportunities and there was oh-so-much she deserved after what she'd done to get here. There was so much that it was almost overwhelming, but she'd just take a deep breath and go one step at a time and she'd be fine.

First stop, Facebook, and what she hoped were about ten zillion new friend requests. She'd have to say hi.

Then she could start telling her story. The world was waiting for her.

Whole fucking world.

[D/N]

Two days later, girl77.wordpress.com went online.

------

Hey everyone!

First off, I assure you that yes, this is Andrea Raymer, or I guess you might know me better as G077 from survival of the fittest. Yep, the fangirl who snorted Ritalin, and don't worry I totally know how kinda pathetic that is.

Second off, to everyone who's offered support or even good wishes, either you folks online or the other Bayview kids (we totally need a nickname for the bunch of us that got out), seriously you guys are awesome and I'm really grateful for all of that. And the good news is that I'm back up and walking at least short distances and stuff, and I should be getting back home in the next day or so. So I'm not going to be running a marathon any day soon, but just want to confirm that I'm not some paralyzed vegetable or something.

So now that I've updated everyone out there, I've decided to start this blog because us Bayview kids have a story that seriously needs to be told, and I'm going to try my best to tell you all everything I know about it. I know that there's already been big interview offers and stuff to some of us, but I won't be able to do any of those for a little while yet, so consider this my HQ for now. It'll be tough to write in spots and will probably be rambling since hey, that's what I'm like, but believe me, it'll be worth it.

Oh, and sorry about how crappy the blog looks and stuff, I'm using all the generic templates for now.

So that's my introduction. Thanks again to everyone who's been supportive, and I'll be back soon to start telling my story!

-----

OK. Now she just needed to wait and hope that people would actually read it. Cause Andrea had a lot to talk about, and she wasn't about to get left behind while she waited to get better.

[D/N]

Four days later, Andrea left the hospital. She even (sorta) walked under her own power. Like hell she was going to greet anyone in a damn wheelchair.

She could already tell that physical therapy was going to suck.

But never mind that, because for once, she was totally avoiding disappointment. She'd cajoled Allen into taking her car and coming out to pick her up, and of course she'd made sure to mention when that was going to happen online. And so yay, the press was finally there for her, and she waved for the cameras and smiled, and it wasn't like she was wading through a massive throng of reporters or anything, but it was still AWESOME.

She let herself lean on Allen, and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before sliding into the passenger seat and grimacing as her back protested slightly to this newly unfamiliar positioning.

Yeah, people were totally going to assume that they were in love.

Andrea just hoped Allen wasn't one of them.

---

Back at home, folks! Yeah, as always thanks to everyone out there for their support, I'm honestly amazed.at the response I've gotten for this. I'm still working on getting the feeling back in spots and I'm limping around pretty hardcore, but hey, I start physical therapy in a couple days and I'm sure that'll fix me right up again (joking)

And yeah, I've heard from a couple folks already in regards to interviews and stuff. I know that CNN's looking for survivors to fly down to California for Larry King, but flying's a no-no for me right now so that's out. I've contacted them back to see about being a call-in or something though, so I'll keep everyone updated on that.

Anyway, thought I'd write down a bit more memories about the game while I'm up. I'm still pissed that I lost my duffel bag during the escape since it had my journal and everything, but hey, can't have everything, can we? So yeah, Day 2....

(Andrea Raymer continued in Larry King Live)