The next morning they were up on time, trying to establish a routine. They had breakfast with Agnes, packed her a lunch and poured coffees to go.
"You sure you don't want me to come with you?" asked Liz for the third time that morning. "I know Cooper would be good with it."
"I'm sure" said Ressler, also for the third time. "I have PT every day for the next two weeks at least, probably 3, you can't possibly come that many times, so we might as well not start."
"I know, but the first few times are bound to be the hardest. What if you hurt too much to drive yourself afterwards?" She was scared that he was underestimating how difficult it would be.
He was actually scared of the same thing. But he had been through this once before, years ago when he was shot in the femur and he remembered how much it hurt that time. He didn't want Liz to see him, for sure not the first few times. He was the kind of guy who would rather suffer in private. "Liz, I'll be okay. I promise. I've been through this once before." But Audrey drove me home last time because I wasn't allowed at first.
"I know. Just promise you will call me if you can't do it. I don't want you getting hurt again."
"I will, Liz, I promise. I'll see what I'm like when I get done, it'll depend if I come to the Post Office after or not. Either way, I can probably get Aggie when she's done." His PT sessions were 3 hours, 9 in the morning until noon. Agnes' school wasn't out until 3:30 like normal, so that should give him time enough to recuperate.
"Okay, well don't forget these" she said, handing him his pills. He hadn't taken any since they had been prescribed, because he could tolerate any pain he still had, but now that he was in PT he might need them he knew. His joints were stiff and suprisingly atrophied after only a few weeks of not really being used, and he knew he was in for a lot of pain. He'd push through what he could, but he knew that in reality he would likely need them.
"Thanks" he said, pocketing them. He'd definitely need them if he planned go to the Post Office.
"Okay, I'll see you later then" said Liz, kissing him and Agnes and then leaving for work. Ressler had a few minutes before he had to leave too, drop Agnes off and get to the hospital on time.
"Daddy, what are you doing at the hospital today that's going to hurt so much? What does PT mean?" asked Agnes. Wow, kids really are perceptive.
"It means that people are going help Daddy get his shoulder and his leg strong again. But it's going to hurt a lot. Daddy's probably not going to have much time or energy for playing with you after school for a while."
"Oh" said Agnes, "but it means that you are going to get better? Like normal again, with no crutches?"
"Eventually, slowly, yes."
"Then it's okay" decided Agnes. Ressler's heart swelled with joy. He had such a caring daughter.
His therapy was every bit as hard as he remembered and then some. He didn't even make it through class before taking a pill, he paused in the middle. Even then he went until tears streamed down his cheeks and his body threatened to physically give out. But he made it through everything on the agenda, even the ones that they had only hoped to get to.
His therapist, a patient and kind man by the name of Jon, was surprised by his endurance. He stood by him the whole time or laid or sat or whatever it was they were doing at the time. Ressler was glad he was there, he was regretting not letting Liz come along. He was starting to rethink the whole "suffering in solitude" thing.
Jon gave him a package with instructions on some exercises to do at home, but Ressler only half listened. He wanted to see Liz, even just for a minute and then he wanted to sleep until he had to pick up Agnes.
Jon helped him to a bench outside the therapy room was class was done. He was under the impression that someone was coming for Ressler and Ressler let him believe that. They frowned on patients coming to PT alone and now he knew why. But he didn't want to ask Liz to give up more for him than she already did so he just sat on the bench for half an hour until he had gathered the strength to move again. Then he limped down to his vehicle, pulling himself up and collapsing in his seat. He pulled out his phone as he had felt it vibrate on his snail-paced limp across the parking lot. It was Liz.
L: how did it go? Are you okay?
She didn't ask if he needed her to come for him, but he knew what she was thinking, and he was sure that it took a lot of self-control on her part not to ask. She was probably flipping out because he hadn't replied yet. He just called her instead.
She picked up the phone instantly, so he was definitely right, she had been waiting. He tried to keep his pain from showing in his voice but when he heard her voice asking he told her the truth. That he hurt, so bad, and it was all he could think about. He was sure that he couldn't even bend his joints that much before he had been shot.
She tried to tell him she was coming to pick him up but he refused, he said he had to learn to do it himself and that she would see him soon. He was going to the Post Office, because they wanted to see each other.
It was another 10 minutes before he put the car in drive, but that actually wasn't so bad. He only used his good side, the other arm hung limp, and the biggest struggle was keeping himself awake and not crying.
Liz met him in the parkade of the Post Office and ran to hold him, helping him to the elevator and then onto the couch in their office.
"Have you ate anything?" she asked, it was 1 o'clock in the afternoon by this time.
"I can't right now Liz. I hurt, I just want to sleep until it hurts a little less."
"Okay" she didn't push him. "You sleep, I'll come check on you in an hour".
He nodded, so she brushed the hair from his face and held his hand for the entire two minutes it took for him to fall asleep. She could tell he was in pain and if that was his best way of dealing, then that was okay. She shut the door on her way out, explaining to the group the situation.
When she came to check on him an hour later, he was still asleep but he seemed more peaceful, his body relaxed into the cushions and not as rigid as it has been before. She woke him, and he sat up, still hurting, but manageable again. He got up and ate the sandwich she had made him.
Then he made his way out to the war room and filled out a few forms, leaving again in time to get Agnes. He was glad that the pain subsided again.
That night after supper, he showed Liz the information booklet Jon had given him regarding the muscle building and range of motion exercises to work on at home. He spent over an hour on the floor, going through the entire 'Day 1' list twice.
This time there was no hiding how much it hurt, not to Liz or Agnes, who thankfully went to bed partway through. Liz helped him up afterwards and forced another pill down his throat. Then he went straight to bed, to lay flat and still at least if not to sleep.
With nothing else to do, and nowhere else she'd rather be Liz joined him. He was being quiet and Liz worried again.
"Are you okay?" she asked quietly, sitting up beside him.
"No" he said, his voice trembly. "I didn't think it would be so hard. I don't remember it hurting this much last time."
"Well last time was just your leg Don. This is both your shoulder and your hip."
"I know, but I'm beginning to think I should wait a little longer. Not push so hard. I mean did you see the lists for next week?" he asked, referring to the daunting length of the lists in the booklet he had been given.
"I did. But Don, every day it's going to get a bit easier. This is day 1, day 1 is always the worst. Don't give up yet, it's way too soon. I'll come with you tomorrow if you want, but I think you should go."
She was right he knew, and even if she wasn't he would try again just because she asked. "Okay"
When she reached for her phone to text Cooper he said, "wait, we will see in the morning."
She agreed to appease him and then she asked if it was okay if they watched something on the screen in his room for a while because it was too early to sleep yet. He agreed and she propped him up on some pillows so he could see and still rest.
By the next morning, Ressler was feeling better again and told Liz she had to go to work and he would come after like the day before. She agreed again because he was a stubborn man and for whatever logic, this seemed to help him.
That day went much like one before it and the one that followed it. They settled into a routine, waking on time, going thier respective ways in the morning to meet up at lunch at the Post Office where he would sleep for an hour and eat, then hang around before going for Agnes. At night Ressler would complete his exercises at least twice, sometimes more, than fall into bed shaking with pain.
His mood changed by the hour and it was hard on all of them, but they didn't give up. Some days were better than others. He had days so hard that he wanted to quit but Liz always convinced him to stick the course.
He made progress, some days noticeably and some days subtlety. In the very least the therapy kept his mind off of his third injury.
They also went to the doctor every week for assessments. By the third week of PT Ressler's shoulder was back to normal and he could walk with no assistance, though he did limp when he tired and he still couldn't run.
The doctor cut his PT back to three afternoons a week and cleared him to return to work the following Monday. Nothing had changed on the Gonads front, but Ressler was still going to give it another week as promised to compete the month.
The night before he was set to return to work Liz and Ressler were sitting on the couch watching Grey's Anatomy and eating chips when Liz brought up something that occurred to both of them but they had previously not wanted to admit.
"You know, now that you are going to work and pretty much self-sufficient again, I don't strictly need to be here."
Ressler paused the screen and shifted to face her. "Yah, I know, I thought about it the other day, but I didn't want to say anything."
"Why not?" she pushed.
"Because I didn't want to come across wrong and have you think I didn't want you here. And because I don't want you to leave. I like the two of you here."
"I like it too" said Liz quickly. "I hoped you would say that. But I thought we should talk about it in case Agnes asks. I mean when we moved in I told her it was because you were hurt and needed our help. But she sees you doing everything for yourself and more often then not cooking us all dinner and picking her up. She's smart, she knows you don't need us to help anymore."
"Yah, that's a good thought" said Ressler, smiling. "She's quick, that girl" his voice was full of pride, which made Liz smile too.
"So what I was thinking" she continued, "was that we could go back to my place, get all the album's and clothes and stuff we left behind out and move it in here. Then we could rent out that apartment as fully furnished. It's close enough to the College and the Hospital that I'm sure it won't be hard to find someone, and it has two bedrooms so people could split the cost or even have a small family. That is of course if the offer to stay here still stands?" she looked at him again.
"Absolutely" he said. Then he put on a serious face. "Live with me?" He grinned. "I was going to say move in, but you kind of already did that."
"Yah, and I mean it was fast, but we are used to it here now, Agnes is adjusted well. I think it would work."
"Me too" said Ressler. "I mean, yah, 7 weeks is really fast, but we've spent them all living together really, either in a hospital or here. And dealing with some really hard things. We haven't pushed each other away yet."
"Yah" Liz smiled at him. "Don't know about you but I ain't going anywhere." She reached for his hand. "And something else. Let's agree to never let the sun set on our anger. That way if we have a disagreement, we have to work things out."
"I agree" said Ressler. "And I don't care if it's fast. It feels right. People can think what they want, but this is right for us."
"It is" agreed Liz. "It feels like a lot longer than 7 weeks, sometimes it feels like it's been 7 months. Besides we have been partners for 8 years, we know everything about each other, we've been close for a long time. We are a lot more ready for this than most couples when they move in together, regardless of how long it's been since we admitted certain things."
"Blunt and honest" said Ressler. "Just my type." He regarded her under his eye lids, doing an obvious sweep of her body.
Liz laughed and playfully slapped his cheek.
"Okay" she said, "so this weekend, we go there and get the last of our things, yah?"
"Yah, and we clean it nice, take some pictures, post it online. I can handle that kind of thing."
"Okay". With that settled, Liz picked up the remote and pressed play again. She stole the bag of chips and when he complained she fed him some. His eyes admired her again, more than normal, and not even trying to hide it, but she let him, remembering the doctors words about teenage hormone flashes.
Maybe things were finally working out.