Good Old PT Ch. 2: And so it Begins
So I got some mixed feelings about this. Some people are excited since no one else has done a story involving PT, others not so much. But I will say, this isn't intended to be a dark story. Physical Therapy is tough, rigorous, tasking, but it's not dark. You're not going to get re-injured. Hell, I look forward to going to PT because it gives me something to do. I'm taking this down a more "misadventures" route instead of a dark route {for once}. Even the title is implying that it's a light hearted approach to this. Why else would I pick the worst possible patient for this injury? So no, not taking this a dark route. Granted, examining the mentality of someone going through PT might be darker, but it's not going to be depressing. So here you go, chapter 2.
Yang wheeled her younger sister through the halls, bellowing for everyone to clear out as she ran by. Everyone whispered to each other as they walked past, wondering what could of have happened to Ruby. Weiss and Blake trailed behind them, concern lining their faces. Here their leader was, in a wheelchair, with no way of assisting herself in moving. It was a sight that made them afraid, worried, and concerned. They were afraid how it would affect Ruby's mentality, worried that she would be affected negatively, and concerned that she was going to stay in that wheelchair for a while.
Ruby wasn't a big fan of the silence that was going on behind her at that moment. It made her feel out of place, incapable, everything that she didn't want to feel. She was their leader, and she lead them straight into a trap. Granted, it wasn't a set trap. Grimm didn't lay set traps. What had happened was that RWBY killed three Beowolves, and the rest of the Grimm in the area had heard the gunfire.
It just wasn't her day.
They finally reached their dorm, and Weiss opened up the door for Ruby and Yang. Yang wheeled Ruby inside, and looked up at her bunk.
"Uhh," Yang said. "Sorry sis, but we have to move you to another bunk." Ruby mumbled sadly, but nodded.
"I'll trade," Weiss offered. "It'll be easier then if Blake were to trade." Yang nodded, and looked at the two beds. Nothing was on either of them that was going to make the transition.
"Alright Rubes," Yang said. "Time to help you up." Ruby waved Yang off, and placed her hands on the side of the wheelchair.
"I can do it," she said. Ruby brought herself to her feet, and put pressure on her right leg. Nothing happened, so she tentatively put pressure on her left leg. It buckled out from underneath her immediately, and Yang caught her before she could fall over.
"No you can't," Yang said immediately. "We'll see if we can get you some crutches to help you walk." Ruby nodded, and let Yang lay her down on the bed. As soon as she was laying down, she tried to bend her leg. She got it to about a 45 degree angle, and then she couldn't bend it anymore. No matter how hard she tried, it just stopped. Soon, it became too hard to do. Ruby just fell back in her bed, and closed her eyes. She was so tired. Why was she tired? The pain from her leg had just sapped the energy right out of her for that day. Sleep hit her immediately.
The Next Morning
Ruby opened up her eyes, and tried to sit up. She found herself struggling to do so, and didn't remember why. She looked up, and saw the bottom of a bed. Why do I see the bottom of a bed? She wondered. Suddenly, everything came back to her. She groaned loudly, and stirred the rest of her team.
"What's going on?" Weiss asked. She hadn't slept all night. Part of it was concern for Ruby, and the other part was the fact that she was dangling on something that she had viewed as a virtual death sentence while on her bed, and now was her coffin.
"I just remembered," Ruby grumbled. "That's all."
"Thanks for waking us up though," Yang said groggily. "It's time for PT." Ruby just banged her head against the back of the bed, and groaned. "So we have to get you in a swimsuit." Ruby groaned again, and looked down at her leg. She remembered what had happened when she tried to bend it the previous night, and she especially remembered how it felt to move it around in the small amounts that she could.
"Weiss, Blake, can you two clear out of the room?" Yang asked. Both girls nodded, and went to leave. Yang looked back at Ruby, and sighed. "I'm going to have to dress you," Yang said sadly. "I don't want to do it anymore then you want me to do it, but we have to." Ruby sighed, and looked down at her body. This was going to be a rough couple of weeks.
Offsite Physical Therapy
Team RWBY exited the bullhead, and wheeled their leader over to the front door. Weiss, once again, opened up the door and let Yang wheel Ruby along. All four girls made their way down to the location that they were given, and signed in at the front. The four girls brought Ruby over to the seats, and looked over her. She was wearing the red one-piece bathing suit that she'd had forever.
None of them were waiting for all that long, because the physical therapist came walked down the halls towards them.
"Hello," he greeted. "You must be team RWBY. I've heard a lot about you guys."
"Hi," Yang said, trying to sound energetic.
"Follow me to the back," the therapist said instantly. He turned around, and started to walk away. Yang quickly got to her feet, and started to push Ruby along. The rest of RWBY followed along, all of them just looking at the white building.
"I'm sorry," the therapist said. "I never introduced myself. My name is Jeff Wortzel. I've been doing this for a while, so you'll be in good hands."
"Good," Ruby grumbled.
"I'm sorry for my partner's behavior," Weiss said instantly. "She's just not happy about being a patient."
"You'd be surprised to know that I rarely get people with a good attitude on the first day," Jeff said with a smile. "Here we are." He stopped outside of a small office, and gestured for the girls to go in. All of them did, and looked around. There was a chair next to a long table, and a two person couch. Weiss and Blake took the couch, and Yang helped Ruby off of the wheelchair. Jeff just observed Ruby's leg as Yang laid her on the bed. He wrote down some notes, and pulled out a small file.
"Okay then," he said. "According to this you were hit by a Nevermore feather in the upper thigh, and you didn't have ample time to pull it out. You somehow ran all the way back to Beacon, but collapsed from blood loss." He put away the clipboard, and nodded to himself. "So you do have a strong aura, which is going to make this easier." He looked over at Ruby, and then he seemed to notice something.
"Why are you in a bathing suit?" He asked. "Did they tell you that you would start in the pool?"
"Yeah," Ruby said cautiously. Jeff laughed, and then shook his head.
"I'm sorry you had to go through the trouble of putting this on, I understand that it was probably difficult to do so in your current condition. I explicitly told them that I'd be conducting a simple examination." Ruby just groaned loudly, and threw her head back. "I really am sorry," he said apologetically.
"It's fine," Ruby said. Something about him made her believe what it was that he was saying.
"Okay, let's begin," he said. "Let's start simple. Can you try and lift your leg up from your knee?" Ruby nodded, and started to lift. She soon found the point where she couldn't, and grunted. "That'll do for now, Ruby, thank you." Ruby nodded and put her leg down. She took a deep breath, and flared her aura to regain some of her physical strength back. "Now can you do the same thing, but from your hip?" Ruby nodded again, and tried to do the same thing again. She got further then from her knee, but she still reached a point where she couldn't bend. "Okay, that's good." Ruby put her leg down, and continued to breathe heavily.
"Alright," he said after making some notations. "I'm going to ask you to lay down on your stomach." Ruby nodded, and forcibly pushed herself onto her stomach. She could feel Jeff's presence come closer, and she heard him rub his hands together.
"Okay Ruby," he said softly. "This is to test how sensative your leg is." She saw a faint green glow, and she craned her head back. The glow was on his hands, and he gently set them on Ruby's leg. He added a little bit of pressure, and Ruby let out a loud hiss of breath. "I see," he said softly. "Okay, now I'm going to bend your leg. I want to see the extent that the nerve is injured."
"Do it," Ruby requested. He nodded, and gently started to move her leg back. Ruby felt nothing for a long time. Soon, her leg reached the point that it had frozen up, and then it kept going. She reacted a short while after that, but Jeff just nodded.
"Okay, that'll work for now," he said. "You can get into a comfortable position." Ruby nodded, and pushed herself up. She extended her leg, and kept her hand on it.
"Okay Ruby," he said. "So I'm going to start with you tomorrow at 10:15 in the morning, and we'll go from there. Your symptoms seem to be more concurrent with something like RSD, even though it has only had a little bit of time to develop. I can promise you that this will be one of the hardest things you've ever had to do physically."
"I'm ready," Ruby said. She tried to boldly stand up, and her leg buckled underneath her weight again. Jeff quickly extended his hand, and the green glow reappeared. Ruby felt her momentum stop, and she looked around her. A small green platform was underneath her, and she sighed gratefully.
"Let's not have you get any more injuries," Jeff said. He slowly moved her upright, and then set her down in the wheelchair. "A semblance that comes in handy when you're working in this field," he remarked, noticing the strange looks from everyone. "I'll see you tomorrow Ruby." Ruby nodded, and waited for Yang to push her off.
End: So after writing 2 chapters of this, I realize that the length might hover around this length the whole time. My apologies, but I can't force this. This is probably the most purely technical I'm going to get on this story and probably the most overall serious. Like I said, I'm shooting misadventures. Questions, comments, follows, favorites, and feedback is appreciated.
