It was a perfect summer morning; warm enough to wear a t-shirt, but cool enough to go for a decent run. "This is some great running weather we got today Jacob, it's almost too good to be true! It's like we're in a dream", Nathan exclaimed out of his bearded mouth. Jacob quietly muttered out a squeamish reply, "Yeah... I guess so".
"Oh c'mon Jacob, everything is going to be just fine. You've been training so long, and your determination and drive is outstanding.  By completing this, you're truly overcoming that life-altering accident."

Jacob cleared his throat and looked right back at Nathan with a thousand-yard-stare. Jacob hated talking about his accident. It made his heart rate increase and his blood run cold like a snake's. Every time he remembered his accident, he forced himself to tug at his left pant leg, and see the fleshless prosthetic that replaced the muscle and bone muscle that he was born with.

The announcer barked, "Runners, come and check-in at the starting line." Jacob slowly hobbled his way over, feeling his body weight sway from one leg to the other. "Name and age please",  the check-in employee ordered. Jacob replied "Jacob Phantom. 28 years old, from Pasadena". "Okay, you're good, proceed to the starting line", the employee said with a dull, monotone voice, clearly showing he had already said this phrase at least a hundred times. As Jacob made his way over to the plethora of people that were all herded together, like a chaotic flock of sheep. His confidence was slowly increasing with his heart rate. This was the first race Jacob had ran was since his "accident" aka getting broadsided by a drunk driver in a black Jeep. 

Jacob knew that the past forty weeks of recovery and training hadn't been for nothing. The ever recurring pattern of going to physical therapy, hospital checkups, (and of course him gaining the strength to walk and eventually run) had led him to this moment.

"The Chimera marathon will be starting in one minute. I repeat, one minute until the race!", the announcer yelled. Jacob lined up next to his friend Nathan as they awaited patiently  for the start of the race. Beads of nervous sweat were running down Jacob's short black hair. As seconds ticked before the start of the race, Jacob was finally beginning to feel like he could finish this race even though he only had one real leg; his naturally optimistic personality was finally coming back. His nerves and anxiety diminished and he was ready to run.
The crowd began to count down;"5...4...3...2...1", the gun held by the official fired off into the air with a thunderous roar. The stampede of runners began to race, and the low and repetitious thud of the runners shoes smacking the worn and flat concrete could be heard from blocks away. "26.2 mile to go", thought Jacob. 

The cold brisk air kept Jacob refreshed as he ran through the course. His tall and lanky body type proved to be very effective for being aerodynamic and sliding in between runners to get ahead. By the fourth mile, his sweat was drenching his body like a rain on a cold April morning.  He had forgotten about his worries of running with a prosthetic leg and just focused on finishing the race. It brought him peace and tranquility. However, all this sweat made his shorts cling to his thighs. He looked down at his legs. One full of muscle and bone, connected and one with his body, while the other a lifeless metal bionic piece of engineering. Scenes from the accident were once again seared into his brain like a branding iron on the skin of a cattle. He felt discouraged and alone that all around him were people running with both legs; hearing the constant consistency of their running. His was irregular. The metal foot inside his left running shoe made a louder clang than his right foot. His pace slowed and his confidence drained into anxiety. His thoughts became doubts.

"What do people think when they look at me"? "How can I ever be the same again"?

Jacob questioned himself as to why he was running this race and wanted to remember why he even wanted to finish it? All he wanted to do was feel normal again and like he used to. He just wanted to run and clear his mind and forget about his disability.

"Everything all right?", Nathan questioned.

"Yeah....I'm alright" Jacob said equivocally.

"You know you can do this Jacob. Don't give up now. I'm always here if you need any help".
The encouragement of his friend was reassuring to Jacob. Jacob didn't look at his legs anymore, and just focused on what was in front of him.

The cheering of the crowds at the race calmed his nerves and his confidence rose up and swelled within his body. He believed he could finish the race. This could finally bring peace to himself; Jacob felt  like nothing could deter him from reaching his goals if he was able to overcame this obstacle of running a marathon with a prosthetic leg. His breathing became consistent with his running, and  he felt that he could finish the race. His right foot started to ache by the sixteenth mile, but he kept on pushing himself to just go that next step, and power through it all. His mind was set on the finish, and all he wanted to do was cross the finish line.     

By the twentieth mile, the cramps and pain in his sides and core became unbearable so he decided to take a short break at one of the water stations. He took a seat on the curb and drank some water. His leg was in pain, and his thighs were tired from doing all of the work in his mechanical side. "If I really wanted to I could just stop now, and go home, be with my wife, and not have to do this anymore". The idea coaxed him and teased his emotions. He needed to finish this race, or all that hard work was all for nothing; he might as well had not even run the race if he was just going stop six miles short of the finish line.

After some deep consideration, he got up and stretched. His muscles had tensed up after the buildup of lactic acid, but now after stretching they were ready to go. "I need to keep going, I can't stop now"! He went back into the street and continued his run with the rest of the runners  that had trudged through twenty miles with him. Jacob's whole body felt exhausted. 

Jacob continued to chant in his head, "I CAN DO THIS! I CAN DO THIS!" so he could keep going. His run turned into a hobble, which then turned into a mix of a fast walk and a skip, just to keep moving. Jacob wasn't going to stop now no matter what.  The sound of his footsteps grew louder as he started to jog flat-footed. His heavy breathing disrupted his thoughts and drowned out all other noise. His eyes were glossed over and stung from the both his hot salty sweat and the sun beating down into his face. His nimble and energetic body had lost all its enthusiasm and emotion.

By the last turn on the of the street of the race, he could see the finish line. There was a large banner that hung over the iconic checkerboard patterned finish line. Crowds were cheering everywhere. With the sight of the banner his body was filled with excitement, so much so that he lost his footing  and slipped as he tried to quicken his pace. His head struck the warm concrete and painted his face with swirls of gravel and road rash; his knee caps lay bruised and scraped. His eyes felt even more of a burn now with the sun directly above him, taunting him.. He knew he had to keep going,  the end was near! His beaten and tired body  continued forward. He was only one-hundred feet away. He  wanted to feel himself cross the line and feel the satisfaction he so rightfully  had earned. "Just one more step", he thought to himself as his left foot stepped on the finish line. Then, his eyes closed and everything went black.

Jacob's eyes were glazed and felt as if  his eye lids were being pried open. In the distance he could hear a woman say, "Dr. Garrard, he finally woke up"! Jacob's whole body felt frozen, and he couldn't feel his legs. He looked around the room he was in. He was covered in a dull green scrub and was lying down on a large white bed, with an IV connected to his wrist and a dozen machines all around him monitoring all possible measurements of his health.

"Where am I?", he said aloud.

Jacob's wife, Deborah, started crying tears of joy, and multiple nurses and a doctor entered the room. Deborah wailed "I didn't think you were ever going to wake up! After what happened to you, all of us thought that you weren't going to make it through".

"You didn't think I was going to finish the race?", Jacob replied.

"The race? What are you talking about? You've been in a coma."

"No, I just ran a marathon. I don't know what you're talking about!" insisted Jacob.

"Sir, you just experienced a very traumatizing accident in which you were hit by a drunk driver", the Nurse interjected. "After you were picked up by the paramedics, you fell into a coma. You have been in this coma for three weeks. Whatever you remember or think you remember after the accident was just a dream. None of it happened".

Jacob's mouth became agape and he didn't know what to say as he felt paralyzed from the new information he received. "SO THAT WHOLE RACE WAS A LIE!? ALL THAT TRAINING WAS A LIE!?"

"Not a lie sir, just a dream." the nurse replied calmly. Jacob's emotions were swirling like a hurricane. He refused to believe what the nurse was saying was true. He became angry and furious with himself that the life he thought he had been living and everything he thought he had done were all dreams. A quick spark of hope and joy came to him as he asked the nurse, "What about my legs then? Are they both still there? Do I not have a prosthetic?" The nurse replied with a deep sigh. "I'm sorry to inform you, but due to the severity of the accident, both of your legs needed to be amputated." Jacob immediately looked at the nurse with a blank face, as his eyes started to glaze over with tears, and the anger and sadness inside of him churned together and brought about a new emotion. Jacob, in a quick and swift pull of his scrub, revealed the two limbs below his waist that stopped at the knee.