"She had to take some time off, a family emergency, so I guess you're stuck with me for a little while." he grinned, and I noticed the familiar dimple on his left cheek.
I didn’t smile back. I was not here to be friendly. I was here to get treatment that may or may not help me walk again.
He started talking about things, and I zoned out on him. I'd gotten pretty good at that, ignoring people. I glanced out of the window. Chitter chatter had nothing to do with my healing process. Unless they were my psychologist, they had no business communicating with me.
I’d drifted off for a while, and for the life of me, I couldn’t remember a word the man uttered. Oh well… I doubted it would’ve had any significance to my life.
He hasn’t stopped talking to me or the nurses since they wheeled me down here I'm lying on a physiotherapy bed, this one is much bigger yet less comfortable than the one in my hospital room upstairs.
“Could you repeat what you just said but this time, just the important parts?”
"I was just talking about the alternative treatment methods I want to try. I really believe it could help."
That was a thing he did even when he was a kid, made people feel like everything was possible. "The decision is yours, you can get out of that wheelchair and run a marathon if you want it badly enough." I shook my head and had to hold in a laugh. That sounded easy enough, asshole.
"You have to tell me if you feel anything, Tara." He said as he bent my knee. I nodded, sucking in a breath.
He pressed down on my ankle, and the once meager feeling was now more intense. In the accident, I suffered a spinal cord injury, but doctors said I was fortunate that I still had minimal sensation in the lower part of my body. There was a fighting chance that I would walk again. A month ago, I didn’t feel what I just did, so this was a small victory.
"I can feel something It's slight, but definitely there."
He smiled, seemingly pleased. "You're moving your toes an inch, too, which is brilliant" He had a British accent which always fascinated me, even as a child. I recalled the nurses whispering about the sexy new Englishman and never in my wildest dreams had I imagined it would be Jude.
“Tara, I’m here to help you. You have to remember that.”
While Brooke understood my need for silence, Jude filled the silence with frustrating small talk.
He continued through a range of exercises while I lay motionless for most of the session. He definitely seemed more enthusiastic about this than I was.
I hated lying here at the mercy of another person. This hadn’t always me. No. I was a street runner, I ran almost every day of my life - it released happy endorphins, and boy did I need those.
Jude Finn was my therapist. I ran that over in my mind.
His sidelong glances and smirks made me nervous.
I couldn't wait for the session to end. An hour later, I breathed a sigh of relief when he lifted me off the bed and placed me in my chair.
The fact that I knew him changed nothing.
He wrote a few notes on my chart and buzzed for a nurse to come get me.
"That wasn't all that bad, was it? He asked, standing with his arms folded over his broad chest.
"No," I said, tersely. "It was worse."
He leaned down in front of me. "Tara, we're going to get you on your feet in no time. I believe that, maybe it's time you started believing that too."
I shook my head. "You have all the answers, don't you, Mr. Positivity?"
"Not really, but I sure try. See you tomorrow, Tara."
I turned away and gazed outside the window, willing the nurse to hurry up and take me back to my hospital room where I didn't have to communicate with anyone, especially him. I wanted Brooke back. He expected too much from me, I could tell. He was one of those glass half full types that grated on my nerves. I didn't have anything to hope for, anything to shout from the rooftops about. My life was in chaos, and there was nothing I could do but sit back and watch everything I worked so hard for fall apart.
* * *
I'm awakenedby bustling around me. I opened my eyes to find my mother busying herself with some flowers and a vase. I wasn't surprised to see her; she'd been here every other day. She was the reason I could even afford this kind of hospitalization. She'd insisted, and I honestly didn't have the energy to fight her on it at the time. The truth was if it helped me get on my feet again, then it would all be worth it.
"Oh, good, honey, you're awake," she beamed. I hated the way she always looked so thrilled to see me, no matter how badly I treated her. The woman was a sucker for punishment, that was for sure. I guessed the apple didn't fall too far from the tree.
