9 Better

Sfx *tap tap tap*

Soft footsteps can be heard.

Slow taps on the floor with every slow step on the tiled floor can be heard.

There was no other sound inside the room aside from the taps and the heavy breathing.

One must learn how to walk before you can run.

For an adult who learned everything from childhood and took for granted the joys of running, going back to learning how to properly walk was a difficult task.

Anne's whole body was covered with beads of sweat cascading on her beautiful face. Her eyebrows are scrunched up from the pain she was feeling. Her face was grimacing, trying her best to continue walking with her determination.

Sfx *hah hah hah*

She continues to breathe in and out, her chests heaving up and down. The slow footsteps suddenly stopped.

Her one hand holding on the railing for support.

She felt that her body was shouting for her to stop and take some rest. Her right foot was tingling with pain each step she took.

As though electricity was shooting up from her foot spreading up to her thighs. Though she felt like dying, though her body felt like giving up, her eyes were full of burning desire and determination to continue.

Five days have passed as she decided to talk with her doctor. The moment her eyes opened, she decided her first task was to ask for advice from her doctor.

"Doc, I want to get better." Her hand was gripping her hospital gown as she looked at her foot. Her hand was trembling from putting too much strength on her grip.

The doctor looked at Ann with a bit of sympathy for the young model. She who was living her life like queen has suffered too much from the past couple of months. Other patients did not have to go through the same process as her. They were able to focus on their health and recuperation.

However, Anne's life was publicized for everyone to see, as though she was a circus animal. Everyone wanted to see her fail.

People might think it was easy to be under the microscope by the media, every action you take will be known to the world and you will be judged for it. However, that wasn't the case. A lot of people suffered from anxiety and stress just from being followed by the paparazzi, what more for a person to be followed 24/7.

Even her hospital records, family life and history were put out in the open. Every rock was unturned for the world to see and they judged her based on negative information in her aspect of life.

The doctor looked at Ann solemnly, he could see that she was serious. He too hoped that she was filled with determination to be able to live a normal life once again.

The silence made Anne nervous. She had a lot of doubts going through her mind due to the doctor's silence.

"Is there no way for me to get better?"

She looked up and saw the expression of her doctor. His eyebrows were scrunched up while his face was serious.

"Is my condition that bad?" Her thoughts started to worsen.

She felt suffocated, she was having a hard time breathing.

Her gripping hand loosened as she slowly moved it to her chest.

Sfx *cough cough*

The doctor did not miss these actions as he gave a couple of coughs. He got lost in his own thoughts that he forgot to give Anne her diagnosis. "It's not a hopeless situation."

Anne was finally able to breathe normally as she heard what the doctor said. "It was not hopeless, therefore there was a chance for her body to get better, there was a chance to move normally." Her thoughts started to become positive after hearing this.

"However it will not be easy as you have stopped your therapy at the most optimum time. It would be easier for your body to heal at the beginning stages of recovery after your accident."

The doctor's words pierced Anne's heart as she knew it was the truth. She acted like a child throwing a tantrum, not listening to the doctors and her physical therapists.

All Anne could do was apologizing for her attitude and for making the lives of the people who are only trying to help difficult.

"I'm sorry." She said. Her tone was full of sincerity and the doctor must have felt it too.

"It's fine. As long as you are willing to work hard and not give up then you will be able to get back to normal. Although it will be difficult, it is not impossible. I'll get a physical therapist and nutritionist to assist you. But this time don't give up halfway okay?" The doctor's tone might have sounded light but she could feel the seriousness from it.

Anne appreciated the doctor's willingness to help her once more as her face bloomed into a beautiful smile.

"Thank you, doctor." She bowed as tears were almost starting to form at her eyes. Her eyes started to glisten with the moisture that was started to form.

The doctor smiled at Anne's attitude. He was also happy that Anne decided to change for the best. However, there was another thing that he wanted to suggest to Anne, but he thought it was a sensitive topic at the moment. He decided to give up with it and try some other time when Anne's emotions are more stable. He did not want to give her too much to do that might affect her determination.

"Very good. Rest for today. Tomorrow I'll give you your schedule for your treatment." After he said this, the doctor checked Anne's condition and went out of the room.

That was five days ago.

Now she was slowly trying to walk back and forth with the support of the railings.

The process was hard and her body could not feel the changes but her attitude was unlike before.

This time she did her best, she knew it will be more difficult.

Her aching body was proof of it, but this feeling was not bad. That was her honest feelings. She felt doing this was incomparably better than wasting her time looking at negative comments and drinking alcohol.

Her body was also starting to have more meat into them as her weight increased by a bit. It was not a huge change as her nutritionist gave her directions to have a well-balanced body to fat ratio.

Her body suffered from malnutrition, therefore, it was wise to slowly build up her body mass.

Her face has once more started to have a healthy and rosy glow.

It may be her demeanor or the confidence that was starting to ooze from her body but the visage of the frail and despairing was gone. What was now standing was a beautiful and confident woman trying her to move on her life.

Her body was drenched in her sweat as her clothes stick to her body, her hair was matted on her face and scalp while her chest was heaving up and down.

Most people might think it was unsightly seeing a woman like this, but the people who saw her determination thought otherwise, her eyes that were unwavering with every step she took will say that she was still the same as before.

All they can see is a beautiful woman trying her best to become better.

Original novel by Chuchuwachuwa.