http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/1644...
AFTER THE TRIAL
Aleksei’s recovery after his illness at Spala was slow, but joyful. Sitting propped up by pillows in his bed, Aleksei was like any other child -- happy, incredibly happy at being able to taste life again. He couldn’t bend his left knee, which had swollen badly during the illness, and was forbidden to move about in general for a month to come so as not to disturb the process of internal absorption that was mending his body. Yet he savored the sunshine that began once again to pour into his room, the company of his exuberant sisters and relieved parents. He was weak from the ordeal, and suffered from a general anemia, but the color returned rapidly to his face -- thanks mostly to his mother, who sat beside his bed in a chair, reading to him and coaxing him to eat. When finally the family was able to return to their home in Russia, the Tsarina had the road from the lodge to the train station smoothed so as not to cause Aleksei any trouble, and the train that carried them home crawled at 15mph. It would take almost a year before Aleksei would be able to walk without a limp, and to keep this slight malady a secret, Aleksei was usually carried by a Cossack during official parades -- the excuse given to the audience was that he had sprained an ankle. Official portraits of this time show him always sitting in order to hide the fact that he was forced briefly to wear a metal brace on his leg. Yet he was alive -- and that was all he and his beloved family cared about.
The illness had a lasting impact on his life. One was certainly the over-protective attitude taken on by everyone around him, an attitude he abhorred, yet one necessary as he had become weaker and was more prone to lasting nose-bleeds and painful bruising. His elder sisters fussed about him tremendously, and his activities were restricted to levels unimaginable before. There was no more rough play with Anastasia, no more hammocks, no more games in the hay for a long time, and doctors were called to approve any sort of dangerous activity -- riding lessons, for instance, were supervised personally by physicians. It would be a long time -- perhaps a lifetime -- before his parents could sufficiently recover their trust in the fact that he was alive, and well, and with them to stay. A typical conversation between them and Aleksei would be heart-wrenching to outsiders:
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