My noteā¦I'm so excited about this chapter because it's ALL Jimmy and it takes him through the entire process of becoming upright again. I hope you enjoy it.
ONE SMALL STEP
CHAPTER 4: STAND AND DELIVER
The call from Lana came on a Wednesday, while Jimmy was in Ashley's car and the pair were on their way to Ellie and Marco's for dinner. He made up an excuse to get out of his session that Saturday and was thinking of one for the following week, when Lana called him out on it during one of their mid-day sessions, "Jimmy, we've got to do this".
So, without the ability to postpone the inevitable any longer, Jimmy pushed through the doors of therapy room three and over to Lana's desk. "Glad you could make it", she greeted, with just a hint of satisfactory sarcasm in her voice.
"Well, I didn't have much of a choice did I...", Jimmy paused and looked up at Lana pointedly. "...since you threatened to call my parents if I didn't show up today", he finished, sounding more nervous than the pissed off, he was going for.
"I wouldn't have said anything", Lana defended sincerely, and Jimmy knew that. As soon as Jimmy turned eighteen, he took over all legal and medical aspects of his care, with the stipulation that his parents be involved on a need-to-know basis. This was his life, his body and all of the decisions that needed to be made, were to be his...Lana respected that. Although, Jimmy did tend to be a little more lenient when Ashley was involved...save for this situation.
"I know", he whispered, looking down and fiddling with the hem of his shirt.
Lana's heart clenched a bit for Jimmy. She knew this new form of therapy was going to be difficult enough on him, both mentally and physically, but to do it without any form of outside support system, might turn out to be overwhelming for him...especially since Ashley was by far, his biggest supporter. "Jimmy, I really wish you'd reconsider letting someone in on this...", she suggested...again. "...you really shouldn't have to do this alone".
"I didn't think I was doing this alone", Jimmy challenged back, almost sarcastically. "You said that you and Boris were gonna be right there with me". Lana knew he had her beat on that one. She also knew how stubborn Jimmy Brooks could be on certain matters, and if he didn't want anyone knowing about the therapy, he must have a good reason.
A small smirk played upon Jimmy's lips when he realized he had rendered his therapist speechless. "So, where do we start?", he asked firmly, trying hard to mask his nervousness.
Lana stood up and led Jimmy to the therapy table where they usually started out their sessions with some stretching. She helped him up onto the table, then left him sitting there while she went to retrieve the special order from the storage closet. She soon returned with a meticulously wrapped pair of leg braces under her arm.
"I've already checked for any cracks, sharp edges or other design flaws and couldn't find any...that's good", Lana explained as she unpackaged the braces from their wrappings. "But, we still need to try them on to be sure they fit and work properly...and make any adjustments that need to be made".
"They're big", Jimmy muttered dejectedly, looking the foreign objects, up and down.
Lana flashed a quick smile. "Well you have long legs", she replied simply and pulled out her measuring tools.
"No, I mean...they just look so...big", Jimmy's tone changed slightly and Lana looked up from her measuring to see him tentatively reach out to touch the smooth contour of the thigh support.
"Actually there pretty slim", she replied and paused to pick one up, fairly easily. "...especially for the amount of support you require". Lana laid the appropriate brace next to Jimmy's outstretched left leg and eye-balled the fit. "You should see some of the early models...heavy metal, bulky straps...these are really streamlined, strong and efficient...and made to fit nicely under your pants...", she trailed off for a second and starred down at Jimmy's legs. "You did wear track shorts under those, didn't you?".
Jimmy looked down at the sweatpants in question and nodded, "Ah...yeah".
Lana let out a small sigh of relief. "And you have a good pair of athletic shoes...", she commented as she began to remove them from Jimmy's feet.
"Over a year old and never been used", Jimmy mused, looking down at the stark white shoes he'd worn for the majority of that year.
"Well we're about to take care of that, aren't we?", she quipped back, motioning for him to start in on his pants.With a little effort and some very practiced maneuvering, Jimmy lowered his sweats to his knees, where Lana took over and removed them fully.
Jimmy glanced down at his legs, he hated how they looked...thin and soft. He had no idea how his legs would be expected to help hold him up, when he thought they looked as though they could be snapped as easily as a twig. Lana on the other hand, was completely unphased. She knew the stregth Jimmy's bones still possesed and the ability of the flimsy looking, light weight, plastic braces to support much more weight than would be considered possible.
Jimmy watched as Lana unfastened the velcro straps and shifted some of the supports out of the way before lifting his leg into the capsule like apparatus. He imagined it would be cold, the plastic on his skin... much like Lana's hands, they were always cold.
Lana made sure Jimmy's eyes were following her as she refastened the straps, starting at the foot, then moving up to the knee, and finally the thigh. "I'm checking for any signs of improper fit or pinching", she explained as she felt up and down his leg. Jimmy shifted the position of his hands, his arms were locked at the elbow, propping him up, semi-reclined...and Lana moved to the other leg.
Jimmy looked at Lana expectantly once he was secured to her satisfaction. "Now what?", he asked cautiously.
Lana smiled. "Now you learn how to move in them", she replied frankly, and moved his chair next to the table.
Jimmy got to work moving into a sitting position. He followed his usual list of caluculated movements, but found that when he positioned his legs to dangle over the side of the table...the not particularly heavy braces, threw his balance off dramatically. "Whoa", he gasped, white-knuckling the edge of the table as Lana jumped in to steady him.
"See, not the same...is it?", she asked rhetorically as she waited for Jimmy to find his balance before letting go. "That's why I wanted you to get the hang of just having them on...before we move on to anything else", she added, and had Jimmy complete the transfer.
Lana made sure Jimmy was comfortable sitting in his chair with the braces on before beckoning him back onto the table. She had him sit as before, legs hanging off the side...only this time, Jimmy felt a little more confident as he found and maintained his balance and eased his grip on the edge of the table.
Lana checked the flexibility of the braces. "Your foot has to stay stationary, since you'd have no way of controlling it", she pointed to the long, solid piece that traveled from above his calf, all the way down to his toes. "But the knee will lock when you're standing...and can be bent when you're sitting", she added, giving a demonstration for emphasis. Jimmy watched as Lana straightened his leg out in front of him, locking the knee, then pressed the release to bring it back to it's previous bent position. She did the same with the other leg, then helped Jimmy lay down onto the table to remove the braces.
"We'll get a quick session in...make sure everything's in working order...and get you up", Lana exclaimed excitedly.
Jimmy folded his arms across his chest, and for the first time in three weeks, genuinely smiled at the prospect of standing.
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Anya snuck into therapy room three, on her fifteen minute break from the work she was doing, two rooms over. She moved, unobtrusively, to the corner nearest the parallel bars as to not bother any of the other sessions that were going on at various stations, just as Lana and Boris were helping Jimmy back into the braces.
"We'll help you with these in the beginning, and show you the proper way to get in and out of them...then teach you how to do it yourself", Lana stated as she worked on his right leg. "We're also gonna show you how to take care of the braces and what to watch for in terms of wear or damage".
"On my legs...or the braces?", Jimmy asked playfully.
"Both", Lana quipped in reply, then patted Jimmy's left thigh. "Okay, you're all set".
With those four little words, Jimmy's smile faded and all the fear and apprehension from the past few weeks, came flooding back. He took in a deep breath and looked up and Lana for encouragement as he moved his chair the three or four feet to the end of the parallel bars.
Lana came around, stopping and kneeling in front of Jimmy. She waited for him to lock his breaks before taking his feet off of the foot rest and placing them strategically onto the floor. Jimmy lifted his shakey hands from his rims and grasped tightly onto the bars. Lana motioned for him to scoot forward in his seat, while Boris took hold of the strap on the harness that was around Jimmy's waist.
"Okay, on the count of three, you're going to push up, just like we practiced", Lana instructed Jimmy calmly as she made sure of her own footing before proceeding. "Remember, your arms are going to be doing all the work getting you up...your legs won't be helping to support you until you're fully upright and the knees of the braces, lock".
"You ready?", she asked with a pat on the knee and a smile. Jimmy nodded hesitantly and swallowed hard as he took in a deep breath. "Okay then...one...two...three...".
There was as flury of activity as Jimmy struggled upward, Lana kneeling at his feet, Boris trying to right him from behind. Anya bit her lips as she watched Jimmy sway, buckle, then pitch forward toward the mat. It all happened so fast, Lana didn't have much time to react and within seconds Jimmy was back in his chair, head down, fists balled, seemingly discouraged and definitely panting.
Lana looked defeatedly up at Boris, he shrugged and gave her a small sympathetic smile. She placed a comforting hand on Jimmy's shoulder and rubbed gently. "Jimmy? If you need some time...we can try again next week...".
"No", he sighed, looking up at her with grim determination in his eyes. "I want to try it again...now".
Lana smiled and nodded, then immediately got back in position, as did Boris. They waited until Jimmy signaled he was ready, then counted just as before and held their breaths as Jimmy labored again, flatering slightly, as the knees straightened fully and locked into place.
Jimmy's eyes were so super-glued to the toes of his shoes, that he never notice Lana stand up in front of him, nor did he catch her batting away at the slight mist of tears forming in her eyes. "Jimmy?", she called softly. "...look up".
As Jimmy's head rose, he locked eyes with Lana, and actually had to look down to do so. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words...the huge grin on his lips said it all. With a slight nod from Lana, Boris, eased up on the harness he was holding on to and peeked around to Jimmy's side, giving him a smile.
"How long?", Jimmy asked when he saw Boris glance down at his stopwatch.
"Fifteen seconds", was the quick reply.
Jimmy could feel the burn in his shoulders as he tried to keep his tiring arms from buckling, "What's the average?".
Lana looked at him critically. "Twenty...maybe thirty seconds", she continued cautiously. "But Jimmy, you don't have to...".
"I wanna do forty seconds", Jimmy grunted the interruption.
Boris gave Lana a skeptical look as he peeked again at the time. Jimmy was clearly struggling to stay up, beads of perspiration were evident on his forehead and t-shirt, his arms were shaking with effort and his breath was shallow and labored. Boris moved in to place his arms, supportively under Jimmy's to ease him back into his chair, but Jimmy wouldn't relent.
Boris glanced at Lana as he started to count off, and knew Jimmy was over doing it. "33, 34..", he felt Jimmy wane a bit and rely more on his support. "...38, 39, 40". So maybe Jimmy hadn't been able to stand the whole time under his own power, and the last few seconds were actually Lana and Boris easing him back into his chair, but he definitely made it past the thirty second mark.
Anya smiled satisfactorily to herself and slipped back out of the room.
Lana handed Jimmy a towel and water bottle. "Drink up champ, you deserve it", she praised, with a pat to the back. "Now let's get these off of you...I think you're done for today", she added, unlocking the knee hinge and reaching for the thigh straps.
"No way", Jimmy panted hard. He halted Lana's hand with his, taking another sip of water, he smiled up at her. "I wanna try for fifty".
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I liked this one. I may have gotten slightly angsty and a tad melodramatic. I can't imagine that Jimmy doing what he's doing, would be an easy thing, mentally or physically. Surprisingly, all of my important info was fairly correct, just needed Heather's confirmation on a few things. This story is going pretty quickly because it's the only one I'm focusing on right now. There are a few in the production stage, but they've been put on the back burner until this one is complete. Next chap. should be up by the weekend!
I'd like to thank SammyWammy and lilfiftyfour for their wonderful reviews and of course Heather for her much appreciated help.
I'm just borrowing Degrassi and the chapter title.
