Chapter 2 Summary and Analysis

Kovic found himself on a bus in Queens on the way to the St. Albans Naval Hospital. The wounded on the bus are happy they survived. Kovic is carried off the bus; he is placed in the neuro ward with the 'vegetables'. He had the nurses remove his frame, and watched people around him. He was sometimes visited by the American Legion; they told him he was a hero. And he receives a medal for 'Conspicuous Service to the State of New York' with a citation signed by Governor Rockefeller.

At six the next morning, Kovic wakes up. Those who can stand for roll call do; but no one bothered him and he slept through it. Kovic received medication and a shower; day after day he watched his twenty-one year old legs atrophy. He remembered the priest's words of comfort.

Kovic...