A/n: sorry about such a long wait, but here it is. Hope you enjoy!
Alex opened her eyes to a bright white wall, and her first thought was if she was in heaven. Her thoughts quickly changed to focus on the intense pain she felt in her body and the unbelievable itch she had in her food. As she started to focus, the pain subside and she tried to remember why she was there. As her eyes focused on familiar things around her, along with the thousand of plants and cards, she found a sleeping Bobby in a chair too small to be comfortable.
Alex then noticed her family on the other side of her talking quietly. She tried to turn her body, but found too much pain, so resorted to turning her head while trying to get their attention. She tried to say something, but her throat was dry and scratchy.
"Alex!" she heard a voice say with joy as everyone stood up to hug her. She could only smile as she forced her eyes open.
They stayed in the room for another hour or two until they had to leave, all due back in St. Louis to their new home, promising to check in daily, and if she needed it, that they would be back out in a moment's notice. Alex smiled at the promise all of them would forget in the near future, but their was love backing each word, so she dared not question it.
Bobby had left the room to get something to eat and to get some work he could keep himself busy with while he waited by her side.
It was two weeks before Alex started physical therapy, three days before her new leg came in. Her first session was easy enough, mostly examining what parts she could use, and to what extent, but afterwards she was completely worn out to the point she slept without a single painkiller.
When she got her new leg, Dr. Timpson fitted it around the rest of her leg, making sure the padding were in place and she knew how to us it. She was given a basic one for the time being, making sure she would be used to one before she even thought about becoming athletic again.
As she slowly stumbled across the room, keeping her hand right above the bar, a single tear dropped from her eye. She never believed such an easy task caused her so much pain now, but she was determine and pushed herself forward as she tried to find bit of comfort.
After another day, they took her wheel chair, and she was assigned to crutches and her new leg. Her therapist told her to wait another week before she even thought about moving around without the crutches, but while she waited alone, she moved throughout her room, trying to build the strength she so quickly lost.
During all of this, she kept her mind as far off the rape as she could, but found herself crying late at night, and when a nurse found her, it was off to the other type of therapy the days she didn't do physical therapy.
Bobby was allowed to attend physical therapy with her after three weeks, as they taught him how to take care of her help her when she needed it since he would be at her apartment for the next month. It took them a week of fighting to decide what apartment they would be staying at, but finally decided on Alex's so she could be in her own bed.
"What are you doing," Alex said, carefully balancing herself as she moved with the help of the crutches. Bobby had just bought her a pair for herself, and wrapped soft towels around them pits to keep her comfortable.
"Have a seat, my dear," Bobby said, pulling a sheet off the recliner he also bought for her. Alex stumbled over to the chair, trying to keep balance on the crutches. She had two days of rest before she was expected back for physical therapy and Bobby was going to make sure she relaxed for every second of it.
As he moved a small stand closer to her chair, he organized the remotes, her water bottle, a box of crackers, and her million bottles of drugs.
He wanted to get the drugs organized by what was taken when since she had so many of them. She already had one for her blood pressure; she had her iron vitamins, strong painkillers, and an anti-depression. The therapist advised Bobby to watch as she took each one, and count them twice a day to make sure she wouldn't OD.
While Alex physical health was doing better, her mental health was not. She was still scared to be alone, and hated constantly blamed the whole ordeal on herself. She still strived to be able to walk again, but it took a lot more effort to push herself than it usually would. Though, it didn't help that she had hardly any family there for support. Her sister could make minimal visit, but offered to let Alex stay with them while she recovered, but Alex was all too afraid of the consequences.
"So how is your leg feeling today?" Jason Mitchell, her physical therapist asked as he wrote, walking around the room with her.
"About a seven. Its improving, but it still feels out of place every once in a while," she admitted. Her walk was becoming more steady and even, but still had a limping stagger to it.
"When is your next appointment with Dr. Howard?" Mitchell asked, bending down, examining the area around her knee. Alex was suppose to were shorts and felt very uncomfortable as he did so, wondering what people were thinking when they saw it. Wondering how they judged her as she struggled to walk.
"In about… oh its on Tuesday, I think," she said, trying to refresh her memory, however her drugs still clouded her thoughts. Though she was off of the heavy painkillers, the one she had were quite the dozy.
"Okay, well you need to tell him about what's going on. And I know its kind of early, but if you are talking about going back to active duty, you might also want to bring that up so he has an idea what to be thinking about," Jason said as he sat her down, and moved her leg up and down, and to all side, checking flexibility.
"You really think its likely I will be able to?" she asked, rolling her eyes as she thought about how hard it was to even get up to use the bathroom and the trouble and awkwardness the shower required.
"Dear, you would not believe the technology they have now, along with the different kind of legs you can get. If you want it bad enough, you will be able to get back to your daily routine of jogging a mile at night," Jason said, setting her leg down, and helping her up to get on the treadmill.
Alex got home that night at about five o'clock. Bobby had to drop her off before heading back into the office for a while. Even though he said he would be home by seven, she wasn't really expecting that early since she knew personally how uncontrollable his hours were.
"Alex, come on, let's get a quick shower before I cook you up something," Bobby said in his mock baby voice, waking her up after a nap.
Alex checked on her leg before reaching over for her crutches and taking Bobby's hand to stand up. She moved slowly towards her bedroom and picked out her nightclothes as Bobby stood in the corner of the room like a statue.
As she hobbled over towards the bathroom she started to strip before slipping into a robe and calling in Bobby for help. He moved helped her to a shower before he took her leg she removed, trying not to invade any personal space. As she pulled the curtain around, she handed him her robe, not exposing anything, he stayed in her bedroom with the T.V. on next to silence as he listened carefully for any call for help or sound that she was done.
When he heard the shower shut off, he turned off the T.V. and opened the door. By now they knew the routine, he would come in and hand her the towels. After she wrapped one around herself, he would help her get out and wrap on around her hair before he turned around and she changed the first towel into a robe. The process was embarrassing for both of them, but it was the only way they could accomplish such a task, and because of such task, Alex was talking about having to move into an assistant living, knowing Bobby wasn't going to be there forever.
