King Fights Emotional and Physical Scars : Recovery: He is depressed and suffering headaches and numbness from the beating by police, his ex-wife, doctors say.

Nearly six weeks after his beating by Los Angeles police--and seemingly forgotten in the political turmoil that has followed--Rodney G. King fears retribution, spends most of his time seeing doctors, and thinks a lot about the headaches, scars and facial numbness that he worries might become permanent.

A man who was always concerned about his looks, and particularly fussy about his teeth, King is depressed about his appearance and will likely need more surgery to minimize scars on the right side of his face, his plastic surgeon and ex-wife said last week.

King, who never enjoyed sitting at home, now leads a sedentary, largely secluded life, venturing out mainly for medical treatment with a wheelchair and cane. Never much of a bookworm, the 25-year-old manual laborer and high-school dropout does not even enjoy television these days because “every time he turns on the TV he sees something on it (the beating),” ex-wife Dennetta King said.

“He’s depressed, he’s scared,” said Dennetta King, adding that she speaks with King about twice a week, mainly about their daughters. “That’s about all he talks about.

“He’s depressed because they beat him like that and he feels that his manhood has been taken, and he’s scared because he don’t know if they’re going to try to beat him up again or kill him or what,” she said.

Dennetta King said her ex-husband has been staying at a series of undisclosed, private homes with family members because of threats.

King’s attorney, Steven Lerman of Beverly Hills said he has hired security guards to “watch (out) for him.”

Lerman has filed an $83-million claim against the city on King’s behalf. Lerman said he plans to file a civil suit seeking at least $56 million, or $1 million for every blow King allegedly suffered at the hands of police.

Three Los Angeles police officers and a sergeant have been indicted on charges of excessive force, while investigations continue into the culpability of 17 other officers present.

Although the March 3 videotaped beating in Lake View Terrace has been replayed across the country and overseas, igniting an unprecedented political war within city government and a series of investigations, King has avoided publicity.

Lerman said he has declined all requests for interviews with King from reporters because “I don’t feel he’s in any kind of shape to be seen.”

“He’s really a very, very, sweet, sweet man and surprisingly lacking in hatred,” his lawyer said. “He just wants to get well and he’s afraid the (police) will still come for him.”

King’s neat, blue home in Altadena has the curtains drawn, its phone number and those of other family members long ago changed. Neighbors say they do not hear from King, and only occasionally catch word that “he’s doing OK” or “getting by.”

King suffers from painful headaches and numbness on the right side of his face where the bones of his cheek and eye were fractured “like an eggshell,” his plastic surgeon, Dr. Alvin Reiter said.

King’s bones appear to be healing well after five hours of reconstructive surgery March 14, Reiter said. The natural tightening of the skin during the healing process has created “significant bumps and depressions” on King’s face that probably will require more surgery, Reiter said.

“He’s very concerned about what he’s going to look like,” said Reiter, who said that King’s was not the worst case he’s had, “but it’s pretty bad.”

Dennetta King said Rodney was always proud of his good looks and used to take longer than her to wash and dress. “He loves his teeth and face,” she said. “He brushed quite a bit, and used to get on the girls all the time about brushing their teeth. He believed in pretty teeth.”

King is also upset about the numbness on the right side of his face that makes eating awkward, even while on a diet of soft foods because he cannot chew normally. He is very self-conscious, Reiter said, because “psychologically you don’t know whether you have something on your lip or not. It’s exactly like having Novocain at the dentist.”

Reiter said the probability is “good” that the numbness will be permanent, based on other cases, but it remains to be seen.

King’s speech is slurred, in part because he is unable to fully purse his lips, Reiter said. King is also being treated by a neurologist, eye surgeon and psychiatrist. He is undergoing physical therapy to regain the use of his leg broken during the beating, Reiter said.

Dennetta King said Rodney’s memory “still messes up.”

Lerman said that King’s doctors suspect that he may have brain damage but they do not know the full extent of those injuries. He said that memory loss is “one of the biggest problems he has,” adding that King often loses his train of thought during conversations.

“Sometimes, he’ll just sit and stare and you feel that he’s really not with you,” Lerman said.

King has been interviewed by Los Angeles police officers investigating his beating. Cmdr. Rick Dinse, who is overseeing that investigation, declined to discuss King’s condition.

King remains under investigation for the Feb. 21 armed robbery of a San Fernando Valley video store. Los Angeles police have acknowledged that he became a suspect in the case, in which a store clerk was shot in the shoulder, after his beating and his photograph was widely broadcast on television. He is on parole for a 1989 robbery of a Monterey Park grocer.

The Feb. 21 case was referred to the state attorney general’s office for investigation, to avoid a conflict of interest by police.