Jenna Aurora Whitson, 44, is in the hospital recovering from devastating injuries that resulted in fractures of both her upper and lower jaws, her left arm, and her leg. While she is NOT paralyzed, she WILL be facing a very long (not to mention, very painful) recovery. She is expected to be in the hospital for about a month and will probably go to a rehabilitation hospital afterwards once her leg and arm heal.
Jenna is hearing-impaired (but she CAN read lips), and she lives in Anchorage, Alaska. She was on her way to Shreveport, Louisiana, to visit a friend (and even do a little gambling), but she didn't make it there. She got as far as Nashville, Tennessee, when she was involved in a car accident involving her Beetle and a pickup truck. (The Volkswagen Beetle, as you can very well imagine, was toasted, which was one reason why Jenna was so badly injured.)
Jenna Aurora Whitson is a very fortunate woman indeed. She should have died in the car wreck that brought her here to our hospital, but she somehow survived.
Jenna is a 44-year-old half Alaskan Indian, Canadian-German woman (with some Inuit thrown in her bloodlines, just to make things interesting) who lives in Anchorage, Alaska. She is currently in the Intensive Care ward at the hospital I work at, and she is recovering from serious injuries stemming from a horrifying car accident that totaled her Volkswagen Beetle (and just about totaled HER in teh process!). She suffered fractures to her left arm and leg and her lower and upper jaws. She had to have an emergency tracheotomy performed so she could breathe (she was choking on her own blood when she was brought into the Emergency Room). She was hearing-impaired (which probably explained why she was so upset upon awakening; she was strapped down, and she let her displeasure be known; she probably needed to be free so she could sign to me!).
Upon freeing her from the safety restraints, Jenna told me that she was hearing-impaired (but she could read lips very well), and she told me that her name was Jenna Aurora Whitson and that she lived in Anchorage, Alaska. She told me she had been on her way to Louisiana, to Shreveport, to visit a friend and also do a little gambling; but she was in a bad wreck, and she didn't make it. She said that the last thing she remembered before blacking out was a sickening jolt and then instant and severe pain, and then--nothing. Her world went black.
Jenna told me that she was 44 years old, and that she was part Canadian-German and Alaskan Indian, and even had some Inuit (Alaskan Eskimo) in her heritage, on her mother's side. She had lived in Alaska all her life, and she said she had a friend in Louisiana, and she was on her way to see her when she got into the wreck that totaled her car. (When I told her that her car was totaled, her eyes filled with tears; but I told her that she was very lucky she wasn't killed, and that even though she had some very bad injuries, she would be okay, and that we were taking very good care of her.)
Jenna also told me that her mother was still alive; but her father was dead. He died last year while he had been whaling; somebody else accidentally harpooned him, and he died after the harpoon hit him right between the eyes. He was all of 88 years old! (He would have been 89 on Christmas this year, but he didn't quite make it.) Jenna told me, too, that she was the younger of two girls (her older sister's name was Jerrica, and she lived in Anchorage, too, not far from Jenna, but she was perfectly healthy. She could hear just fine). She told me that Jerrica worked at a bank and had two teenaged boys, ages 13 and 17.
For being hearing-impaired, Jenna sure shared a wealth of information; and I was soon enchanted with this short, stocky woman in the hospital bed. She had a very pretty, expressive face, and she had short, stick-straight blue-black hair that framed her round face, and snapping black eyes that missed very little. She looked like she was half Inuit. She was already looking forward to returning back home to Alaska as soon as possible; but she seemed a bit disappointed when I told her that she would be in the hospital for several more weeks, and then would be going to a rehabilitation facility to regain lost skills once her arm and leg healed enough; she would probably have to have much in the way of physical and occupational therapy.
i was riveted...hooked from beginning to end. (but OW--harpooned between the EYES??? *cringe* what a horrible way to die!)
great write, great intensity and compelling read--BRAVA, i join you in applauding you! you are a great talent that shines bright here at the den (and in my heart)
I will pray for Jenna and hope her recovery will not be too long.,
you have written this experience like a polished reporter except you shared Jenna's pain as a friend would.
A page-turning novel about a relationship between best friends that is interrupted because of betrayal , deceit, sexual promiscuity and pregnancy happens!
Rovella is a beautiful woman with a cold heart whom blames herself for an unfortunate old family secret that is literally ruining her life. This secret impedes a gorgeous woman from having happiness in her childhood, and throughout her life. Dark sec
