“I promise not to bother you, I will wait until you contact me. However, may I reach out if the pain gets worse, or if this leg continues to get loose?”
“Yes, but let me try something first,” she said as she took the leg and walked out of the room.
Reid looked at Caleb with a smirk. “Well, that’s one way to tell me to stay put.” The two men shared a chuckle, and because Reid couldn’t leave, Caleb started telling him to lie on his stomach, and it wasn’t long before he worked his magic chiropractor fingers on him. By the time Staci returned, Reid was relaxed enough to lie there for a few extra minutes after Caleb said he was done working on him. He slowly sat up and shook his head as he looked at Caleb.
“How often can I come over and do this again?”
“As often as you like.”
“Really?”
Caleb chuckled as he shook his head. “That’s what I’m here for. I’m not just a physical therapist. Though, I suspect you’re going to need those services once you get your new leg.”
“Probably, I do have a suggestion for you.”
“What’s that?”
“Get some crutches in here. Not that I don’t wantDr. Staci to be precise in what she’s doing, but I’m kind of stuck here until she returns with my leg.”
Caleb nodded and they both looked up when Staci walked back in carrying Reid’s leg. She didn’t say anything as she handed it to him. At least not until he started to put it back on, then she spoke, “I did some adjustments. I don’t know if it’s enough that you still have to double up on the socks, but try it.” She watched as he did as he normally did, and when he stood, he immediately sat back down.
“What’s wrong?”
“Too tight,” he said with gritted teeth, removed the leg and fixed the socks. This took three tries before he was finally satisfied with the results. “Thanks, Dr. Staci. This should help.” He looked at Caleb with a grin. “Maybe Katie won’t knock me over anymore.” The two men shared a laugh and when Reid left, Staci turned to Caleb with a scowl.
“I thought he was dating Erin? Why would your girlfriend push him over?”
Caleb grinned. “One, he is dating Erin. Two, Katherine is my girlfriend, not Katie. Three, Katie is a horse that fell in love with Reid and he plays ball with her every day.” At her expression of shock, he laughed. “Trust me, Katie was a rescue horse that Erin rescued for The Broken Wheel. I don’t know her story, yes, animals have stories too, but I do know that Katie was depressed, barely lifting her head to look where she was going. She went through themovements of eating and drinking, but that was about it. I had heard that she ate and drank just enough to stay alive. The vet was about to put her on antidepressants when she threw a ball at Reid’s back. He picked it up and tossed it back. They’ve been playing ball every day since then. If Reid isn’t working at Broken, he finds the time to go play with her.”
“That’s sweet. I’ll have to get over there and talk with them.”
“Yeah, some of their clients might need your help with prosthetics.” Caleb held up his hand and shook his head at her. “No, I have no idea whether they are veterans or not. I do know that there are some children that come to Broken for their rehabilitation.”
“I’ll check it out,” Staci said and went back to her work area. She immediately started inputting the information she’d written down about Reid’s leg into her computer, then went to the other room and started doing an inventory of her supplies. Before she could start, she sat down with her inventory list and placed an order for supplies.
Tony lookedup when Ann approached him and smiled as he stopped mucking out the stall he had been working on. Thankfully, the weather might be cold, but it didn’t snow so as long as they covered thehorses with their turnouts, they were fine to go out in the cold for a few hours. They didn’t leave them out for long, just during the daylight, and once the stalls were clean, they left their doors open. If a horse wanted to come back in, they were allowed to, and he and Ann would remove their blanket and rub them down.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing, I just came to check on you. See how you’re doing.”
“I’m good.”
“You know, I might be speaking out of line here, if I am, I’m sorry, but in the three weeks you’ve been here, I’ve seen a significant improvement in you. Not only are you moving easier, but you’re also looking better.” She held up her hand and shook her head. “I’m not being offensive, or at least I’m trying not to, but the tightness you had around your eyes, and the pinched look around the mouth is going away.”
“Thanks, I think,” Tony said with a laugh, and felt what she described. “No offense, I actually do feel better. For the last few years I felt stuck in my small home at the mercy of the doctor’s restrictions after each surgery I had. Don’t do this, don’t do that, restrict your movements when you do this, it was so frustrating.”
“I can imagine.” She shook her head and pointed to the bandana around her neck. This one was imprinted with the American Flag. “I had the samething told to me when I was recovering.” She removed the bandana and lifted her neck. It lasted for about twenty seconds, then she lowered her chin and tied the bandana back on. She looked at him and when she didn’t see any repulsion she explained how she had received the massive scar.
“Please, tell me that guy got his ass kicked out of the service.”
“He did, and he’s currently in Leavenworth. Part of his sentencing was to be seen by the mental health workers during his entire stay there.”
“How long?”
“Twenty years.”
“Wow, may I ask why so long?”
