At Will’s next appointment with Dr. Zuroli, Will got some good news.
“Will, I took the liberty and sent a telegram to Dr. Gabel, and I received a response back late yesterday. He’d like to meet with you next Friday at his office on West 38th Street at 10AM. I explained that you would be taking the steamship in that morning, and he replied that time slot would give you plenty of time to make it from the harbor to his office. How does that sound?”
“Doc, that sounds … wonderful … tremendous … outstanding. All of those! I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for me. You’re incredible!”
“Just mention me in your memoirs! Now, show me how you’re doing with your exercises.”
Will sat on the sturdy, wooden chair in the doctor’s office, and, with his right arm stretched out in front of him and his palm up, starting with his littlest finger on the inside. He started to slowly move each of his fingers one by one, to where they were almost touching and bending toward the base of his thumb. Then he moved his thumb to where it was almost touching the base of his littlest finger. Afterward, he let out a huge smile and looked up at the doctor. “How’s that?”
“That’s incredible, Will. You’ve been working hard, I can tell.”
“Aunt Elisia has been helping me a lot. We meet after closing every night,” Will explained. “She makes me show her the exercises several times. I know she wants me to get better.”
“What about the elbow? Any movement there, yet?”
“No not yet,” Will said, slightly dejected.
The doctor nodded reassuringly. “It will come. That’s a complicated joint, so it will take a little longer. Keep doing the exercises, and keep doing the full body exercises to keep the rest of your body in shape. That will help you arm get better. Today, I want to show you something new.”
“That sounds interesting,” Will laughed.
“It should be. We’re starting on your shoulder today.”
“Really, Doc? That’s great. I’ve been waiting for that!” Will exclaimed.
“I thought so. Stand here in front of me and let your arm hang naturally to your side.”
“No problem there,” Will said sarcastically.
Catching Will’s sense of humor, the doctor smiled. “I’m going to move your arm up while putting my hand under your elbow, to support it, so it won’t bend on its own, and I’m going to hold your hand to keep it parallel with your body. I want you to try to relax. Why don’t you close your eyes, so you can’t watch what I am doing? This will be a ‘feeling’ movement rather than a ‘visual’ movement.”
Will frowned. “Doc, I don’t know what you mean.”
“You will. Now close your eyes and relax. Think about your breathing.”
Will began to breathe in and out while the doctor took his own right hand and supported Will’s right hand parallel to the body. Then he took his own left hand and supported Will’s elbow. He began to move the arm straight up a few inches, and then let it come back down, enabling the shoulder area to take the full movement. He repeated this exercise five times and then removed his hands.
“Open your eyes, Will, and tell me how that felt,” he said.
“I felt a mild stretch right here,” Will said, taking his left hand and touching the area just below the clavicle or collarbone – the place where he’d been shot.
The doctor grinned. “That’s great. That’s what I intended. Did you feel any pain?”
“No, no pain at all.”
“What that means is that those muscles are connected and working, even if just very slightly.”
“That’s great, right? That means that what Elizabeth did worked, right?” Will asked.
“It does mean that what she did was correct, but now we need to determine the condition those muscles. We don’t know how much range of movement and flexibility there is. But the fact that they’re connected and working, even minimally, is a very positive sign. If you hadn’t felt anything at all when I did that movement, my answer would be different, but since you did feel something, it means that there is a connection. That’s why I had you close your eyes, and why I didn’t tell you what I was going to do. I didn’t want that to influence your answer.”
Will laughed, shaking his head. “You’re one smart man, Doc.”
“And you’re one lucky man.”
Both men chuckle at the other’s remarks, and they continued with their exercises.
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