The Second Chance Ch. 05

She knew all the questions I had and tried to tell me gently what I did not want to hear.

"Anne honey, I know that you want to know where Robert is and what he is doing. Honey, I did not want to upset you while you were in intensive care, but he says that he feels terrible about what happened. Yet, Anne, he will not change his mind about the divorce. He still loves you and hopes that you make a full recovery. He will not serve you with a divorce petition until after making it out of the hospital. He does not want you to have to worry about lawyers right now. But he feels there is no hope of reconciliation after what he saw. Oh, Anne honey, We tried to tell him that you were drugged but he wouldn't listen. He is hurt and feels anger at what he thinks is your betrayal."

I could not answer her but nodded my head in understanding, tears streaming down my still bruised black and yellow puffy cheeks.

"But Anne, don't you see, he still loves you and maybe you can talk when you're all better and convince him somehow that what happened wasn't true."

I simply nodded my understanding from Jessica as tears filled my eyes. She just hugged me and said she would never leave me alone. I grunted at my question about Stacy. Jessica knew what I wanted to ask.

"Unfortunately, Robert is dating Stacy," she said gloomily. Upon hearing this, I turned my head and closed my eyes and just cried for a long time. Poor Jessica tried to console me and for her and the baby's sake I forced a smile to help get her to leave me and go home to rest. But inside I was inconsolable. How could I win Robert back from that evil bitch? Even if I could get him to listen to me what would he think of me now? The doctors kept my swollen face hidden from me. I must look like a hideous monster with a distorted face. I would be ugly on the outside as well as the inside to my husband. I didn't have a chance in hell of winning him back.

The next few weeks were, as you might imagine, very tough but every day my physical health was a bit better. The fact that I had nursing skills helped me recover and the nurses were good to me and appreciated that I never gave them any trouble. I got flowers and cards from dozens of my coworkers who all missed me at the hospital and wanted my speedy recovery.

My mood was as depressed as ever but I stopped being suicidal when I thought of resuming my career. I was inspired by all the talent around me. I was still crushed by the loss of my husband and now my body was in bad need of repair and although I did not think I had the willpower to rehabilitate, I tried to focus one day at a time.

The doctors noticed my depressed mood and started me on medication. The nurses all tried to encourage me and cheer me up but I was just plain miserable. What was more depressing was that I could not even express myself because they had wired shut my jaw. I could just nod yes or no to the psychiatrist. I must have been an easy consultation for him.

The one good bit of news is that I was going to get out of there into a rehabilitation hospital. So, I was sent upstate into Westchester County to a rehabilitation hospital there. I still had to be transferred to the city for some more plastic surgery on my face which had become less swollen, and my hair was growing back. The fractured bones were healing.

I was extremely worried about my appearance. I had issues when I was a adolescent about my face but now I was thinking that I would look like a monster with all the damage my face had received. I had some of the best facial surgeons work on me while at Columbia University Hospital. They could operate from incisions along the hair line to minimize scars, but their work could not be fully appreciated until after my facial fractures had healed. The doctors at the rehabilitation hospital would great in encouraging me to get back on my feet and walk again.it was going to take a few more months.

I had lost a lot of weight. My hip was pinned, my jaw had been wired shut. I needed to start a regimen of physical therapy in the gym, and it would be difficult at first because I did not have the use of my arms but eventually those casts came off. I focused on getting well and recovering my strength. I was lost in my own world struggling to recover from a terrible accident. When I demonstrated that I could drink adequate nutrition through a straw they removed my feeding tube. I still hadn't eaten solid food and I had lost a lot of weight.

Unfortunately, Jessica had to stop coming to see me because in the 7th month of pregnancy she was getting some vaginal bleeding and the doctors put her on bed rest. I could write now and use e mail. I told her through e mail not to make the trip out here anymore to allow herself more time to rest and take care of her baby.

It was about 8 weeks after leaving Columbia hospital that I was coming back from doctor's visit. X-rays showed that my jaw and maxillary bones had healed. if it had just been a jaw fracture, I would have been able to eat soft food already, but the maxillary fractures had required the support of the lower jaw. But now all the wires could be removed. I could eat solid food again. My jaw hurt to move and the doctor told me to start talking and eating slowly. He said I would be seen by a speech pathologist that afternoon and to wait until then to try talking.

That day they had removed the bandages and sutures from my jaw. My face had healed. I was walking with the help of a physical therapist, Carly, who was assisting me back to my room. My arms were free now, and I was able to use them again to help me walk on my healing hip. I had switched rooms to a room with a closet that had a full-length mirror behind the door.

When I entered my new room, the closet door was opened, and I glanced at myself in the mirror. I walked past the door to see us entering the room from the full-length mirror behind the closet and I saw my image clearly without any bandages on my face. I stared for a moment trying to comprehend what I was seeing. Then suddenly the room felt hot, and I collapsed into Carly's arms.

"Anne darling what's wrong?" She said in alarm supporting my full weight and dragging my limp body to a chair to sit me down.

She shook me a bit, "Anne honey tell me what is wrong? Are you ok?"

Her shaking brought me back to reality. I pointed to the mirror. Oh my God! Carly is that me?"

The first words out of my mouth in 3 months was "Oh my God" but it sounded like someone else said it. I did not recognize my own voice at all. I had lost the nasal quality I once had, and my pitch was lower. As the sound of my words left my mouth I sounded like a different woman. The surgery had changed my voice.

I did not recognize myself. My face was completely different. My body was different as well. All the areas that were chubby before now had slim down and I looked very thin but still curvy. My breasts were still full C cups but with the rest of my body thinner my curves stood out more. My figure was much more attractive.

My shoulders were smaller than my hips, I had a small waist, and my hip measurement was about equal to the bust measurement now. I had a perfect hourglass shape.

But what really shocked me was my face. I couldn't believe it was me. I had completely changed. The swelling and bruising had just about gone. The only suture lines that could be seen were under my chin and they were fine suture lines that mirrored the jaw line. The protruding jaw that used to almost touch my nose to give me that witchy appearance was completely gone. I had a narrow jawline. My deep blue eyes were still there but my cheekbones were higher and as broad as my eyebrows. My nose was now a cute button those. In fact, I was a beautiful woman. I looked like an alluring fashion model with all the extra baby weight gone and my body thin and slim.

That day Dave came to visit me. When Dave came into the room and spotted me on the bed he immediately said, "Sorry miss I was looking for Anne Savino! I must have the wrong room."

"Dave, it's me!" I blurted out.

"I'm sorry miss but do I know you? I do not remember running into you before. I certainly do not think that I would forget a pretty face like yours."

"Thanks Dave, but Jessica would not appreciate you complementing other women," I retorted.

Dave's jaw dropped. He eyed me funny.

"How do you know Jessica?" He asked me.

"Dave! Are you crazy? She is my sister!" I replied.

"What? Is this some kind of joke?"

Dave stormed out of the room adamant to ask at the front desk who I was pretending to be me!

It was unbelievable. My brother-in-law could not recognize me. My head was reeling. Never in a million years did I think that a tragic car accident like the one I was in would leave me more beautiful than before. It was like I was reincarnated with a new hot face and body. it was a miracle.

It was not long before Dave came back inside my room accompanied by a nursing supervisor and a security guard. "That's not my sister-in-law!" Dave was shouting.

"Please Mr. Lance, I assure you that you are looking at Anne Savino herself!" Said the nurse.

"Please Dave, it is me! You do not understand, the accident disfigured me. I am really Anne!" I said, trying to calm him.

"She does not even sound like Anne! She is an attractive model you guys have hired to replace my sister-in-law! What have you done with Anne Savino?" He was getting angry, and the security officer was approaching him ready to avoid any confrontation.

I quickly tried to diffuse the situation.

"Please Dave, listen to me. I can prove I'm Anne. I know all about how you got that scar on your left thigh during that hunting accident with your brother when you were only 20!" I said knowing how silly he felt when he accidentally stabbed himself while retreating from a black bear in a hunting accident that he tended to exaggerate telling most people he fought off the bear with his knife. Only Jessica and I knew the real story.

I said to him, "I know you got it when you tripped over a limb and fell on your knife while running from a bear who wasn't even chasing you!"

He got up close to me and peered into my blue eyes, then he hugged me in shock. Dave was flabbergasted! "Oh my God! That is, you! Anne, what did they do to you? "He exclaimed excitedly.

"Oh my God Anne, what the fuck!" He said sitting down in a chair next to the bed still looking at me confused like he was having trouble reconciling what he saw with what his brain knew to be true.

"Oh my God Anne, I can't believe this. You have a major accident and come out looking like a hot supermodel!" He said beaming with joy.

I smiled at Dave, the first he had seen me smile since Robert left me, "Dave, do not tell Jessica how much I have changed. I want it to be a little bit of a surprise for her."

Dave returned my smile and said, "Of course, Anne. You had to endure a lot of hardships this year, enough to last a lifetime. I will let you share the good news with your sister when you see her again. I will just say that you had to have some plastic surgery done, but there is no way she could imagine what you look like now.".