"Well, here we are," Ralph sighed as he drove up to the front of the Argentine Cliffs rehabilitation clinic with Harriet, Rev and Tech in tow. The establishment was a large three-story building painted an eggshell white with a clay red colored trim along the bottom of the ground floor. Looking at it carefully, it seemed like the rear half of it was inside a large cavern that had been carved into the cliffside, not too unlike many of the other larger buildings that had been constructed in the town.

"Dang, this place is big!" Rev said gazing up towards the top level of the clinic. "It has to be, Rev," Tech explained, "They handle a lot of patients. Some of them actually board here, so they need all the extra room." "I'm not moving in here, am I?" Rev asked nervously. "Heck no," Ralph scoffed, "You're getting outpatient care, not residence. Either your mom or I will bring you here for your appointments."

"Oh, okay," Rev said with a shrug, "I guess that'll work."

"So, let's go check it out," Tech said motioning the avians to follow as he walked up to the clinic's front doors. Ralph and Harriet exchanged a look and shrugged before they rushed to follow Rev and Tech into the building.

As they entered the clinic, it looked very much like a typical healthcare facility; white and light blue tiles on the floor, Styrofoam-looking tiles on the ceiling, and off-white painted walls. It even had the typical lemony scent and frigid cold air of a hospital. As they looked around the front lobby area, they saw some simple green sofas and arm chairs, wooden side tables, and a single glass coffee table much like the one the Runners had in their own living room. There was also a small black player piano which looked like it got used somewhat often given how devoid of dust it was, even having a distinct shine that implied it had recently undergone maintenance.

The group made their way to the front desk where a young avian woman sat in a set of navy-blue scrubs decorated with small yellow ducks; her nametag read 'Candy Snipe'; a fitting name given she was some species of snipe. "Good afternoon, how may I help," Candy froze as she raised her head and spotted Tech, her eyes widening in nervousness. Candy took a second to take a deep breath, cleared her throat and continued, "H-how may I help you today?"

"Yes, we're here for a meeting with Dr. Fritzgerald," Tech said placing a hand on Rev's shoulder, "Uh, Rev Runner has an appointment with him to begin his outpatient physical therapy." Candy slowly turned to the computer and typed something in before letting out with a peep, "Oh yeah, I have you here. Reverend Runner, correct?" Rev smiled and nodded. Candy gathered up a few slips of paper, a clipboard, and a pen and handed it to Rev saying, "Okay, just fill these out as best you can and bring them back. Once you do that it'll be about a 10-minute wait before one of the nurses call you back for your appointment."

Rev took the clipboard and pen and trotted over to one of the sofas, making himself comfortable as he began filing through the paperwork, checking off boxes and filling out various fields of information as Tech and his folks walked over and joined him in the waiting area; Harriet sat next to Rev on the sofa, helping him with certain areas that he was vague or confusing, while Tech and Ralph each took a seat in one of the armchairs.

It took Rev a good five or six minutes to fill out all the relevant information in the paperwork before he dashed over and gave the clipboard back to Candy. "Alright, just have a seat and we'll call you back in just a few minutes." Rev nodded and trotted back to the sofa as Candy walked out through a small doorway behind the front desk.

"So, what do you think, son?" Ralph asked turning to Rev. Rev took a quick scan of the lobby and shrugged saying, "It looks okay so far. We probably won't know for sure until we actually meet with this… what was his name again? Dr. Fitzgerald?" "Dr. Fritzgerald," Tech corrected, "I've heard a lot about the man; he does great work in the field of physical therapy and researches various forms of therapeutic treatments from electric stimulation therapy to massage therapy and even acupuncture. This place even dabbles in some alternative, 'wholistic' forms of therapy like aromatherapy and essential oils, though as I understand it, they mostly only offer these as supplemental treatments. They believe that these treatments are good for the soul, but by themselves are effective useless."

"I take it you agree with that sentiment?" Ralph asked. "For the most part, yes." Tech nodded, "I believe aromatherapy and essential oils do have healing properties in that they endorse healing by helping to calm the mind. But inhaling ode de sandal wood isn't going to cure cancer or 'fix' autistic people like some anti-medicine nut-jobs want to believe."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Harriet chuckled. "Rev Runner," a voice called. The group turned to see another young woman in pale pink scrubs approaching them; she was a young female lesser roadrunner with short black hair feathers, probably fresh out of nursing school; her nametag read 'Andy Zip.' "The doctor will be ready shortly, follow me and we'll get you set up in the exam room."

"An exam room?" Ralph asked, "I thought he was here for therapy." "We still need to do a preliminary examination to determine just how far he's come since transferring from Acmetropolis General. Don't worry, this is just going to be a pretty simple physical with some light strength and endurance tests. Do you think you can handle that today?" Andy asked turning to Rev. Rev nodded and stood up, "Excellent," Andy chirped, "Follow me, please."

Ralph shot up and followed after Rev and Andy as they made their way towards the back through a set of double doors. Tech turned to Harriet and the older hen whispered, "You'd better go with them, Tech. Just in case." Tech nodded and quickly trailed after them.

It took a moment for Tech to track the three avians down, but he eventually found Rev, Ralph, and Andy in a large office set up to accommodate various forms of physical therapy, including a walking support bar, weights, and even a TENS unit, a machine often used for electrical muscle simulation therapy.

"Pa, please I don't need you here right now," Rev plead. "I just want to make sure you're being cared for properly," Ralph defended, leaning over and whispered, "Plus, this nurse seems just a bit too green for my liking." "I might be young, but I'm not incompetent," Andy snapped, "Now will you please leave so I can tend to my patient in privacy, per his request?"

"Ralph, for God's sake," Tech barked, "Rev would you be okay with your dad and me waiting outside the room? There's a few seats here, so we can sit here just in case you actually need one of us." Rev turned to Andy, then Tech and nodded before turning to Ralph and said, "Pop, please."

Ralph let out a sigh of defeat, grumbling as he exited the room and took a seat in one of the plastic chairs situated outside the exam room; Andy quickly shut the door behind him as Tech walked over and took a seat in the chair next to Ralph. After a few seconds of tense silence, Ralph let out a frustrated click of his beak and asked Tech, "Why do you keep sticking your nose in business that is not your own?"

"Rev's my teammate and my best friend," Tech explained, "And at this point in time, he's also my patient. So ensuring he's well cared for and comfortable is very much so my business. What I don't understand is why you keep insisting on doing things that clearly make your son so uncomfortable. Don't you think that if he needed you or wanted you to be in the room he would've said so?"

Ralph groaned, pinching the space between his eyes and said, "You're not a father, you don't understand what it's like to go through something like this."

"Bullshit," Tech scoffed; Ralph turned to Tech in astonishment only to see Tech shooting daggers at him, "I thought we already had this conversation, but I guess it requires repeating. You have no idea what I have been through. And you don't have to be a parent to understand what it's like to be concerned about someone's wellbeing." Tech turned in his seat, got right up in Ralph's face and whispered, "I have lost people. I've lost more than you could ever believe. And more to the point, I was there when Rev got hurt. I know exactly what kind of struggle Rev is facing, because I've seen just how bad his situation is."

Ralph's face became visibly uncomfortable and solemn as Tech continued, tears welling up in the coyote's eyes, "So don't give me this 'you can't understand if you're not a parent' nonsense. Because I know… exactly what you're going through… because I have lived it."


After going through the basic motions of a routine physical exam, Andy helped Rev change into a hospital gown and had him sit on the examination bed, double-checking her notes before walking over to what looked like an intercom and pushed a button on the side. "Dr. Fritzgerald," Andy said, "Reverend Runner is ready and waiting to see you now." "Alright, I'm on my way." A deep, masculine voice piped from the speaker. Andy turned to Rev and said, "He should be right along in just a moment," before walking out of the room. Rev let out a sigh of relief as he didn't hear the sound of his father bombarding the young nurse with questions as she left.

About two minutes after Andy left the examination room, the door opened and a large African American man walked in. "Hello, Mr. Runner," he greeted in a deep, booming voice, "I'm Dr. Fritzgerald, but you can just call me 'Doc.' Everyone does." Rev timidly took the man's hand in his as he gave Rev a firm handshake, nervously forcing out, "Please, Mr. Runner is my dad's name. Call me Rev." Doc let out a hardy laugh, nodding and said, "Alright, Rev."

Doc grabbed the wheeled office chair and wheeled it over next to the examination bed before sitting down before picking up a tablet of some sort and said, "So, Rev, I've got all the paperwork you filled out earlier, and Dr. Ketch and your buddy Tech were able to send all the pertinent information over to me. So, we've got all your current records, now we just need to figure out the best approach to your ongoing physical therapy treatments."

"Okay," Rev said with a nervous hum, "And what exactly will that entail?"

"We'll start with a more thorough physical examination." Doc sat the tablet down on the small table to his left and gently took one of Rev's arms in his hands, carefully manipulating the limb by bending it at the elbow and squeezing up and down the length of the limb before setting it down and repeating the process with Rev's other arm and both his legs. There were a few areas that Rev couldn't hold back a hiss as the pressure from the doctor's fingers caused him pain.

Rev kept a close eye on Doc as he stood up and ran his fingers up and down the length of his spine, starting at the base of his skull and stopping at the apex of his tail. He did the same thing to his back slightly to the left and to the right of his spine, earning an occasional wince as he passed over swaths of scar tissue. He did a similar technique on the back and sides of his skull, carefully feeling the areas where the skin was thinnest and earning several pained hisses and groans from Rev as Doc passed over areas that were unusually tender.

"Alright, now I'll need you to lie down flat on your back and just try to relax your muscles." Rev swallowed nervously and did as instructed, trying hard not to laugh as Doc palpated up and down the length of his sides; as he pressed down between his ribs and along the length of his sternum, Rev clenched his beak and moaned. As Doc gently pressed down and felt along the length of his stomach, Rev let out a painful squawk and the doctor eased up on the pressure immediately. "Ah, okay, this checks with what I read in your notes," Doc said with a nod, removing his hands from Rev's body.

"W-what does that mean? What do you mean?" Rev asked as Doc helped him sit back up. "Basically, Rev, it means you've lost significant chunks of fat and muscle mass throughout your body, particularly your limbs and upper torso." Rev's face paled as he mentally recounted what the doctor had done in his head, the areas that he touched that were most painful were where the neurotech armor had been bolted and wired onto and into his body.

"Can… can it be fixed?" Rev asked. "Sadly, I don't think you can really 'fix' this kind of damage." Doc said with a sigh, "The body of human beings and evolved beings are remarkable; they can bounce back from some of the most egregious of illnesses and injuries. And bodies can regenerate lost muscle tissue, but only to an extent. It's highly unlikely that you'll ever fully regain what you've lost. But, that doesn't mean that there aren't ways that you can regain some of that lost muscle tissue and strength."

"What would I have to do?" Rev asked eagerly, "I'm willing to try… um, almost anything." Doc chuckled and said, "I like your enthusiasm, Rev." Rev watched as Doc walked over and picked up a strange device labeled TENS. "This is a TENS unit," Doc explained, "We use it for what we call electric stimulation therapy. Basically, it sends small pulses of electricity into your body to stimulate your muscles through these little electrode pads," he held up one of the little electrodes in his fingers; shivers ran up and down Rev's spine as a strange sensation of familiarity and fear rushed through him, "This," Doc continued, "Combined with a few basic daily exercise routines and a special diet, should help to prevent further muscle loss and, if you're lucky, reverse at least some of the damage done to those muscles."

"And… this won't hurt?" Rev asked. "Nah, not at all," Doc chuckled, "In fact, pretty much every patient I've had try this therapy says it feels funny at first, but then it starts to feel kind of nice. Want to give it a try?"

Rev took a second to think about everything that had happened and what Doc had told him, doing his best to focus his mind and consider the pros and cons of using the TENS and the pros and cons of pretty much any other option that he could try. After about a minute, Rev turned to Doc and said, "Yeah, I do. Let's try it."