Good Morning, Alice (17)

It was discouraging, even depressing, for the family to see Alice so completely helpless -- yet so fully conscious of everything. It was as though she was trapped, imprisoned, in her own body. She was there; we knew she was there -- but only her eyes seemed to show it. It took longer and longer also each night to prepare her for sleep. She still needed her limbs adjusted exactly to her liking. But especially her head had to be in a proper angle: with the bed head turned up, and a pillow at the...