That Extra Step

Therapy can be very frustrating. As I progress through Runyon's torturous recovery, I could feel his pain as I read every page. I got to the part where Runyon explained his accomplishment of walking for the first time in months. "I remember this. I remember how this is done. It's done by putting the weight on one foot and moving the other foot forward. It's basic. Simple to do. With one foot on the ground at all times and the other one moving very gently across the floor to match the first one." (Page 69). Runyon does not directly show his emotion towards his great accomplishment, though he shows it by expressing his parent’s emotions. It showed me that he’d rather show emotions expressed through his parents rather than himself in certain moments. “They both look at me like they’ve never seen me before and then like they’ve known me all my life. And now they’re both smiling and crying, and I’ve never seen them look so proud of me.” (Page 71).
Runyon’s walking therapy reminded me of a character in the T.V series Breaking Bad.

In Breaking Bad, Hank Schrader is involved in a shoot out and is left injured. He looses feeling and motion on both of his feet and needs therapy to recover. In Hank’s case his family is overly supportive and wishes all the best for him but he doesn’t have the same faith. After many scenes of him working hard on his therapy, his attitude is always the same, bitter. He doesn’t believe he will recover every movement and feeling in his legs. The only true motivation to keep going is the case of finding the methamphetamine dealer before the accident.

You could say both Runyon and Hank have different views on their recovery. While their accidents were different their feelings towards help and recovery are far from close. I could roughly say that the reason behind their accident might be the cause of their attitude. Runyon’s suicide attempt might have opened his eyes to what there really is to live for, motivating him to recover and forget his decision. On the other hand, Hank’s incapacity was the fault of the cartel that wanted him dead making him vulnerable and lowering his moral towards recovery. Even though I still don’t know if their final recovery will be the same, a success or a failure.