“Idon’tknow,guys.Thereis such a huge need for physical therapy in the rural areas. I always had access to it when growing up because Mom works at the hospital but otherwise, almost no one in Fisher Creek or its surrounding towns have access to it,” I say before sipping my peppermint and lemon tea.
I spent a week at home with Noah and ultimately Cole, who I swear is worse than any helicopter parent out there getting him acclimated to his crutches at home and learning the first set of the rehabilitation program we are using. I'm facilitating his physical therapy on the grounds that he actually does it, which is where Cole comes in. The main thing I need him to do is to rest, relax, and not overdo it even if it means he goes a little stir-crazy.
He had one appointment with Dr. Doyle while I was there and was scheduled for another this week to continue growth within his mental health and stability. I'm incredibly proud of him and every step he is taking to better himself.
“You’re not wrong, but what are you going to do about it?” Caroline says, cutting a piece of her chocolate muffin. We’re sitting at our favorite coffee shop, having breakfast, and chatting about everything that has happened over the last week. Caroline thinks I have absolutely lost my marbles for running to help the day Cole called, saying it made me seem desperate and obsessed. And for someone who claims she hates this man and everything that has happened between us that is not the action I would be doing.
I just roll my eyes every time she mentions this because I know she is right and again I refuse to admit that or get involved with that conversation.
“She’s right, Liv. It’s not like you’re going to drop everything and open your own practice in Fisher Creek,” Savannah chimes in with a slight chuckle. She’s obviously joking but what they didn’t know is that is exactly what I want to do.
“Oh my god. She is,” Caroline screeches when I don’t say anything. They both drop their utensils and stare at me.
“It's not set in stone, but yeah, I'm thinking about it. No one knows about it besides my family and I want to keep it that way in case it doesn’t work out. But we went and looked at a building downtown right before I left and honestly, it would be absolutely perfect for my dream office.”
They just continue to stare at me, entirely stunned. I can’t tell if they’re mad, shocked, excited, confused, or all of the above.
“You really have thought this out, haven’t you?” Caroline asks.
“Yeah, it won’t be open for a while, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done. It just also means that I’ll be traveling back and forth to Fisher Creek more.”
They look at each other and smiles begin to form on their faces. This feels like a drastic change from their initial reaction.
“To spend more time with Noah?” they ask simultaneously. Caroline got it out of me about spending the night together when he and Cole were in Milwaukee, and now they feel the unnecessary need to bring it up any chance they can.
“I will be focusing more on getting the office ready to open, but his being there will be an added plus.” I learned very quickly I may as well play into their obsession with my not-relationship-relationship instead of arguing about us not actually being together.
“Olivia, we’re actually so happy for you. You’ve always wanted to own an office yourself, and you need to get out of your current environment, it doesn’t feed you. Plus, seeing you with Noah the other day confirms he is your home, and your happiness, and there is no denying the connection you two have,” Savannah says as she grabs my hand on the table. She’s always been a sweet, shy, supportive friend.
“We will absolutely miss you so much, but the house is getting a little crowded anyway,” Caroline says with some fierceness, but also full of love.
“Guys, I'm not moving to Mars,” I say in retort. "I’ll only be two hours away and nothing is official yet. I have always dreamed about making a difference in people’s lives and I always thought that the biggest difference I could make was in a big city working with officials and important people. What I have learned in the last week is that I can make the biggest change in the lives and my community in my hometown. Feeding into the people and community that fed into me.”
My phone dings and it's the daily Noah photo the boys send me to prove he is doing his exercises. I didn’t ask them to do this, but if it keeps them consistent and laughing then I absolutely condone it. Today, it looks like at the firehouse gym, Noah is sitting on the floor, wearing nothing but olive green sweatpants that fit a little too perfectly doing his knee presses. He has a scowl on his face but it isn’t agrumpy, I hate this scowl,it’s more of aconcentrated and focusedscowl as he tries to retrain that brain-body connection.
I feel my body start to heat and a tingle creep up from inside as I look at the photo of Noah, because it's a selfie completely ruined by Cole’s goofy-looking smile in the bottom left corner where he’s pointing to Noah on the floor behind him.
Before they’re given the opportunity to call me out for blushing this hard, I turn my phone to Caroline and Savannah.
“Look at that ridiculous face,” Caroline comments. I can’t help but wonder if anything has ever happened between them over the years, they always find some way to be next to each other when we go out and are always up before everyone else. That part doesn’t surprise me because if I thought I was an early riser, Caroline likes to get up in the middle of the night to start her day.
I put my phone down and think about how grateful I'm to have these friends, who've been there to embrace me at my worst, support me through the regrowth and finding myself again, and push me to follow those dreams every day.
Chapter 35
Olivia
Noah’sbeendoingreallywell with his therapy. Doing each exercise consistently, compliantly, and even asking for modifications when necessary. Cole’s gone every day to check in and see how things are going, helping with minor details like shoveling snow, and even bringing Noah to the station a few times to run through his approved routine at the gym there.
If there is one thing I have learned through treating competitive athletes and professionals, it's that you never tell them they can’t do any form of activity. They will go stir crazy, they won’t actually listen to you and they will end up hurt more than they started. This is why I also have Noah go through some low-weight upper-body exercises to help maintain his fitness level throughout his recovery.
We talked almost every day some days more extensively than others, and more than just about his knee and injury. It feels like we’re starting to get back to our old friendship again. Making plans to do our favorite activities in Milwaukee and Fisher Creek.
I’m impressed with the progress he’s made in the last few weeks and I’m super excited to hear that Dr. Armington has cleared him to start walking full weight again so that we can actually do one of the plans off our list. We made a shared note on our phones so we can each add to it when we think of an idea. Noah changed the name of the note fromActivitiestoDatesand I couldn’t help but roll my eyes initially, but there’s also a part deep inside me that warmed from the core, as if the blood in my body was molten lava heating me from the inside out.
Dates:
1. Milwaukee Art Museum
