A/N: John officially starts his journey to healing. Internal thoughts are in italics. Also, I noticed my own error on the spelling on Jane's last name. I've corrected that. Hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: Still don't own anything.
The morning light came in through his bedroom window, making him stir awake. His neck and back were stiff from the position he had slept in, and he groaned as he turned his head side to side. He blinked his eyes a few times, and then pushed the button on his phone to light it up. 8:30. Robert was going to be there in thirty minutes to help him get ready for his appointment, but he wanted to keep some dignity. He raised himself up a little more and ever so gently moved his right leg over the side of the bed. Bringing the rest of his body around, he was now sitting on the edge of the bed.
He reached for the crutches, and took them in his grasp. Putting them in position, he pulled himself up and placed the crutches up under his arms. Once he had his balance, he stepped one step at a time across the floor as he kept his right foot up off the ground. He made it to the loo and once inside he wondered how the hell this was going to work. He managed to balance himself to properly use the facilities, and then made his way back out. He took a moment to catch his breath, then went over to his dresser. Taking out some clothes, he threw them over his shoulder. Making his way back to the bed, he sat back down and began changing his clothes. He would need to do laundry soon. Thank God he at least had a washer and dryer in his flat. Top half changed, he proceeded to change his bottom half. The pants and boxers came down easier than he thought, but getting the new ones on was another matter. He kept the right leg as still as he could and put the article of clothing over that leg first. The left leg went in next and he slid the garment up and adjusted it to the right place. The pants came next, and he did the same routine with those. He knew socks and shoes would be a different story, so he decided he would just have to wait for Robert to help him on with those. Now dressed, he was pulling himself back up when the doorbell rang. He slowly made his way to the door and opened it.
Robert was standing there with a takeout cup and a small brown bag.
"I didn't think you had eaten anything, so I brought this."
John moved to the side and Robert walked in. Robert made his way into the kitchen and sat the cup filled with tea on the table, and put the blueberry scone he brought on a plate. He laid the plate down on the table as John came into the kitchen.
"Thanks, Rob," John said with his head down.
"It's not a problem. What needs to be done before we can head out of here?"
John lowered himself down and winced as pain shot through him.
"I've already cleaned myself up, and changed. I'll just need socks and shoes and my personal items then I'm good." He was completely ashamed to be having to explain all of this to his friend.
"I'll go grab all of that while you eat," Robert said, then left the room.
John took a long sip of his tea. The hot liquid left good going down. He took another sip, then bit into the scone. It was going on twenty four hours since he had last eaten anything, so the scone tasted magnificent. He continued to eat until the scone was gone, and he finished off his tea. Robert came back into the kitchen then and laid the items on the table.
"Alright, here's your wallet, phone, keys... anything else as far as this stuff goes?"
"No."
Robert laid his socks and shoes on the floor and bent down to put them on him. He felt like an invalid at that moment, and wished the floor would open up and swallow him.
Shoes and socks on, Robert stood back up, "I think we're ready to go. Just let me grab the wheelchair and we'll get going."
John stood himself back up gingerly, and Robert rolled the wheelchair into the kitchen. John turned around the sat down and Robert rolled him out of the flat and down to the car park. Together they got him into the car, and made their way down the road to the physical therapy office. It was only about a ten minute drive until they were pulling up to the office. Robert turned to John and said, "Now, my understanding is that your appointments run from ten to eleven. I won't be able to pick you up until noon on the days you need a ride home. Will you mind waiting an hour for me to come get you?"
"No, I don't mind. I don't have anywhere else to be."
"Right. Good. Let's get you inside then."
Robert hopped out and got John in his wheelchair. He then rolled John to the entrance and opened the door to push him through. Once inside, they were greeted by the receptionist.
"Hello, this must be our first time here. I haven't seen either of you before," said the kind receptionist.
"It is the first time," John said.
"Well, may I have a name so I can sign you in."
"John Bates."
"Thank you, and you sir are just a friend bringing him in today?"
"I'll be bringing him and picking him up for his appointments," Robert replied.
Robert extended his hand to the receptionist,"I'm Robert Crawley."
She accepted the offer, "I'm Elsie Hughes, and it's nice to meet the both of you. Now, Mr. Bates you are supposed to be meeting with Jane Moorsum today. I'll let her know you've arrived."
"Thank you, Mrs. Hughes," John replied.
"Please, call me Elsie." At that, she left the front desk.
"Seems like a nice place. You'll get good care here," Robert said as he looked around.
"Yes, I'm sure," John said mechanically.
"Alright, I've got to run, but I'll be back at noon."
"Thanks mate."
Robert turned then and left the building.
John sat there anxious with anticipation of what was going to happen today. He had never had to do this before, so he was going into unmarked territory. He didn't have to wait too long before a dark brown haired woman in royal blue scrubs came through the door.
"Good morning Mr. Bates, My name is Jane. It is nice to meet you," she said then extended her hand towards him.
John shook her hand and replied,"Nice to meet you too Jane."
"Why don't we get you on back and we'll go over what we'll be doing today."
"Alright."
Jane pushed John to the back. It was a big open room full of different exercise equipment, examination tables, mobility devices, and other things he wasn't sure what they were. They stopped at one of the examination tables and Jane locked the wheelchair.
"Okay, we're going to get you up on this table, then we'll discuss what our session will be like today."
John tried to do everything himself as he made his way to stand.
"Let me help you Mr. Bates, that's why you're here."
"Surely I'm too heavy for you to lift."
Jane chuckled, "There are three ladies in this office, and all of us are tough. Believe me I can lift you."
He relented, and Jane helped him up out of the chair and onto the table. She unlocked the wheel chair and placed it to the side.
He adjusted himself on the table when he noticed another patient coming into the room. He didn't know how he felt about other people being able to watch him, but for now he would see how it goes. The patient was brought in by a ginger haired woman, and he thought she must be one of the other therapists.
Jane began to talk about what would be happening," So, today we are just going to test out the range of motion in your leg. We'll also do some light stretching."
John looked at her confused, "And that's it?"
"Oh, yes. That will be more than enough for today, and also when you come could you please wear shorts or lounge pants. Someone should have told you, and I apologize if they didn't."
"Is that necessary?"
"It will make it easier for me to have access to your leg, so in a way yes it is. Today, we'll have to roll up your pant leg, so I can see what we're working with."
"Okay then."
Jane began to roll his pant leg up, and got it up over his knee. He still had bandages over the knee, and Jane took them off. He was developing several scars over his knee and calf. The skin was still bright pink from healing, and the bandages were there in case an incision line decided to break.
Jane was making notes of what she was looking at when another patient came into the room escorted by a blonde woman also in royal blue scrubs. That must be the uniform they use. She seemed very happy and energetic with her patient. His eyes continued to follow her when Jane brought back his attention.
"Alright, let's begin."
It took about twenty minutes to complete the range of motion test because John had to stop her every so often because of the pain. He noticed the blonde haired woman went to go get some kind of equipment, then the ginger haired woman came up to Jane.
"Excuse me Jane I just need a moment," said the woman.
"Okay, but first please meet Mr. Bates."
"Hello, Mr. Bates. I'm Gwen Dawson, and I'm one of the three therapists here."
"Hello, Miss Dawson. Nice to meet you."
"Please, call me Gwen."
Gwen and Jane stepped over for a minute to talk about something when he heard them say Anna. That must be the blonde ladies name. He was going to look over her way when Jane came back over to him.
"I'm sorry about that. Now we can start our stretching."
Thirty tortuous minutes later, Jane was rolling his pant leg back down. John was almost sweating from the session, and they had barely done anything.
"You did great for your first day, and I think we'll get you walking in no time."
John just gave a sad smile. He wasn't as hopeful as she was. He already felt like he failed on the first day. He barely made it through a stretching session. How was he going to get through all the other stuff? Jane assisted him back into the wheelchair and turned him around. When she did the blonde haired lady was standing just ahead of them.
Jane rolled them closer and the lady spoke, "Hello, Jane. Who have we got here?"
"Hello, Anna. This is Mr. John Bates, and he'll be with us for a while."
Anna extended her hand to him as she said, "Welcome Mr. Bates. I'm Anna Smith. If any of us can answer any questions for you just let us know. Jane here will take good care of you."
John shook her hand, "Nice to meet you Miss Smith. Looks like I've got a ways to go."
"Please call me Anna, and everyone has a ways to go when they first get here. You'll do great. I know it."
She smiled brightly at him, and her smile made him smile.
"Thank you," he replied.
"You're welcome." At that, Anna went off to continue her work.
Jane rolled John back out front and said, "I'll see you Friday Mr. Bates same time."
"I'd rather be called John since we'll be seeing each other a bit."
"Okay then John. See you soon." Jane waved and went back through the door.
"Is your ride here Mr. Bates?" Elsie asked.
"He'll be here soon. I'll just wait outside."
John pushed the door open the best he could, and rolled his wheelchair next to the bench outside. He let out a sigh. The session had gone okay. It could have been worse. The people seemed nice, especially Anna. He sat there in silence as the time ticked by.
Back inside, Anna came to the front desk and saw John through the window sitting outside.
"Elsie," Anna said as she looked out the window.
"Yes Anna," Elsie said as she looked up from the computer.
"What is Mr. Bates still doing outside?"
"He said his ride was coming soon, then he went outside to sit."
Anna thought about it for a minute then said," Okay. I just wanted to make sure."
She went back through the door to the therapy area, and was still thinking about it. She didn't particularly like that he was sitting outside alone, but she wasn't quite sure why it was bothering her. She shook her head, and continued on with her work.
Noon arrived and Robert pulled up to the building. He got out of his car and went over to John.
"Hey mate. How did it go?"
"It was harder than I thought it would be given what we did today, but it went okay."
"Good to hear. Let's get you back home."
They arrived back at John's flat and when they went inside Robert said," You know I didn't even think about you not having food in the house."
"It's okay Rob. Really."
"No no, it's not okay. Are you supposed to starve until I come back? I'll have Cora run to the store for you."
"You really don't have to do all that," John said in a pleading tone.
"I know I don't have to, but I can't leave you here with nothing. You might as well mark down a few others items you may need as well because I'm asking Cora to go."
John grimaced at the thought of Robert's wife doing his shopping for him, but what choice was there? Robert was right he would starve if he didn't have food or necessities in the place.
Robert placed a pen and paper on the table and John rolled over and began writing down some things. Once he was done, he handed the paper back to Robert.
"Great. Oh, I also collected your mail. Here." He placed it on the table.
"I'll head out and we'll get you set up soon."
"Thanks again Rob. I know I keep saying it but thanks."
"You'd do the same for me. Now, Cora will be by later."
Robert opened the door and left.
John sifted through the mail. Junk mail, utility bill, and of course another letter from Vera's divorce lawyer. He would add that to the stack of all the other outrageous letters he had received. He couldn't fathom how she was still making demands then he was already going to end up with nothing. What else was there to take?
A couple of hours later there was a knock at the door. He pushed himself to the door and opened it.
"Hello John. I think I got everything on the list," Cora said.
John rolled himself back to let her in. She came inside with several bags in her hands and headed for the kitchen.
John pushed himself behind her and said, "Thank you Cora. I'm sorry to put you through such trouble."
"It's not any trouble. I like to shop," she replied with a smile.
"I'm just going to keep the things that don't need to be kept cold on the counters. Will that be okay?"
"Yes, that's fine. How much do I owe you?" He asked as he reached for his wallet.
"This is on us John. Your money is no good."
"It's the least I can do since you went to get it."
"No, now don't offer again."
She unloaded all the bags, as he fidgeted with his hands from his humiliation.
"Would you like for me to fix you some lunch?"
"No thank you. I'll fix something later if I get hungry."
"Okay, well call me or Robert is you need anything."
"I will Cora."
She gave him a hug, made her goodbyes, and left.
John pushed himself into the living room. He turned on the telly and flipped through some channels. He didn't find anything interesting so he just kept it on a program he didn't really care about. He tried to stretch his right leg some. It was still sore from the day's session so he stopped trying to move it. It was throbbing some and he could feel it trying to flare up, so he went back into the kitchen and grabbed the pain pill bottle from the counter. He took one pill out and put the bottle back. Instead of using the faucet this time, he went over to the frig and grabbed the juice he asked for. He opened the lid, put the pill in his mouth, took a drink to wash it down, then put the lid back. He closed the frig when he was done and went back to the living room. He let his mind wonder which for him could be a dangerous activity. His mind went back to when he got injured. He didn't like telling anyone how it happened because the story made him look weak. For now that's all he could do. Sit and think. And he was already thinking how it'd be nice to have a life again.
That night he as lay sleeping in his bed, his mind took him back to his deployment. He watched himself as he walked into the civilian area, well ahead of his comrades. The smell of dirt and sewage hung heavy in his dream, and he tried to warn himself not to turn down a side street. His mind was screaming to turn around, and right before he was shot he woke up. His head jerked up off the pillow, and his breathing was erratic. His shirt was soaked with sweat, so he ripped it off and threw it to the end of the bed. He laid back down and slowly his breathing evened out. His leg was still throbbing from his first session. He put another pillow up under it, and then tried to get himself back to sleep. He knew sleep wouldn't come, but he closed his eyes and attempted to let his mind and leg rest.
Next time John will have an unpleasant visit then he'll have one that's unexpected.
Thanks for reading!
