The Running Dream

Dr. Wells declares Jessica his “fastest-healing patient ever” (42) as he removes the staples from her stump. However, all Jessica feels is anger towards him; she wants to yell and hit the doctor for removing her leg, for being so positive through the entire process and treating her so kindly when she has been less than kind to him. She is caught off guard when Dr. Wells says she is ready to go home.

The term “home” brings the movie The Wizard of Oz and Dorothy’s red slippers to Jessica’s mind. Only the red slippers won’t apply to her because she only has one foot. Still, the image remains, along with the desire to click her heels and go back to the way things used to be.

“There’s no place like home” (43), Jessica repeats to herself when the doctor leaves the room. But she knows that there are no red slippers, and that there is no going back to how things were. 

Jessica’s mother arrives toward the end of Jessica’s final physical therapy test. As soon as she passes the exam, Jessica will be allowed to go home. Her mother is overjoyed that her daughter is being released from the hospital.