Bryan and Nedra were snuggling in her house once again, enjoying a nice, romantic Valentine’s Day, along with Jenny. Nedra was still trying to win over Glenn and Carol Jean, so she and Bryan offered to take his youngest sister for the night so the two of them could have a date night alone. Jenny was having the time of her life, throwing yarn balls, dangling string, and snuggling with all of Nedra’s cats.

“So because of your disability, the government is going to completely pay for college?”

“Yup!” Bryan said, a smug grin on his face. “I knew I made that dive for a reason,” he joked.

“That’s incredible!”

“I know! Now when I start school next month, I won’t be stressed out about how much it’s costing us, since I have a feeling I will be there longer than four years.”

“Oh, yeah? Did you decide to become a doctor?” Nedra teased.

“Yeah, can’t you picture me performing surgery? ‘All right nurse, please place the scalpel in my curled fingers’,” he said, holding up his shaking arm to demonstrate. They both laughed.

“I’m hungry,” Jenny announced.

“What should we get for dinner?” Nedra asked. “Pizza or Chinese?”

“Oh, pizza, pizza!” Jenny clapped her hands.

“You got it.” Nedra stood up to grab her phone book. After finding the right number she asked, “What kind do you like?”

“Cheese!”

“And?”

“Cheese!”

Nedra laughed. “One big, cheesy pizza coming right up.” She dialed and put the phone to her ear, holding the receiver away from her mouth. “Do you think many people order pizza for Valentine’s?” she asked, looking at Bryan. She moved the receiver back to her mouth when someone answered. “I guess so,” she said after placing their order. “They said it’ll be about an hour. Possibly two if we wanted delivery.”

Bryan’s jaw dropped. “Wow, a lot of lonely people out there tonight.”

“Yeah, either that or people who are just trying to avoid crowds. I opted to pick it up. Think you two will be okay here without me for a few minutes?”

Bryan looked at his little sister, who had gone back to scratching one of the cats behind her ear. “I think we’ll manage.”

After stuffing themselves with cheese pizza and watching American Bandstand, it was getting late and time to get Jenny home. When they pulled into the driveway, another car was already parked there.

“Who’s that?” Nedra asked.

“That looks like Brett’s car,” Bryan said.

“Becky’s boyfriend?”

“Yeah.”

“I wonder what they’re doing here. It seems early for them to be ending their Valentine’s date.”

“I dunno,” Bryan said.

“Uh-oh, we lost her,” Nedra said, glancing in the backseat.

“Is she asleep?” Bryan asked.

“Yeah.” Nedra smiled at Jenny, who lay curled up on the backseat, her long blonde hair serving as her pillow. Nedra climbed out of the car and got Bryan’s wheelchair out of the trunk and ready. Once Bryan was seated, she lifted Jenny gingerly from the back seat, and lay her sleeping form across her brother’s lap. She walked ahead to open the door as he drove inside.

The kitchen lights were on and they could hear loud, cheerful voices coming from that direction. Jenny sat up, rubbing her eyes as they entered the room. Carol Jean and Glenn were back from their date and accompanied by Brenda, Glenda, Becky, and Brett. They each held a cup in their hands, an open bottle of Martinelli’s on the table. Becky ran over to her big brother, flashing her left hand in his face.

“I’m engaged!” she exclaimed excitedly. “Brett proposed tonight!”

“Wow, congratulations!” Bryan said.

Nedra stood by the refrigerator, emotionless and unmoving. “When?” she asked.

“Tonight!” Becky said, happily skipping over to show off her new ring.

“No, I mean when are you getting married?”

“We were just looking over the calendar and thinking about a wedding in June.”

“No,” Nedra said.

“What?” Becky looked at her quizzically.

“No, Bryan and I were engaged first, so we have to get married first. He’s also the oldest. You can’t get married before us.”

“It’s not my fault you planned such a long engagement!” Becky huffed, her excitement replaced by annoyance. She looked down, spinning her ring between her thumb and index finger.

“Nedra!” Carol Jean exclaimed. Everyone had stopped talking, all eyes were now focused on her and Bryan.

“We’ll just have to move up our wedding then,” she announced. “We’re getting married next month.” With that said, Nedra walked from the room, pushing a silent Bryan in front of her.

***

The date of March fifth was chosen, leaving no wiggle room for planning. Nedra immediately got to work, booking flights, securing their housing at the university, and giving any feedback that was required for her receptions. Nedra’s mom and some good friends from her neighborhood handled the California reception, while Carol Jean planned one for Utah. Nedra didn’t want to ruffle any more feathers, so she gave Carol Jean full control over the details of their reception. She was busy trying to get work off and making travel arrangements, so she didn’t really mind handing over the parties.

A few weeks before the wedding, Bryan was home alone, like most afternoons. His dad got him dressed and into his chair for the day before leaving for work. When everyone left for school or work, he spent the afternoon building muscle strength, practicing with his chair, and watching TV. Bryan was having a particularly rough morning. His left arm, which had always been his strongest, was suddenly giving him problems. He could barely push hard enough to get his chair to move. He’d break, have to rest, and then try pushing the wheels once again. This resulted in him having bursts of movement instead of continually pushing around the room.

Bryan tried to navigate his way around the couch, a feat he previously accomplished at least a hundred times. He was moving along much slower than normal. Bryan paused, took a deep breath, and pushed forward as hard as he could. The sudden burst of speed caused his left wheel to catch on the corner of the couch. Bryan completely lost control as his chair went up onto one wheel and tipped over. He slammed his head into the floor as the chair came crashing down. His head spun as he lay on his side, unable to move. His legs were still buckled to the chair, so his head was lower than the rest of his body. It didn’t take long for Bryan’s head to start pounding. He closed his eyes to prevent himself from fainting. He lay like that for over four hours, completely helpless.

When Carol Jean got home from work to feed Bryan lunch, the house felt eerily quiet. She could usually hear Bryan pushing his wheelchair around for exercise, or the TV would be on. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she raced down the basement stairs. She gasped when she saw Bryan on his side, his face purple and sweaty.

She quickly unbuckled his lap belt, allowing the rest of his body to fall to the ground. Bryan gasped and looked at his mom.

“Thanks,” he whispered. “So what’s for lunch?”

Carol Jean shook her head. Pulling as hard as she could with both arms, she lifted his chair upright again. She grunted and groaned as she slid her arms under his body and hefted him back into a sitting position. “So what happened?” she asked, securing his buckle across his lap again.

“I’m not sure, really,” Bryan said, looking down at his left hand. “Something is going on with my arm. My left side has always been the strongest, but for some reason today my right is stronger and I can barely get my left to move.”

“How did you tip?” Carol Jean asked, examining Bryan and checking for any injuries. He seemed to be fine.

“Oh, my wheel nicked the edge of the couch and—timber!”

Carol Jean didn’t find his jokes amusing. “How long were you like that?” she asked.

“A few hours, I guess.”

“A few hours? Oh, Bryan! Maybe we should call the doctor to make sure everything is okay.”

“I’m fine, Mom,” Bryan soothed. “Just a little dizzy from the head rush. I am hungry, though. Can we eat?”

Carol Jean made them each a sandwich, but she continued to watch Bryan closely while they ate.

“I’m fine, Mom!” he said again.

When they were finished eating, Carol Jean stood up and turned on the TV for Bryan. “I know you say you’re fine, but please don’t try and move around again until we get home. Just relax and watch some TV for awhile, okay?”

Bryan conceded, even though he knew his mom was overreacting. Carol Jean moved slowly toward the stairs, looking back several times at Bryan to make sure he hadn’t budged. “I’m fine, Mom! Get back to work, before you’re late!”

Carol Jean looked skeptical.

“I swear, Mom, I won’t move a muscle until you get home this afternoon. Scout’s honor.”

Finally satisfied, Carol Jean walked the rest of the way up the stairs and left the house.

That night, when Nedra came over, Bryan explained again to her what happened.

“Your left arm wasn’t working at all?” she asked.

“It still worked a little bit,” he said, “but I feel like I’m back to when I first had movement again. I can barely push my chair forward, whereas a few days ago, I was zooming circles around this room.”

“Hmmm, that’s really weird,” Nedra said. “We better call the doctor tomorrow and make an appointment. It’s probably something we should have looked at before we leave for California.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Bryan sighed.

***

Four days before the wedding, Bryan found himself back at the University of Utah hospital. He was gradually losing function in his left arm, making it harder and harder to get around.

Dr. Barney performed an Electromyography (EMG) and a Nerve Conduction Study to see if they could determine the cause of his sudden problems.

“When I compared the results from the EMG and Nerve Conduction Study with those we did a few months ago, it’s very obvious you have suffered a significant loss in nerve conduction. You need to meet with the neurologist as soon as possible.”

“A neurologist? When?” Nedra asked.

“You need to call as soon as possible, or Bryan could continue to lose function.”

“Tomorrow we will be on a plane heading to California to get married,” Nedra said.

“Can it wait?” Bryan asked.

“It’s ultimately up to the two of you, but this needs to be taken care of soon. If not tomorrow, then as soon as you get back.”

“We’ll be back March eighth,” Bryan said.

The doctor nodded. “That should be just fine.”

“Wait!” Nedra said, interrupting his departure. “Then we have our Utah reception. You can’t be in the hospital during our reception.”

Bryan looked at Nedra and then back to the doctor. “Do you think we can push it back another week?”

Dr. Barney sighed. “Just do what you can. You may not be able to get in right when you get back anyway. Just call and make the appointment first.”

Bryan and Nedra looked at each other and nodded.

“Great,” Dr. Barney said. “Take care of yourself, and if you have any other problems or questions, don’t hesitate to call. In the meantime, please be careful.”

“Thank you, doctor,” they both said.

Nedra pushed Bryan out the door. “We better get home and get packed,” she added. “Our flight leaves pretty early tomorrow.”

“I thought we didn’t leave until 10:30 a.m.”

“Yeah,” Nedra said with a smile. “Like I said, early.”