After the rest of the group joined and stomachs were taken care of, Angelina announced bandages would be changed before the day started. Nate's arms and Roy's hands were seen by Dylan. Angelina preferred to check Tanner's brace and arm. The brace was in need of adjustment, otherwise everything looked good. Mystery girl's eye was on the mend, and that alone considering the burn was a blessing.
"Everything check out okay?" Roy met back up with Tanner in the Lounge.
"My leg brace needs a little fixing but otherwise my right arm is good as it gets. How are your hands?" Roy shrugged.
"Not any worse. It is better news considering the worst. Also Kyle said to head outside while we wait. Apparently were playing a small game of soccer." Tanner put on a smile.
"This should be fun." The boys found the backyard fairly quickly after having a grand tour of the place the day before. It was a fairly large fenced in space, and soft grass, at least it looked it without having to touch it. Picking a spot on the ground, Roy and Tanner decided to not make conversation or small talk. They had learned silence was sometimes preferred.
Nate and and the girl showed soon with the three faculty in suit. Angelina called for everyone's attention.
"Everyone checked out perfectly and now that that's out of the way, we can play a little while the weather's beautiful." Even Tanner in his mood couldn't deny that the weather was amazing. A patio seat by the building was filled with a small form and a face that thought otherwise about the weather. She looked like she could find something to complain about. Nate called across the small lawn. Roy called back a simple 'here.' Nate sprawled, laying back in the grass by the others. Angelina had circled Kyle and Dylan in as well. Sitting cross legged and completing their attempt of a circle, Angelina looked like she was going to talk again. She turned her head first towards the last person missing.
"Crissy! Come over here. We're going to go over a few more things and then get to the fun part." Crissy, as Nate, Tanner and Roy all learned her name was didn't even raise her head from her fetal position in her chair. Her curt reply was 'I can hear from here.' Sounding mumbled but loud enough, the young doctor looked worried. Roy spoke up.
"Miss Dallas. If you want to talk to us one of us will make sure to fill in Crissy later." She looked a little less concerned.
"Thank you," Angelina thanked Roy. "I'll give you a few things to give her too. Maybe she'll settle in a bit easier after she's made a friend or two." Now the woman's attention was one hundred percent on the boys.
"Today was an exception, however breakfast is going to be ready at nine thirty for you early risers and cleaned up and put away by ten thirty. Lunch is two o'clock. Every morning bandages are checked for obvious reasons. You each have your schedules to meet privately with our therapist here once a week. We've found it can help if you have somewhere to go and talk about, anything really, even vent. Everyone comes here needing extra help and everybody deals with it differently. Was there any questions?" Nate's hand went up.
"Yes Nate." The boy looked anxious to move.
"If we don't have any questions, are we done?" She chuckled. The woman knew the kid didn't mean it rudely as it might have sounded. He was asking a question.
"Neither of you have any?" Tanner and Roy shook their head no.
"Alright. Go ahead Nate." He said a quick 'thanks' and was gone. He also quickly found the black and white ball amidst the grass along with the fairly large goal adjacent to them.
"Miss Dallas? I had one question actually. I just thought it would be better to let Nate go. He's had energy all morning."
"Be thankful we have this space outside then," she laughed. "Now what did you want to ask?" Tanner for a moment thought better of his question. She had seen the face many times.
"You don't have to hold anything back, that's why I'm here. Go ahead." He looked at Roy, still sitting where he had been, and back to Angelina.
"I noticed there isn't a whole lot of us. I guess I just thought there would be more." Angelina sat up a little straighter.
"The Maryland Rehab Center is, I'd say averagely sized, considering our location and demand. Moravia isn't a big town to start with. What we do, we do well however and we are more catered to younger ages. On occasion adults will stay here too though."
"That makes sense," Roy said.
"Hey, I could use a goalie!" Nate was yelling again and this time Tanner's friend answered the call.
"I made a mean goalie on the school team last year. Let's see if I'm any good no handed. I'm coming Nate!" Roy picked himself up and jogged to the net. Kyle and Dylan said something about joining in the game to even the odds a little. Now just the two of them, Tanner actually observed around him.
"Can you push me to the fence Miss Dallas?" Angelina was up and pushing Tanner across the grass. She stopped right before meeting the fence.
"Is this ok?" She asked. He nodded. "I'm just going to go do a few things. Hollar for one of us if you need anything." Another nod. He picked moments to be quiet. When he first came out with Roy his first thought was that the fence wasn't a mile high and was a simple, maybe five footer, picket fence. Some boards had names painted vertically, some darker and some more colorful. Lizabeth, Mitch, Mabel, Nick, Anne, and a very specific Joe were among the names he read. Each were finished in different handwriting and personal touches. Tanner felt that it wasn't supposed to feel like it was meant to hold him. The view was not a spectacle, yet still nice with its Baltimore flair. Older brick buildings lined the street. Closely knit houses hugged each other in the near distance, their small chain link fences touching. The Maryland Rehab Center wasn't in the middle of town, but still felt apart of everyday mundane life in Marovia.
Tanner wasn't naive in the time preparing to go to the center. Rehab centers came with their stories and reputations. Surely it was natural to wonder if maybe this one held some of the stories truth at all. He had honest to god prayed it would all be in his head. So far he didn't feel crazy or like he was being watched. It wasn't a mental ward or anything close in name, but everything had its skeletons. Tanner had heard the saying sometime or another. Tanner wanted to try and keep his open mind. Awkwardly one handed, he turned his chair about half way around. Crissy wasn't in her chair anymore. Kyle and Angelina discussed something sitting close together. Tanner knew the likely hood it was about one of them was high; maybe Crissy. The Soccer game seemed to be offense and defense given there was one net. That hadn't detoured a minute of their fun.
"I'm going to grab some water. You want some?" Tanner sat at the table. It had enough chairs to cater to at least eight, maybe even ten people.
"Sounds good," he said. Roy stood in front of the cabinets, seemingly having a staring contest before he called Nate into the kitchen.
"Can I help?" Dylan popped around a corner.
"Oh, thanks." Roy actually looked a little embarrassed.
"Can you reach me two glasses? It's easier than you think to forget something has basic as your hands when you can't use them." Dylan opened a cabinet and retrieved two matching cups.
"Don't sweat it kid. I broke my foot about four years ago. One second you can do everything, and the next you can't go anywhere. It's like a small trek just to the bathroom," Dylan said, now at the fridge to fill the glasses. "Ice?"
Both boys refused politely.
"Alright, here you go. I'll be around if anything else comes up." With a quick smile the man was gone. He had set the glasses on the table before leaving. Roy sat across Tanner.
"Is this what it's like for you? I mean getting up for simple crap. Like the bathroom and food, and just getting dressed. I never asked before." Roy thought to himself a silent thank you for the straw in his cup. Tanner used his left hand to grab his water. He took a drink and responded to Roy's question.
"Pretty much. At least when you break a leg you have your arms and hands. I have one working hand. I just accepted the fate of the chair. It's easier in the long run than the crutch." Tanner thought about Crissy. "When did Crissy leave and head back inside today? I didn't even notice until later."
"She left maybe fifteen minutes or so after I joined Nate and Miss Dallas pushed you over to the fence."
A familiar voice interrupted. "What were you looking at for so long? On the lawn today, I mean."
"Oh, Nate. I was just looking. Figured I might see where we are, what's around. It's actually very post-card. You know, scenic." Roy relaxed into his chairs back, adding his piece to the change of conversation.
"I thought the names on the fence was cool. I was wanting to ask Miss Dallas if we get to add our names."
"What, like a mark? "I was here?" Nate joked. "I'm going to head back to my room for a quick nap or something." Nate was gone and it was just Tanner and Roy again.
"You up for playing a game?" Tanner looked up at his friend. "I'm going to be gamed out by the first week here. But I'll humor you. What game?" Tanner laughed a little. 'Maybe that's the strategy of the game closet. The adults stock it and make it easy to get to, well obviously use it,' he thought sarcastically. 'And it's actually working.' Tanner sighed before giving his one condition.
"The only game I will not and hope is already off the table, is damned Twister. I can't seem to convince Nate." Roy grinned, very much amused.
"I wasn't even thinking of it. I was thinking more along the lines of a card game, something easy." Roy, going to the closet, managed to get the deck of plain Bicycle playing cards between two fingers. He dropped the pack on the table.
"Slap-jack?" Tanner shook his head,
"Two-handed versus one hand?" Roy re-thought the game.
"It takes one hand to play slap-jack dude. War?"
"You're on."
"I have to go first. That's bad luck right?" Nate had seemed really on edge. Something was bothering him was all they knew for sure.
"What do you have to do first exactly?" Roy was the only one that morning left eating breakfast. That also meant he had to be the one Nate was talking to.
"I have my therapy season, call it what you will, with Mrs. Clack." Roy chewed the bite of egg he had taken, choosing then to answer Nate.
"I really don't think you have anything to worry about. It's been about three days since we all got here. It was bound to happen once we settled in."
"I'm worried it's going to be really weird. Miss Dallas is pretty cool, I kinda wish it was her in there."
"Look at it this way." Roy purposed. "Miss Dallas doesn't know what we talk about with Mrs. Clack. Wouldn't it be more awkward if you had to talk to Miss Dallas about everything? This way it's someone who's starting fresh with us and she only sees us in her office." Nate looked like he was giving the advise some thought, Roy let him have a minute. Nate hugged Roy quickly and was headed out.
"That makes sense. Thanks. See you guys afterwards. Maybe we can get some soccer in later?" Roy nodded a yes. He had taken the last few bites of his eggs. Covering his mouth partially, he tried to talk with his food-filled mouth.
"You bet." Nate had found the office door almost too quickly for his liking. He knocked. Hearing the 'come in,' he opened it. The office wasn't anything special, but it still had a touch of 'I like my office and it's not stuffy.'
"Hi, you must be Nate Robinson. Is there something you prefer to be called?" Nate sat on her couch.
"Nate is fine," he said.
"Nate it is. I'm Mrs. Clack, and I'll start with explaining why I'm here. It's really simple and can be fun if we make it that way."
'She likes to smile, but not a 'you can talk to me' fake smile,' Nate mused.
"We can talk about what you did the week you don't see me or start a project you want to work on. I keep puzzles in here in case you kids and even the occasional grown up feels in the mood. Most importantly, you can tell me anything in this office and it stays between you and I. The only circumstances in which I would ever tell Miss Dallas a word we share is if it's for your health and overall well being."
'She's very animated too,' was another thought. 'But not too animated.'
"Do I start with why I'm here at Maryland?" Nate asked, hearing the uncertainty in his voice after.
"If that's where you want to start, go ahead." He took a deep breath.
"Well I haven't told anybody the full story, though I'm sure Miss Dallas, Kyle and Dylan know. I'm here for obvious burns, my arms. What I don't tell people is that the misunderstanding with the store and the small fire is that, that I think I wanted to start it. Not to burn anything down, just to make fire right there in that moment, even if the rational me knew it was stupid." Nate looked up ready for some kind of judgement or look that said 'you are an idiot.' It wasn't there.
"When you were younger Nate, did you like making campfires and anything like that?" The woman asked. His face got the look of the idea of playing his favorite game.
"My dad used to take me camping a lot. I always couldn't wait for the s'mores and lighting the fire. Watching the fire grow, each flame spreading and eating the wood was something I could watch forever. It was alive. Or something," he added.
"Do you not go camping much anymore?" She asked. Nate waited a moment and chose his wording.
"My dad is gone a lot of the time now. He doesn't have too much time for much else except maybe a quick game if he's not working. He works a lot, mostly after he got this better job. But it doesn't bother me too much. I know he cares because he asks about my day and makes sure I'm safe. You know, with my friends or whatnot."
"Thank you for sharing that with me Nate." Time passed much more quicker than Nate had anticipated. Nearing the end of their session, Mrs. Clack looked at her watch.
"The clock says that we have twenty more minutes. But seeing as today was day one, you can leave early if you'd like." Nate took her offer, but not before saying a quiet 'Thanks Mrs. Clack.'
Outside the door and listening for the soft click, Nate headed for the lawn. He could at least hope there was soccer started. Roy and Dylan were playing a game of keep away more or less. The ball was out and Nate needed something else to focus on. He had never really tried or thought he wanted to talk about his father. He loved him more than anything, but maybe there were things they needed to sit down and talk over. That would be another time though. Another time to give it more think.
"Nate's here," Dylan called, pumping his arms in the air dramatically. Nate laughed. This was therapy for him. Considering what he had expected, Nate had liked Mrs. Clack. Next time he wouldn't stress about it as much.
