Sharon's idea for switching up the schedule worked well, and Ryan was doing better about asking for breaks - although someone would still occasionally need to catch his eye and mouth "Break time" at him when he was doggedly trying to keep up. He'd grin sheepishly and nod, then ask for the break and rest for a while. He was getting the music down; it was only when he was tired that he couldn't hold onto it.
Soon they started choreography rehearsals, working this time in a large sports center. This turned out to work very well. As in the rehab hospital, Ryan found working out relaxing rather than stressful, so during his breaks he would often go down to the gym or to the basketball court, where he could let his brain rest but keep working on regaining his strength. As always, someone was always with him, but he found he didn't mind. He'd missed everyone so much while they were in AC that just having them there, even if they weren't talking, was welcome.
The hardest part was, actually, hauling Keith out of the pool when he needed to rehearse. If they couldn't find him, he was always there. One day he was 10 minutes late and Ryan, Emmet and Colm went in search of him. Just as they stepped into the pool area, they heard a slight splash. Looking around, it looked like the pool was empty, but the lifeguard saw them searching, and grinning, pointed down at the deep end.
"I think he saw you coming," the lifeguard said, having been there several times before when they'd come to retrieve their errant friend. Walking up to the edge of the pool, they saw Keith lounging easily on the bottom, looking and waving up at them with a huge grin. Colm's eyes bugged out.
"How the hell is he doing that?" he said, surprised. The others just laughed, having seen Keith pull all manner of underwater tricks in various pools, lakes, and oceans during their travels. "What is he, part fish?"
"Dolphin, I think," said the lifeguard.
"Seal is my guess," Ryan said.
"Nah, sea otter," Emmet put in.
"Regardless," Colm said, "How are we supposed to get him out?"
"That'll take care of itself," Ryan grinned. "He can't hold his breath forever."
He was proven right almost immediately. Keith suddenly shifted so both feet were on the bottom of the pool and gave a huge push, rocketing himself up out of the water. He caught the edge of the pool as he came up and turned to sit on it neatly - bringing a wave of water with him that engulfed the guys' feet.
"Hey," they all yelled, jumping to try to keep their feet dry, but to no avail. He'd managed to soak all of their shoes at once. They all made a move to grab him and drag him to the locker room, but the lifeguard stopped them.
"No horseplay on my pool deck," he warned them, grinning. "Find another way to get him out of here."
"How about I go get Sharon?" Colm suggested.
"Better idea," said Emmet, who knew perfectly well that Keith could easily turn off Sharon's anger by charming her unless he'd done something really horrendous. "Keith," he said, "Belinda told us to tell you that the later you are, the longer you'll have to stay back and work with her while the rest of us get our lunch break." Keith was out of the pool and heading to the locker room like a shot. He was dressed and back out almost before the other 4 (including the lifeguard) had stopped laughing. As they headed out the door, Colm gave Emmet a high 5 behind Keith's back.