Free Prodigal Son by Danielle Steel

the other most noticeable effect of the accident was slurred speech for a long time. She had had to learn to talk all over again, as well as walk. Her speech finally recovered, but her leg never did. She was a beautiful girl, just as she had been before the accident. But at first she had difficultly speaking, and remembering words sometimes. It made people think that she was slow of mind now as well as speech, which was not the case, but it seemed that way.
    And friends who felt sorry for her and were busy with their own activities visited her less and less. It was Michael who came to visither regularly once she came home from the hospital, and began to realize what a remarkable young woman she was. He brought her books and magazines and little gifts. He always comforted her about her condition, and praised her for her progress. He took her out walking sometimes, and held her arm in his firm, steady grip. And he reassured her about her nerves. He told her that she would always be delicate now, and easy prey for infections and diseases since her system had been so weakened. His greatest concern was for some kind of paralysis to set in later, and he insisted that it was best for her to stay away from people and not to risk infection that could cost her her life.
    He kept her company at home when no one else would. Michael made her feel protected. He didn’t care how awkward her speech was, or how unsteady she was on her feet. He was there for her whenever he could be, despite the demands of medical school. And he was an extraordinary support and solace to her when her mother died in a car crash the year after Maggie’s accident. It was a devastating loss to her and her father, and Michael impressed everyone shortly after when he proposed. It was obvious to everyone that Maggie would always be frail. Maggie herself had been convinced that no man would ever want her now, with her clumsy speech and awkward gait. Instead Michael made her feel like the most loved woman alive, and she felt so lucky to have him. Her father had been enormously relieved as well. He had been even more worried about Maggie now that her mother was gone. He had been busy with his lumber mill, and didn’t have time to take care of her. He knew Michael always would. It was an enormous comfort to him. He couldn’t wish for better for his injured daughter than to be married to a devoted doctor.
    Michael and Maggie were married in a small private ceremony.She didn’t want a big wedding since she couldn’t glide smoothly down the aisle. She was afraid she might stumble or fall, and she was afraid that she might stammer or slur when she spoke up to say her vows. Michael didn’t mind the small ceremony, nor having a handicapped wife. Her own doctor, who had seen her through the aftereffects of the accident, in Boston, said she was entirely normal, except for the awkward gait, and he felt sure that with speech therapy, she would speak more easily in time. He thought her leg would improve as well. He didn’t agree with Michael about her potential fragility, and said those were the anxious words of a young doctor in love. He thought Michael worried too much about her and treated her like a porcelain doll.
    But Michael wasn’t proven wrong about Maggie being frail. She fell prey to severe flus every winter, and had pneumonia several times, so severely that Michael had hospitalized her and was afraid for her life. When she recovered, he urged her not to leave the house for several months. He didn’t want her exposed to random germs that put her at high risk. They had been living in an apartment in Boston then, while he finished medical school, and he had personally put her on bed rest when she was pregnant with their first child. She didn’t see an obstetrician, or need any other doctor, Michael took better care of her than anyone else. But the long months in bed made her legs weaker, more unsteady, and she could hardly walk after she gave birth, and to keep