The gym was relatively silent, with the only noise coming from the occasional thump of the weights and low grunts that Paul and Mateo were making as they traded back and forth on the machines. The low noise of talking and laughter came up the stairs every once in a while, the remaining staff downstairs gulping back coffee, trying to get through the last four hours of their shift.
It had been a few weeks since the shooting and T.K. had started coming into the station to work out in preparation for his recertification. Generally, he found the weight room that his dad had designed to be significantly more motivating than his bedroom, but nothing seemed to be going right that morning.
First, T.K. had fallen out of bed, startled at the loud noise of someone's car alarm going off at 5 am. Not only was he not able to get back to sleep, but he had landed hard, right on his injured shoulder. After uttering quite a few curse words under his breath, he slid into the shower, letting the pressure of the hot water soothe the pain in his shoulder.
Now, T.K. was attempting to complete all of his physio exercises, but his shoulder wasn't having any of it. It wasn't a sharp pain, but a persistent burning sensation that started at the top of his clavicle and ended at his elbow. Stopping the repetitions again, T.K. attempted to stretch out his shoulder, but ended up wincing as another wave of excruciating pain shot through his arm.
Paul and Mateo had been treading carefully around T.K. that morning. Even Mateo had noticed that T.K. appeared to be particularly cranky and was being abnormally quiet. But he couldn't ignore his friend anymore. "You okay, man?" Mateo asked tentatively, while stepping closer to where T.K. was doing his exercises. "Does it hurt badly?" He added, gesturing at T.K.'s shoulder.
"No Mateo, it's perfectly fine," T.K. replied sarcastically, throwing the elastic band that he had been using halfway across the room. Dropping his head into his hands, he attempted to brace himself through the pain. It wasn't the first time since the shooting that he wished he could take something, anything for the injury. But it was important that this didn't set him back. T.K. had upped his attendance at NA meetings and was working through alternative methods of medicine with his physiotherapist to help try to manage the pain. But times like this, nothing seemed to really help.
Taking a deep breath, T.K. glanced back up at Paul and Mateo. Both of them had shifted closer while he wasn't watching, with Paul sitting down gingerly next to him on the bench. T.K. felt a twinge of guilt when he saw the hurt in Mateo's eyes. "I'm sorry Mateo," T.K. said, chewing on his bottom lip.
"You know we're here for you, right T.K.? If you need to shout, yell, scream, whatever, we're here for you man," Paul said honestly, rather concerned about his friend. The whole station had been dealing with the aftermath of the shooting, even though they weren't physically injured in the incident. A trauma counsellor had been brought in to talk to everyone, and Paul knew that several team members had scheduled follow-up sessions, himself included. "Is there anything we can do, right now to help?"
T.K. paused, not wanting to be a bother but also recognizing the sincerity in Paul's words. "Can you see if Michelle is here?" T.K. finally asked, realizing that he should probably get his shoulder looked at. "I had a fall earlier, landed on my shoulder," T.K. added, noticing Paul and Mateo's confused looks.
Mateo nodded, and headed downstairs to find Michelle. Paul took the opportunity to ask T.K. one more private question. "Are you talking to someone, T.K.?" he asked seriously, staring at T.K. directly in the eyes, hoping that T.K. would answer him honestly.
T.K. nodded, his eyes flickering down at his shoes. "I've been going to a therapist since we moved here Paul, you don't have to worry about that." T.K. said honestly, knowing that Paul would keep this conversation between the two of them.
Paul nodded, surprised but content with T.K.'s response. The two of them waited in silence until Mateo brought Michelle into the weight room, then the two of them left to give T.K. some privacy with Michelle. "He'll be okay, Mateo." Paul reassured Mateo, with a friendly pat on his shoulder. He'll be okay, he repeated in his head, feeling more confident now after his conversation with T.K..