"How are you feeling Jack?" He asked whilst checking his temperature.
"Weird." Jack croaked before taking a moment to assess himself. "I feel... heavy." He muttered confused.
The doctor smiled as he said this. "Well that's to be expected. It will feel strange at first, but then you will get used to it."
Jack nodded slowly as the doctor continued.
"Your movements are going to be restricted from now on. All of your wounds are healed, and the bone in your hip has set, but that's the easy part, I'm afraid. Moving is going to be hard, and painful for the most part. You will make progress slowly, but one thing you must be clear about Jack, is that you can not attempt to walk, it will put unneeded stress on the bone and will damage it further. I know how hard its going to be for you sitting around in a wheelchair barely moving - but its for your best interest. If the bone is injured before your body has had time to adjust to it, it could result in permanent damage, and none of us want that."
Gregory finished his lector and Jack sighed, he had feared this, and the worst thing was that he knew that the man was right - he was going to be down for a while.
"How long 'till I'm back on my feet again?" He asked feebly, dreading the answer - it was only going to add unneeded strain on the mission, and along with the deadline things weren't looking good.
"Once your body has adjusted to the strain and we've gone through the motions you'll be back on your feet - but it will be a slow process."
"Okay." Jack muttered as he realised the man hadn't told him how long it would take. "So, how am I going to get about if I can't put weight on my legs?"
The doctor smiled inside as Jack said this, it showed him that Jack knew the deal with his hip - and he would probably take his advice.
"We have a wheelchair. But don't worry - I am a specialist in physio, and were going to get you started right away. And with the way the Salazars talk about you I expect you will be standing shortly. I know It doesn't seem much but that alone will be a big milestone - and after standing, walking is the next step. As I said earlier, we will make sure your back on your feet as soon as we can."
Jack smiled, wondering if things were going to move faster after all. "Thanks."
"Ive flushed your system of most of the drugs we had you on, but I kept a manageable amount of morphine in, as although you aren't going to be walking, you will still be moving, so this will help you handle the pain from that."
He looked at Jack who was listening intently, taking it all in.
"Anything you want to ask me?"
Jack shook his head, then changed his mind. "Actually, I want to take a shower. But.... I can't walk to the shower?" He asked, allowing a slight laugh to cloud his embarrassment, he didn't know what he was going to do.
The doctor laughed, sensing his embarrassment and hoping to lighten the mood.
"We'll get you in the wheelchair and I'll let you sort yourself out from their. But I'm afraid its a bath, you can't stand in the shower...." He trailed off, hoping his words about staying put were going to sink into him soon - he had said it a few times already yet it hadn't seemed to register in his mind yet.
"All right. Can you call someone to bring me my stuff down here?"
"There's a lot of your stuff in the cabinet in the bathroom, you will be able to get everything you need yourself, its all accessible - which is why we moved you down here."
"Okay."
Gregory walked over and grabbed the black wheelchair from the wall and opened it up, before setting it down next to the bed. He then held Jacks arm gently but firmly as he helped him sit up slowly, repeating to Jack his need to keep his movement slow and steady, and asking if he was all right.
Jack was doing okay, but he felt so heavy he wanted to drop back down onto the bed. Once sat up he slowly moved himself over the sheets to the edge of the bed, the doctor holding him up as his back threatened to fall back down onto the mattress, struggling to take the strain.
The doctor instructed Jack to push himself into the chair using his arms without moving his legs - which he just about managed, grimacing in pain as he did so. The pain was so sharp as he moved, which he couldn't understand. Once seated still it went away, but he was still focused on it. Sensing his confusion the doctor interrupted.
"Its only so bad because your body has stiffened up. Most of the time movement like that will send twinges down the hip but nothing more, once its got used to the activity. It will only be like this for a short while - but now you must understand why you can't stand until your ready - it will be extremely painful."
Jack spoke up, his voice harsh form the pain. "Believe me, I am not going to try hold my weight up, after that." He spoke calmly, hoping the doctor would finally believe him and stop repeating himself he was getting annoying.
"Good. Then I'll leave you too it. I'll be next door, if you find you do need help, shout me. I'll come back in an hour or two to see how your doing, okay?"
"Yes, and thanks." Jack said to the mans retreating back, watching him as he left the room.
He then slowly wheeled the chair through the room to the adjourning one which was the bathroom. He slowly managed to swivel the chair around so he could close the door behind him and lock it too. He realised just how hard it was not using his legs for the simplest tasks. He wasn't sure why it was his legs he wasn't allowed to move when it was his hip that was damaged, so he assumed that when he moved his legs, the hip bones either moved too or were connected some how.
He didn't think about this too long, his thoughts slipped to the Salazars, and how they would react to his newly founded restrictions? Surely they wouldn't be relying on his abilities anymore? He didn't know if this was good or bad, but decided he still had the sympathy card to pull if things went down hill. After all, the only reason he was in this position was because of Hector - he would just have to make sure they didn't forget that.