Bella inhaled slowly. “Your body remembers how to stand. It has not forgotten. But your mind chained it down to keep you from climbing again. You think paralysis is punishment. It is not.”
Rafael’s breath shook. “I killed him. My friend. If I walk again, what does that make of his death?”
Bella whispered, “Human mistake is not the same as murder.”
Tears blurred his vision.
Dr. Strauss checked the monitors. “Heart rate stable. Neural stim patterns increasing. This is unusual. I have never seen readings like this in a non-invasive session.”
Bella closed her eyes. “Rafael. Say it.”
“Say what?” His voice trembled.
“The words you are afraid to believe.”
He hesitated. Then, barely audible, “I deserve to heal.”
“Again.”
He repeated it louder.
“Again.”
He shouted. “I deserve to heal.”
Heat flared along his legs like lightning crawling through dormant earth. His toes curled. The wheelchair rattled beneath him.
Helen gasped. “He is initiating voluntary motor signals.”
Rafael’s fingers gripped the armrests. His right foot lifted. Just an inch. Just enough to shatter the impossible.
Teresa dropped to her knees. Bella staggered. Rafael leaned forward.
“I felt that,” he whispered.