Winners by Danielle Steel Page B

Lily’s chair. A Bentley was waiting to take them to Claridge’s, and their accommodations were comfortable and elegant. Lily was dying to get out, but her father wanted her to rest. She called Veronica, but she was out training on the slopes, and her phone was on voicemail, so Lily sent her a text and said she couldn’t wait to see her. They were due back in Denver in ten days, depending on how things went on their medical tour.
    They spent the day in the suite, resting and watching movies on TV. And the next morning, after breakfast in Lily’s suite, they went to King’s College Hospital, to meet with the first doctor her father had lined up. He looked old and serious as he examined Lily. He had already studied all of her records, and could have given them the prognosis without seeing her, but Bill had insisted on a consultation in person, and to have Lily seen by the experts. After the examination, Lily went to the waiting room to sit with Jennifer, while her father conferred with the doctor. Lily wanted to stay in the room, but her father preferred to talk to him alone. The doctor was somber and to the point.
    “I’m very sorry, Mr. Thomas, but I concur entirely with the neurosurgeon who operated on your daughter. With a T10 complete spinal injury, she will not regain use of her legs. It’s medically impossible. I don’t want to hold out false hopes to you or Lily. She needs to focus on rehabilitation now and getting on with her life. Many great people have conducted productive lives as paraplegics and from wheelchairs. Your president Franklin Roosevelt was one of them. I think that’s important to stress to Lily now, rather than fostering false hopes that can only disappoint her.”
    Bill was crushed and angry again at what he said. He thought he was old-fashioned and a defeatist, and Jessie had obviously influenced him with whatever she put in her report. He looked annoyed when he came out of the doctor’s office, and Lily said nothing. She had understood the doctor’s opinion of the situation from the questions he asked her, which were the same as Jessie’s in the past six weeks. Lily had no illusions now after talking to her. Only her father did. She asked if they could go to Harrods to do some shopping, since they had time before they left for Switzerland the next day. And she had been to Harrods before, and liked shopping there.
    Her father dropped her off with Jennifer and said he’d wait in the car. He had some calls to make to New York. But Lily wasn’t prepared for how difficult it would be to shop from the chair. She was jostled by the crowds, and had people’s elbows and purses in her face. Salespeople spoke to Jennifer and not to her, and ignored her even when she asked them direct questions. She couldn’t try anything on—it would have been too complicated. It was frightening and upsetting and a taste of what life would be like now. It was the first time she had gone out in the world in her wheelchair, and Jennifer could see how upset she was when they went back to the limousine. Lily was near tears, and her father looked surprised at how rapidly they emerged. Lily had felt claustrophobic in the crowds and returned to the car empty-handed.
    “Well, that’s a first,” her father said, smiling at her. “You didn’t buy anything?” She usually liked to shop, like other girls her age, and she and Veronica often went shopping when they had a day off from the team.
    “I didn’t see anything I liked,” Lily said quietly, and asked to go back to the hotel, and Bill seemed surprised.
    “Do you want to go out to lunch?” She shook her head.
    All she wanted to do was disappear. Her first venture into the world at Harrods had been a disaster, and had brought the realities of her future home to her with the force of a wrecking ball.
    They went back to Claridge’s and ordered room service, and Bill could see how unhappy she was, although he didn’t fully understand why. He hadn’t seen how