Chapter 7

Two and a half months after the shooting, Charlotte is fixated on severe scalp itching under a protective helmet, frustrated that staff prevent her from scratching because of a craniectomy and missing skull. She pleads for relief, fearing bugs, but is repeatedly stopped with a mitten placed on her right hand.

During Dr. Greenberg’s daily visit, Charlotte struggles with orientation questions. She identifies her name as “Charly” but can’t supply her last name, offers that she is in “my room,” and guesses playful, incorrect answers like “itch” and “twenty-itch.” Dr. Greenberg clarifies she is in a rehab hospital and is thirty-seven, underscoring her cognitive deficits amid her distractibility and discomfort.

Dr. Greenberg’s physical exam is reassuring, but Charlotte remains distressed by the feeding tube site. She is motivated to have it removed and learns that eating enough by mouth is the prerequisite.

At lunch with her mother present, Charlotte confronts puréed steak, potatoes, and green beans, plus thickened orange liquid. Taste and texture repel her, and oral control is difficult, causing dribbling. Left neglect impedes finding her drink until it’s moved from the left into view. Despite her mother’s urging, progress is slow, but eating remains the path to removing the tube.