Left Neglected

After two weeks in the hospital, Sarah moves to the Baldwin Rehabilitation Center. Bob pays extra for Sarah to have a private room with a window on the right side, which faces a prison.

Sarah is determined to recover quickly so that she can return to her “normal” life, though very little is known about what helps people recover from Left Neglect. Sarah hounds the physical therapist, Martha, about when she can go back to work, asking if it will be about two weeks.

Helen visits regularly, which annoys and confuses Sarah. She thinks her mother cannot be there out of genuine worry about her. Martha asks Helen to help with Sarah’s therapy by moving a washcloth along her left arm, to train her brain to remember her left side.

Sarah is shocked to learn that her mother drives herself to the rehabilitation center and drives the children to school so that Bob can go straight to work. She cannot remember the last time her mother did anything to help her, since her brother Nate died.

Sarah needs to go to the bathroom and refuses when Helen offers to get Martha, saying that she can do it herself. Unable to manipulate her left side, Sarah falls.