Over the next couple of days, Kate was almost a constant presence at Steve's bedside whilst his parents visited daily.
As predicted by his surgeon, Steve found himself in quite a lot of pain from his injuries and surgery, but with a gentle tinkering of his pain killer regime, it became less of a problem. Once he was comfortable and enough time had lapsed from his surgery for a bit of healing to have occurred, Steve was considered ready to try some physio and start his rehab journey.
Kate was keen to go with him to the gym for his first session and made sure she was available. However despite her best planning she was actually making a last minute dash to the loo when the physio eventually arrived.
He appeared at Steve's bed with a wheelchair and introduced himself as Dan. He was about the same age as Steve and the two men quickly became friends with a shared love of the same football team. By the time Kate reappeared from her comfort break, he was helping Steve transfer from his bed to the wheelchair. Kate stood back but watched with interest, making mental notes on what the physiotherapist did. She wanted to be able to help Steve whenever the physio wasn't around. "Is it ok if I come too?" Kate asked once Steve was safely in his chair and the physio was about to push him to the gym. The physio looked at Steve who nodded his assent.
"Of course," Dan replied before letting Kate push Steve out the ward. "Is this the missus, Steve?" Dan asked.
"No," Steve answered, "but she's the closest thing I have to one. She's Kate by the way," he continued, introducing them both.
"Nice to meet you," Kate said to the physio.
They arrived at the gym and before doing anything the physio asked Steve a lot of questions about his health before explaining what the aim of physio was and what they were hoping to achieve in the coming sessions. "What I want to do today Steve is try some exercises to start rebuilding your muscle strength. We'll have a go at transferring yourself from your wheelchair to bed to make yourself a bit more independent," Dan explained before pointing to a set of parallel bars off to one side of the room. "Finally I want to try and get you up on your feet and maybe take a few steps with you holding on to those bars," he explained. "You up for that?".
"Yep," said Steve quickly. This was going to be a piece of piss.
"It might sound easy," Dan warned, "but you've had a lot of damage to your back and pelvis, so we'll take it slowly, ok?" he continued as he pushed Steve to the equipment.
The session started off well with Steve quickly learning the exercises he needed to do daily if possible. Again, Kate took note and learnt from Dan how they should be done and what she could do to ensure Steve was completing them correctly. With a little practise Steve was also soon getting himself out of his wheelchair and on to a bed or another chair safely.
It was soon time to try and let Steve have a go at walking. Dan watched as Steve attempted to wheel himself over to the parallel bars. By not relying on people to push him, Steve would gain a sense of independence and be able to get around by himself but he had to learn how to manoeuvre the chair.
Eventually he arrived in front of the bars. "Ok so it's going to be your first time on your feet in a little while," Dan advised as he crouched in front of Steve. "If you start to feel dizzy then let me know. Before we begin I just need to adjust the bars for your height,".
"Put them as low as they'll go," Kate interjected.
"Piss off, Kate. I'm taller than you," Steve argued back. "Any more jokes like that and I'm banning you from the gym,".
With the bars adjusted, it was finally time to get Steve on his feet. Steve instantly was aware of how hard it was going to be as soon as he started to transfer weight to his feet. The pain shot right down his back and injured leg. "Aaahhh," escaped from his mouth but he persevered.
"Slowly," advised Dan as he watched his patient, an arm out ready to catch him if it became too much.
"You ok, Steve?" Kate asked, concerned, once Steve was stood with his weight on his arms. Sweat was starting to drip down his face with the effort.
"Uh huh," was all Steve could utter.
"Ok, Steve. I want you to try taking a few steps. Move your arms along the bars first," Dan instructed.
Very slowly, Steve shuffled his arms down the bars a couple of millimetres before moving his feet.
"C'mon, Steve," Kate encouraged. "You're doing great,".
Dan saw how Steve responded to Kate's praise and an idea formed. "Kate why don't you stand at the end of the bars. If Steve can make it to you then he gets a kiss,".
Kate's eyes flicked to Dan's in shock and he realised he'd guessed wrong about their relationship as he saw her blush with embarrassment. "Think that might make him run in the opposite direction," Kate replied. Secretly she wouldn't have minded carrying out the task, but she didn't think Steve would feel the same way.
"Run eh? That would be something on your first session, Steve," Dan commented, glad in the change of topic of conversation.
"What?" Steve managed to get out through all his huffing and puffing. The simple task was taking all his concentration and he hadn't been listening to what Kate and Dan had been saying at all.
"Just saying what a good job you were doing," Dan said as he returned his attention to Steve.
It looked as though Steve was struggling a bit, perhaps a little more than Dan had been anticipating, but it was still early days. It was Steve's first time on his feet and reading his notes he had suffered quite a few injuries. There was nothing to be concerned about just yet. The good thing was that Steve appeared very motivated to be able to walk again which was all Dan wanted in his patients.
Having got to half way along the bars, Steve had to admit defeat and he gratefully sat back in his chair although his mood dipped somewhat.
"You did great, Steve," Kate praised as she pushed him back to his bed. He was too tired to wheel himself.
"Not really. I should have gone the whole distance," he retorted, disappointed at his efforts and his body for letting him down.
"Says who?" Kate challenged. "Dan was pleased with you. I'm amazed you did what you did. I don't think I'd have managed to get out the chair," she continued to herself. Steve remained silent.
Once they got to the ward Kate helped Steve in to bed. "What would you like to do now?" She asked, once he was settled.
"If you don't mind I'd like to get some rest," Steve informed Kate a little brusquely. He didn't really want a nap, more he just wanted to be by himself and wallow in self pity for a bit but wouldn't tell Kate that.
Kate looked at Steve. He did indeed look quite tired and he probably hadn't meant to sound so harsh just now. "I'll let you get some beauty sleep then," she said as she took Steve's hand and squeezed it gently before leaving to go for a wander around the hospital, hoping his mood would be improved when she returned.
Steve watched her go. Despite thinking he didn't need sleep it wasn't long before he succumbed to the sandman. Unfortunately the rest would only temporarily improve his mood before it completely hit rock bottom a couple of days later.
Despite regular physio sessions, Dan was not seeing any great improvements in Steve's mobility and he was getting a little worried. "Kate not here today?" Dan asked as he helped Steve into his wheelchair after failing to walk the length of the parallel bars again.
"She had to go in to work to see our boss," Steve replied. Kate had been summoned by Ted for an update on Steve's progress and when she thought she might be returning to work.
"Is her absence the reason for why you seem to be struggling a bit today?".
Steve didn't answer immediately. He too was thinking that he wasn't progressing very well with his rehab but was hoping it was his imagination. To hear the physio voice his concerns worried him. He shook his head. "It's my back. It's just hurting so much whenever I stand up," he eventually admitted.
"You should have said, mate," Dan gently scolded him. "I don't want to be pushing you too hard and doing more damage to your back,".
"But I need to get back on my feet and walking again! No pain, no gain, right?".
"I'm going to have a word with your surgeon," Dan said as he headed to his desk where his phone lay. "I think we should do some more scans on your back to see if there's something going on.
Steve sat in his chair and listened to Dan's conversation with the doctor, hoping she would think that there wasn't anything to do. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case. "Right I'm taking you to the MRI scanner," Dan informed Steve as he hung up.
"I'm sure it's nothing. Wish I hadn't said anything," Steve blustered.
"Well best to be sure," Dan replied as he started to push Steve to the radiology department. The MRI scanner had a narrow little tube that Steve had to lie in whilst the investigation was being performed. It took a little while to do and unfortunately gave Steve the opportunity to do nothing else but lie there and worry about his future.
With the test done, Dan took Steve back to the gym where they worked on his transferring skills and muscle exercises whilst they awaited the results. Steve could tell it wasn't going to be good news by the fact the surgeon appeared in the room and looked a little serious.
"The x-rays showed that we've done a good job with your legs and pelvis, but your MRI shows that there's still significant swelling at the site of your vertebral fracture," she informed him.
"I'll be walking though?" Steve asked, not really understanding what the surgeon was trying to tell him.
"At this stage it's not possible to rule out long-term mobility issues. I wish I could be more positive, Thank you," she said as the floor slipped figuratively from Steve's feet and he was free falling.
Was the doctor trying to tell him he'd be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life? That couldn't happen. He wouldn't be able to go back to the force. He'd be retired on medical grounds. Whilst that wasn't great, Steve was more concerned that Kate would get a new partner. She might see Steve at first but gradually her visits would become less frequent... until eventually he would become someone she just had known.
"I'm sorry, mate," Dan said, interrupting his morbid thoughts.
"We should get back to the exercises. I think I should have another go at the parallel bars," Steve uttered.
"Not today Steve," Dan replied sadly. "I'm afraid there won't be any parallel bars for a while. Not until that swelling has gone down,".
"How long is that going to take?" Steve spat. "I need to get back to work! I'm in the middle of a damn investigation!".
"Probably around four to six weeks," Mickey advised.
"I can't wait six weeks,".
"You can do your exercises to build up your strength in the mean time,".
"Great," Steve replied sarcastically and with a roll of his eyes. Exercises were not going to get him walking.
"Until then, I'm afraid it's the wheelchair you'll be using to get yourself around," Dan reiterated.