Cade looked at the clock on the wall. 5:02 pm. It was the third time in the last 10 minutes he had glanced at it. Another two hours until his appointment. He went back to his homework assignment scrolling through the research paper on the iPad. His eyes were reading the words but none of it was going into his brain. He was distracted. Again looking at the clock, 5:03.
'Ugh, what's the point!' he thought to himself. He placed the mouth stick back in its cradle, grasped the straw of his sip and puff wheelchair gave a puff. The chair moved backwards about three feet from the desk. Cade hit the mode switch mounted just above his left shoulder. He put the straw back in his mouth and with a sip the chair leaned backwards. Cade was now staring at the ceiling hoping that relieving the pressure off his lower body would take 117 minutes. It didn't. Four minutes later, he puffed the straw and the chair came back to its original position. 5:07.
Cade had been looking forward to this meeting for the last two weeks. It was a random way to get the appointment. Cade was watching porn on his iPad when he noticed an ad on the side bar of the site he was on. It was an ad for a sex therapist for the disabled. The ad intrigued Cade, not only because he hadn't had sex in 5 years and was interested, but also because he was disabled.
It wasn't always so. Cade had experienced sex before. He got his first blowjob at 15, by Jenny Langstrom, a girl in his biology class. He then lost his virginity at a post- wrestling party when Cade was 16 with a cheerleader who was at the wrestling meet he had competed in. Cade wasn't bad looking, he kept his weight in check for wrestling. He was slim but muscular and girls liked guys in wrestling tights which accentuated their 'package'. After 16 though, Cade's life got complicated.
In the spring of his junior year of high school Cade was competing in a wrestling meet. His well matched opponent was just slightly quicker than Cade. He got behind Cade and threw him down on the mat. The move was completely legal, but when Cade hit the mat, he heard the crack, saw a flash in his eyes and then went limp. The kid who put him in the hold must have heard it too, because he stopped and released Cade instantly. He looked at Cade's lifeless body and signaled to Cade's coach that something was wrong. It was a freak accident.
As Cade laid on the mat he felt tingles all over his body which eventually faded to nothing. The coach kept him still until the paramedics arrived. He was carefully placed in a C-collar and transported to the hospital where the x-ray revealed an injury to his spinal cord at the C-4 level. At barely 17 years old, Cade was now diagnosed as a C-4 Asia A complete quadriplegic with no movement or sensation in any limbs, just the ability to shrug his shoulders and turn his head.
This was the complication with sex he now faced. Although he grew more handsome the older he got, the last five years in the wheelchair and atrophied limbs were big roadblocks to hooking up with girls.
After returning home to Dallas from Craig rehabilitation hospital in Colorado Cade felt smothered by his parents. If he had a sniffle his mom wanted him back in the ER fearing he may have pneumonia. His dad tried to do everything for him. At an age when you strive for independence, Cade was miserable and felt like a prisoner. He decided he was going to attend college out of state to get away from his parents. He liked Colorado while he was in rehab. He was now a senior at the University of Colorado at Boulder about to graduate with a degree in business. Cade had managed to make it through almost four years of college managing all his caretakers including his longest to date Miguel. Cade and Miguel worked well together which is why Miguel was not thrilled about Cade telling him he had hired a sex therapist.
Cade looked at the clock again. 5:30. He wanted to review the details of his meeting for the sixth time this week. He grabbed the mouth stick from the cradle, tapped his iPhone in the phone holder and scrolled through his text messages. He found that one from Sasha, the sex therapist and tapped it.
Sasha: Hi! Are you interested in a therapy appointment?
Cade: Yes.
Sasha: What's your name?
Cade: Cade.
Sasha: My name is Sasha, nice to meet you. Are you disabled?
Cade: Yes. Quadriplegic.
Sasha: What level?
Cade: C4.
Sasha: How long have you been a quadriplegic?
Cade: 5 years.
Sasha: Are you complete or incomplete?
Cade: Complete.
Sasha: Are you on a vent?
Cade: No.
Sasha: How old are you?
Cade: 22.
Sasha: Well Cade, I charge $250/hour, you Venmo me $125 up front and the rest after we are done. How is two weeks from Friday? Here is my venmo name.
Cade: Ok.
Sasha: I got your money, what is your address?
Cade: 128 Boulder Creek Road. Apartment 1D.
Cade then looked at today's text from Sasha.
Sasha: Hello Cade, I hope you are ready for your appointment tonight. A couple things will help maximize our time together. If it is possible, it is best to have empty bowels, so if you can do your bowel program early if you tend to do it at night. You only booked an hour so if you can get your aide to already have you into bed completely undressed before I arrive we can get started right away.
Cade: I am looking forward to it also. Bowel program complete and I will be in bed when you arrive.
Cade closed the text and looked at the clock again. 5:48. He put the straw in his mouth and maneuvered the wheelchair down the hallway looking for Miguel. He told Miguel he was ready to eat dinner. Miguel was just finishing up making his food and told him to head to the table. The sip and puff chair had become so easy for Cade as he expertly drove it to the kitchen table. Salad with chicken was on the menu. Miguel placed the fork up near Cade's mouth. As Cade took the bite, Miguel spent the time Cade was chewing to advise him that hiring Sasha was a mistake.
'She could just rob you blind, amigo' Miguel said. 'She's a hooker, and she already took $125 of your money, she probably won't show up. Are you sure you want to do this?'
Cade finished chewing a bite and took a sip of water through the straw.
'I have to try something Miguel. I am going crazy' said Cade.
Miguel put another bite of food into Cade's mouth.
'She could have all kinds of diseases man. You just don't know where she's been.' Cade swallowed again.
Cade responded, "I am sure she has a condom, I'll be fine and you will be just down the hall in your room, right?
Miguel nodded. Miguel finished feeding Cade, wiped his mouth and suggested that Cade start the bed routine. Miguel moved the sip and puff straw back near Cade's mouth. Cade blew into the straw navigating to his bedroom.
Cade moved the wheelchair parallel to the bed and awaited Miguel. Cade stared straight ahead and wondered what his night would be like. He was nervous, he hadn't seen any action in five years and he was worried he wouldn't be able to perform. He had never attempted sex since his injury and he would never think of asking Miguel to help him masturbate to see if he could. Porn had been his only escape and it really wasn't an escape at all. Just a reminder of what he could no longer do on his own.
Miguel arrived and began by moving Cade's straw out of the way and powering down his wheelchair. Next he moved Cade's arms from the arm troughs into his lap. Then he grabbed the sling.
Miguel unstrapped Cade's chest strap and leaned him forward working the sling down his back and around his butt. He then pushed Cade back up from his chest and held him there while he moved the sling under his legs. Next came the hoist and soon Cade was suspended in the air in the sling as Miguel pushed his wheelchair back towards the wall.
With the wheelchair out of the way, Miguel swung the sling over the single mattress hospital bed that had been Cade's bed for the last 5 years. After lowering him on the mattress Miguel released the hoist and Cade's limbs fell lifeless on the bed. Miguel straightened out Cade's legs and slipped off Cade's sneakers, pulled down and removed his sweatpants revealing legs that now looked like toothpicks. He placed both of Cade's arms above his head to more easily remove his t-shirt.