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This is something I would have liked to add at the end of the previous chapter before moving on to another topic. By the third day, after a long session of work, Emma felt restless in her wheelchair. "Olivia, where are the crutches?" she asked, shifting slightly in her seat. "I'm getting tired of being confined to this chair." "I left them in the car, let me get them for you," Olivia replied, already heading toward the door. When Olivia returned with the crutches, she set them against the dining table before turning her attention to helping Emma stand. She first grasped Emma's right casted leg with one hand and lifted it while simultaneously moving the wheelchair's footrest aside, then positioned the rigid leg on the floor. She repeated the process with the left leg, taking care not to bump the heavy casts. "Lean forward for me," Olivia instructed, positioning herself behind Emma. She wrapped her arms around Emma's torso from behind, her hands clasping just below Emma's ribcage

The first two weeks with the 2LLWC and 2LAC had been challenging for Emma. "I never thought I'd need someone to scratch my nose for me," Emma had grumbled, as an itch drove her to frustration. "At least your nose is accessible," Olivia had replied cheerfully, reaching over to provide relief. After they arrived home from Dr. Ballard's office, Emma was exhausted from the casting process and the effort of adjusting to her new limitations. "You must be hungry, it's almost dinnertime," Olivia said. "Let me prepare something for you." Emma responded with a grateful look, still trying to acclimate to the sensation of having both arms and both legs completely immobilized in the rigid white casts. As Olivia went to the kitchen to prepare the meal, Emma directed her attention to her casts and tried to move her limbs. Without anything else to distract her at that moment, she started to feel the confinement of those casts. Her breathing quickened as a wave of anxiety washed over her. The

The day of the appointment for the new casts and before leaving home, she took a last look at the modifications that had been completed over the past few days—furniture rearranged for wheelchair access, the hospital bed installed in the living room, and the patient lifter to transfer from bed to wheelchair. Everything was ready for her return with both arms and legs immobilized. That scene left her with a mix of anticipation and nervousness. Olivia was already there when she arrived at Dr. Ballard's office. "Hi Olivia, everything OK at home with the arrangements?”. Emma noticed a travel suitcase and a backpack in the office and assumed it was Olivia's things to move to her house. “Yes, the technicians installed the bed and brought all the equipment you mentioned.” At that moment,Dr. Ballard stepped into the office. "Good morning, Emma," Dr. Ballard greeted her. "Ready for the next phase?" Emma glanced down at her partially encased body, momentarily silent as she gathered her

The following afternoon, Emma heard the doorbell chime precisely at two o'clock. She had spent the morning tidying up as best as she could with one arm and one leg encased in plaster. She was dressed in a pair of shorts that left her right leg cast completely exposed from her toes to her upper thigh, and a sleeveless tank top that revealed her right arm cast extending from her fingertips to near her armpit. She didn't need to attend any meeting that day so made no attempt to hide her casts. Emma made her way to the front door, the Long Leg Walking Cast on her right leg creating a distinctive gait. Each step produced a soft thud as the rigid cast met the floor, followed by a more natural step with her free leg. She had mastered a slightly swinging motion with her hips to propel the stiff leg forward. When she opened the door, Olivia stood there in casual clothes—dark jeans and a simple blue button-up shirt that made her look more like a friend dropping by than a medical

Two weeks after her initial casting, Emma arrived for their third session. Dr. Ballard began by discussing her progress with the current casts. "How have you been managing with the limited encasement so far?" he asked. "Any unexpected challenges with your claustrophobia?" Emma shifted slightly in her seat. "Better than I expected, actually. There are moments when I feel a flash of panic, but it passes quickly. I'm using those breathing techniques you taught me." Dr. Ballard took note in his file. "That's excellent progress. The fact that you can work through those moments of panic indicates we're on the right track." He looked up at her. "At our session next week, we're going to apply the same restriction to your other arm and leg. It will be a significant increase in restriction from what you've experienced so far." Emma's eyes widened slightly as she processed this information. "I knew we'd be adding more casts, but I thought you meant smaller ones on my free limbs. With both

After completing the initial consultation in his office, Dr. Ballard led Emma down a short hallway to a specialized casting room. It was spacious with large windows that allowed natural light to pour in—a detail Emma immediately appreciated. "This is where we'll apply all your casts throughout your treatment," Dr. Ballard explained, gesturing to a padded examination table in the center of the room. Various shelves lined one of the walls, filled with rolls of casting material, padding, and other supplies. A woman in her fifties with silver-streaked dark hair and kind eyes looked up from where she was preparing materials on a stainless steel cart. She wore light blue scrubs under a white lab coat with "Nancy Miller, RN" embroidered on the pocket. "Emma, this is Nancy. She's been my casting specialist for over fifteen years," Dr. Ballard said. "She'll be assisting with all your cast applications throughout your treatment." Nancy smiled warmly, her eyes crinkling at the corners. "Nice