Daniel sighed as the van bumped along the ill-maintained road. Would it kill whatever passed for a city council to shell out some money to fix the streets? Having his caretaker dodge all the potholes threatened to put him in an even worse condition than he was already in. Though what could be worse than being paralyzed from the neck down, he struggled to imagine. If he thought about it long enough, he pondered if death might perhaps be an improvement over a life sentence trapped in a body he could not control. Nope, he thought to himself as he shook the intrusive musings from his mind. Tonight was the night to party.
At long last, he and June arrived at the bar. He’d never been to a bar. Most caretakers were a little iffy on giving their clients alcohol. Even fewer were willing to drive his van. Nursing agencies had too many restrictions. His own body was enough of a restriction. He didn’t need some company telling him how much of the human experience he was allowed to have. That all changed with June. Daniel had gone through several agencies and assisted living programs in his pursuit of independence over the past several years. Most people struck out on their own at 18, but he had to spend his mid-20’s just trying to find a way to get out of the house. He was on a ventilator and couldn’t go without someone watching him every five minutes. It took him ages to not only find someone who would be his live-in caretaker, but also give him the freedom to be his own person. June was an angel from above and she had no idea.