Chapter Seven
Sweat dripped downSpider’s face as he lifted the weight bar and set it back on the cradle with a small clink.
“That’s great,” Erik, Spider’s physical therapist, said as he offered Spider a hand.
Spider, having already figured out that sitting up on his own torqued his ribs, gripped the younger man’s hand and let him help him sit up.Once upright, he spun around on the bench to face the side and reached for his towel to wipe down his face, then the bench where he’d been working.
“We’ll call it a day with that,” Erik said, pushing the wheelchair that had brought Spider down there, “but I’ll let you try to move into the chair on your own, if you like.I’m going stay right here, just in case you have any trouble.”
Spider nodded but didn’t argue.He’d only been allowed out of bed to get into the wheelchair, either to come here for a workout, or when Nurse Heather had a few minutes to take him for a walk down the hallway so he could get out of his room.He was still not allowed to put weight on his existing leg, so he had to use his arms to shift himself from the bench and into the seat of the chair.
Moving from his bed to the chair was more awkward, and he hadn’t tried that one yet, but even fumbling himself into the chair now was preferable to having someone else lift him.He hated that, especially when the person helping him was a woman.It wasn’t that he thought women weren’t capable, he just hated having to let a woman lift him.Yeah, he knew it was a little sexist, but he was usually the one making sure a woman was treated well.Having a woman lift and carry him went against everything in him.Luckily, when Fletch was around, he stepped in to do it before one of the nurses could.
By the time he’d shifted himself into the chair, his arms were shaking and he once more had sweat dripping.He needed a shower but didn’t know how that would work, since he still had a bandage on what was left of one leg and a cast on the other.
“Good job!”Erik said once Spider managed to get into the chair.“Now it’s time for a nap, don’t you think?”
“I’d sleep a lot better if I could shower some of this sweat off.”Spider wrinkled his nose at the thought of what he must smell like.A week unconscious and the last three days awake, or at least mostly.Plus his workouts, he had to be getting ripe, even if he couldn’t smell himself.
Erik chuckled.“I can’t make any promises, but I’ll see what we can do.”He positioned himself behind Spider’s chair and pushed him out into the hallway and along the corridor.“Have they given you any idea how long you’ll be here yet?”
Spider shook his head.“No.I’ve talked to the doctor, and asked him, but all he’ll say is it depends on how well I heal and whether or not I develop any infections or any other complications.”
“That makes sense.I can tell you, typically, after an amputation like yours, people are here about two to four weeks, but it depends on a lot.Then if they don’t live around here, they’ll often stay in the area for a few more weeks, then come and go as we get their prosthetic fitted and adjusted to suit them.”
“And after that?How often do they need to come in?”
“That depends.There are a lot of factors, some common, some not so much.”Erik steered them into Spider’s room where they found Dax sitting in the window seat, his phone in hand.
“Done already?”Dax asked.
“I am,” Spider said, “Why don’t you go talk to the nurse about me getting a shower?”he said to the prospect.He turned his head until he could see Erik from the corner of one eye.“Can you leave me in the chair?That way I don’t have to get in again if I can get that shower.”
“You sure?How will you get back into bed?”
“I’ll have Dax help me.”
Erik moved around so he stood in front of Spider and put his hands on his hips, clearly not sure if he should trust the biker.Spider held up one hand, as if he was swearing in to testify in court.
“I promise not to try to get into bed myself.I’m already exhausted.I will ask for help.I don’t want to fall and risk needing to stay longer.”
