A gleeful squeal alerted Jim to the arrival of Jeb. Jim was sitting in a chair, eating his lunch in his new room in the rehab unit when Sofia and Jeb came in. Sofia set the toddler down on the floor and his tiny legs went into overdrive as he raced to his father. Jim just had time to push the tray table out of the way before Jeb hit his lap. Climbing up, he settled quickly in Jim's right arm. Looking at his father's face, Jeb's little one squinched into a grimace. "Daddy, you got a bobo."

A chuckle emerged from Jim's chest through his closed jaw. His eyes showed the amusement and obvious delight with his son.

Do it hurt bad, Daddy?" Jeb's face was full of concern.

Jim shook his head and managed to answer, "A little."

Gingerly Jeb raised his little hand and touched his father's cheek, now grizzly from days of not shaving. "Fuzzy," he giggled. Jim wanted to giggle with him but settled for a grunt. "Puple, brown, lellow…"

"Yeah, Daddy is like a box of crayons, isn't he?" smirked Sofia as she watched her son detail the colors of his father's face. Both guys looked at her, the same happy expression showing in their almost identical steely blue eyes. She gasped and held her breath, trying to mentally catalogue the moment to savor for years.

Her small gasp did not go unnoticed by her husband. Jim looked at her with questioning eyes. "It's okay," she said. "Just one of those moments." Her emphasis on 'those' clued him to her meaning. A small smile formed at the corners of his mouth. "Yeah."

The spell was broken when Phil walked in. He took in the sight of the baby in his patient's lap and chuckled. "Who do we have?" he asked smiling.

Sofia quickly responded with pride, "This is our son, Jeb."

Phil walked over to the pair and held out his hand. "Hello, Jeb. I'm Phil."

Jeb shrunk back into his father's chest, cautious of the stranger. Jim grasped him tightly and mumbled, "Its okay, Jeb." Jeb reluctantly extended his hand to shake Phil's and withdrew it quickly.

Phil looked at Jim. "You still feeling okay after this morning's group session?"

Jim nodded affirmatively. Phil turned to Sofia to explain. "Jim went to a group therapy session this morning. We did some stretches, played ball, and practiced some mirroring. Jim was showing off."

Sofia smirked as she looked lovingly at her spouse. "He often does."

"So Jim," continued Phil. "I'll be back in about an hour to take you down to the 'gym'. We've got some special exercise equipment there. I want to get you able to manage on your own so that you can go home soon."

Jim smiled and looked at Sofia, who was smiling at him. Home, it would be so good to be there; to be able to snuggle with her as they had done last night in the hospital bed. He wouldn't miss out on any more of Jeb and his daily changes. And maybe, just maybe, Jim Brass could begin to feel like a man again.

Phil left, promising again to be back in an hour. Jeb had discovered the chocolate pudding on his dad's plate and was feeding it to Jim, with every other spoonful going to Jeb. Sofia could tell that Jeb's awkward feeding style was causing Jim some pain, but his delight with his son was worth the pain, so she let it continue. Finally the pudding had disappeared from the plate but much of it was smeared over two faces. Sofia couldn't help laughing as she cleaned them up. "Like father, like son…" she quipped.

Jeb settled into Jim's lap, his head resting on his father's chest. As his parents talked…well, mostly his mother talked, Jeb grew quieter, listening to quiet rhythm of their exchanges. His eyes grew heavy as he drifted to sleep in his Daddy's warm embrace.

Phil showed us as promised. Sofia stepped over to Jim, taking Jeb from him. "I'll take him back to Catherine's and come back for dinner with you." She leaned down and tenderly kissed Jim on his cheek. "You work hard for Phil. I want you home soon." Her expression was full of intent, which Jim was pleased to see. He winked at her to let her know that he understood.

The two men watched as Sofia and Jeb left and then Phil turned to Jim. "I'm gonna say it again, man. I wish a beautiful woman would look at me that way she looks at you. The two of you…it's like magic or something."

Phil helped Jim into the wheelchair and they headed down to the rehab gym. The first piece of equipment reminded Jim of a bicycle. It was a wheel with pedals. Phil helped Jim to a chair next to the table and had him put his hands on the pedals. Jim used his right hand to help get his left hand in position. Once his hands were in place, Phil instructed Jim to 'ride the bike' with his hands. At first Phil had the pressure set for an easy ride, letting Jim get the wheel going. As the pedals went round and round, Jim realized that his right arm was doing most of the work. But he could feel it in his left arm too, so it wasn't totally useless. After he'd been 'riding' a few minutes, Phil raised the resistance level a little. Jim looked at him scornfully.

Phil smiled. "No pain, no gain…right?"

Jim scowled as he kept turning the wheel. Sweat broke out on his forehead as he concentrated on trying to make his left arm do more work. He could feel it kicking in and making a few turns but then its strength began to fade. Phil noticed and as the left arm faded, he tuned back the resistance. "Okay, we'll start slowing down now." After a few minutes at the lower setting Phil suggested that Jim wind it down. Slowly he brought the wheel to a stop.

"Okay, good job. You felt it in your left arm, right?"

Jim nodded, rubbing his bicep with his right hand. He was smiling in spite of the hurt; it felt good.

"Okay, now for the fun part. We're going to try the parallel bars. Think you are up for a short stroll?"

They wheeled over to the bars and Phil parked Jim at one end. Jim watched as the therapist busied himself with setting the bars. "Okay Jim, I'm going to have you stand up so I can be sure we have the correct height. We're gearing this toward you being able to use a walker, so I need to get the bars in the right place."

With Phil's assistance, Jim stood at the end, holding onto the bars for support. His left arm was screaming at him, but he was determined to make it work. Phil was satisfied with the level. "Okay, we're going through once with me helping you and depending on how you do, I might have you go once on your own. Ready?"

Jim nodded and adjusted his grip on the bars. Phil slipped the assistance belt around Jim and adjusted it so that he could help Jim with weight distribution. "Okay, let's start with the left foot…"

Jim concentrated on making his foot move. His thigh tightened and his calf muscle hardened as his leg forced his foot forward. He couldn't get it to lift off the ground, but at least it was moving; victory in Jim's mind. "Good!" exclaimed Phil. "Now the right…"

That was easy, except that he had to support himself with his left side now. But he did it. Then he brought his left foot forward again. And slowly, he made his way through the bars with Phil in front of him, assisting. Once he was at the end, Phil looked at him intensely. "I think we'll wait until tomorrow to do it again. You put a lot of effort in this and did great for the first day. Don't want those muscles getting tight on us and slowing down your progress. I'll get the chair and take you over to the table for some stretching and massage. Just hang on til I get here with the chair."

Phil unfastened the assistance belt and headed to the other end to get the chair. As he stepped away, Jim turned in the bars and began to make his way through them again; this time on his own. Phil glanced back at him and barked. "I said let's wait til tomorrow."

Jim grunted and shook his head 'no'. Continuing his effort; he was half way through before Phil got back to him. His head and shirt were soaked in sweat and his grip was slipping from the sweat on his hands. But he was determined to do it. He wanted to go home and he understood that being able to manage on his own was a requirement. Holding that thought uppermost in his mind, he made his left side cooperate. Mental pictures of his family, playing with Jeb and holding Sofia, propelled him forward until he got to the end. Phil was waiting with the chair and quickly helped him into it. "Dammit Jim, that was too much."

Jim shook his head as he tried to breathe. "Not enough…"

Phil wheeled him to the table and helped him onto it. They performed several stretches and then Phil massaged Jim's aching muscles. "Okay Jim, we'll head back to your room. I imagine you're ready for a nap about now."

Once back in his bed, Jim decided that Phil was right. He was ready for a nap. His mind turned to Sofia's visit the night before, when she had climbed into bed with him. She felt so good to him, lying there next to him; warm and comfortable, reassuring. He drifted off filled with a sense of her, warmed by the memory of her next to him.

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Anyone still out there? Let me know what you think.