Olivia had stopped slurring his words. She had even started classes and she could now read the alphabet without stammering.
The first time Wairimu had seen her reading the alphabet like a three year old child she had felt helpless but the doctor took her aside and told her that it was a great thing. It was a path to recovery.
After her class she would go for lunch. She no longer needed a piece of cloth tied around her neck. She could now steady her hand and direct food into her mouth. Her appetite was coming back slowly but surely. It wouldn't be long before her energy came back, hopefully together with her faculties, her person.
After her lunch she would have a one hour break before meeting her therapist. A plump short man who almost resembled a teddy bear.
"Hello, I'm happy to have you today have a seat."
"Can you tell me what day it is?"
"Monday the fifteenth."
"Can you tell me your name?"
"My name is Olivia?"
"Olivia, what do you like doing?"
"I don't know."
"What makes you smile?"
She remained quiet.
"Where are we right now?"
"We're in a house."
"Where do you come from?"
She stayed silent.
"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
"A pilot."
After her therapist she took an afternoon nap. Then had her supper before doing her homework. She was allowed one episode of Dora the explorer. A show she had come to love and then it was sleep till morning.
She now had the simple mind of a kid. Tomorrow's lesson would be mathematics, the multiplication table. The day after that would be biology, the digestive system and then history and then pictures of her family and friends. It would all come back, painfully but surely.