Twice

TWICE

From the author of Fights of Your Life

Frank van der Kok

Smashwords ebook edition

©Frank van der Kok, 2014

Table of contents

Secret hopes

Reset

Land of promise

Settling

Good times

Home - in sickness, in health…

Self-standing

Adult life

Free spirit

Twice

Self-destruction

Teenage love

Fighting forever?

Alone in the crowd

Go on

Children

Turning wheel of life

Fly away

You are holding in your hand a fictional memoir. Inspired by a true story, yet not always truthful to it. Actually, seldom objective.

Any resemblance to people you may have met in your life is purely coincidence.

Equally, medical processes and symptoms described in this book are not meant to be scientifical. They all reflect the subjective understanding of the characters of this story.

Read also the 1st book of Flower’s story, the Fights of Your Life, available on Amazon, Lulu, Smashwords, iBooks, Scribd, Barnes & Noble and many other online bookstores. Available in English and Hungarian.

Visit my web page for more information: http://www.independentauthornetwork.com/frank-van-der-kok.html

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Recommendation

We all know the old saying 'lightning never strikes the same place twice'. I was using this phrase frequently. Even not so long ago I was telling you the same in the Fights of Your Life. That is exactly what I was thinking while rushing to the intensive care unit to assure myself Flower was all right. Intact and happy. That this stupid accident will not change anything. I was rushing to see her telling me that. Speeding on the motorway in the heavy snow. Lightning will not strike the same place twice, right? I am safe. Statistically protected.

A myth scientists will quickly defy of course. The first search on Google will tell you that. "Lightning can strike any location more than once. In fact, given enough time, it is actually inevitable.

A legend I am ready to defy now as well. Exactly because of the statistics I misinterpreted. The rule of the big numbers that I so much obeyed. Reading it properly would have told me earlier as well. That chances become lower. But they don’t go away. They don’t disappear. The risk is still there. And if it does hit you again, you would just simply not care if your chances for that were 10% or 1%. The power and the impact of the hit doesn’t change with the possibility of it killing you. Your life changes the same way.

Just as it did in Flower’s life. Or in mine, for that matter.

Dare to step in. Read on and experience a unique life story. With its immense swings. I will take you to the ups and downs of Flower’s story. Hell and Heaven in once place. Past, present and future combined in one dimension.

Twice.

Secret hopes

Rainy and cloudy. A bit windy as well. As expected. Autumn is always a gamble in the rest of Europe as well. At times winter decides to step in earlier. Bringing a bit of white snow.

Or maybe more. Making some happy. After all, the first snow is nothing else but a clear sign of a new season. A happy and fun season. The crossover between beach-season and ski-season – so-called autumn – has just ended. Everyone can relax. We won’t miss it this year either. Some have already planned their skiing holiday in detail. Some will just step out with the kids and build a snowman. Restless ones may jump into their cars and go out somewhere safer; to play with their four-wheeled big toy.

„Some stereotypes still work after all..."

The heavy wind brought me back to the current reality. I never expected that raindrops can cause pain. Now I know they can. When the wind is blowing them strong enough in your face.

We got the feeling there was no ground for surprises at all. Cold moist was cutting into our bones. Strong wind made sure it was reaching into even the smallest parts of our body. Temperature was not low by itself. Only the combination of them all made it unfriendly. It all gave a feel of constant status quo. One would accept in matter of minutes the facts. Any expectation or reminiscence for snowy Alps or sunny Mediterranean was killed upfront. We arrived into a steady continuum.

- I always longed to live in a country with one season. But I rather had in mind the summer...

Flower has always been a sun lover. Her natural habitat was the beach. Turn up the heat, add a lot of sunlight and you get a happy Flower in exchange. If you can further spice it with some light salads and cocktails to go along... Well, then you have a constantly happy Flower.

- Just bear with me for a while.

There was not much to say. My sensitivity to weather is fairly low. And when I feel its impact, it is mainly on the hot days. Exactly opposite to Flower. This doesn’t mean however that I can’t see the difference. That I couldn’t feel empathetic towards Flower’s frustration.

- Let’s focus on the rehabilitation now.

After all, this was the most important for her. For both of us, actually. She got a huge second chance. The chance of her after-accident life. We get sometimes such opportunities. Call it faith, call it mercy of God, call it luck. But acknowledge it. Our lives are made up of a few big stages, each in part with its turning points. My life may have 1-2 more major segments than yours. But then again you may have 1-2 extra opportunities within. I’m talking of big things now. Cross-roads that will influence the years to come. God works in mysterious ways, they say. We need to play along, I would add. In the end, it is your responsibility and mine to live properly with our options.

- You know you have about a month to earn your place there. To convince them. Make them believe in you. Have them besides you.

- I know. And I will. Don’t worry.

We were in Netherlands now. Trying to set up a new life. Several years after Flower’s accident. An accident that almost killed her. When she crushed her car into the back of a big cistern truck. On the snowy road. Crushing it so badly and so unfortunately that her left brain hemisphere got completely damaged. An injury normally leading to instant death. Normally… What’s normal, anyway?

She survived. First the accident itself. Then the road to the hospital. Then the intensive care unit, with the coma, the intracranial pressure. With amazing genius doctors. With unsupportive pessimistic disbelievers. She survived. Not without consequences. She had to pay a high price in exchange. We all payed our dues that day. In one instalment. And still at high interest rates.

The years to follow were all around her rehabilitation process. A long and heavy journey.

A trip we knew would come to an end one day. At home we got to the end of the available resources. They did miracles with her, but couldn’t do any more. Flower’s brain damage was so severe, it was a miracle in itself that she was alive. After such a heavy car accident people don’t tend to survive... She grasped the opportunity then. She has chosen life. Thanks to God, to the medical team, to her strong will, to our love, thanks to so many things, she was here with us. Against all the odds. Moreover, she immediately used the second life-saviour option as well. She took an amazing rehabilitation journey. She will not be able to move, talk or remember anything. That’s what we’ve been told continuously. To then see her moving, talking, remembering. With deficiencies of course. Miracles don’t happen on order. Some bring full recovery, allowing you to leave the hardships behind. Others offer you life itself. With joy, but also pain. Hope, but also sorrow. In the end, with the gratitude of life.

She was here with us. Smiling and loving. The rest would fall in place somehow. And by somehow I mean hard work. If you have ever seen a rehabilitation process, you know what I am talking about. The reward can be extremely high. But the road there is always rough. Full of blood, sweat and tears, as the Dutch would say... And this is where Flower was excelling. She invested enormous energy in making it happen. Even when the reward was not coming immediately. Failure can push you to the ground. Or make you stronger. Makes you want to succeed even more. Flower was becoming ever stronger and more determined day