Okay guys, Been Busy. Work has been kicking my ass. And I like my job, the benefits are good. But its getting REALLY hard to stay in Illinois with all the BS going on.
Plan is to work in this department for about 5 years. Then transfer over to an office job with work from home option.
Because I get the feeling I'm gonna have to move out of the state eventually.
"There we go baby!" Winter said as she was holding her hands out in front of her.
Jem knew she was trying to be supportive. But she didn't need to make him seem like a toddler taking his first steps. Pietro had finished the exo skeleton for him. It was nothing like he was expecting, for some reason he was expecting an Iron man suit. However, when he saw it in person, it looked more like if he was strapped into half of an iron man suit. His entire back and rear side was being held up by a series of wires, metal bits and velcro straps. It was a simple rehabilitation suit. It was currently helping Jem stand up. But even that seemed exhausting. They did warn him that the suit didn't necessarily amplify his strength, it just helped him move around enough that it would help him retrain his muscles that much faster.
But right now he had to use a cane just to feel well balanced. And even then that was still a stretch. His legs felt like they weren't even attached. Almost like he was walking with prosthetics.
"It feels weird..." He said as he was trying not to lean on his cane too much.
"It's gonna feel weird for a bit, but you'll be walking without the suit in no time." She said as Jem spotted himself in a mirror.
"Man, I hate the fact that I look like a mix between DJ Qualls and Uncle Si." He said as all of his muscle had disappeared.
It took him years to build his body up. And now he was back to square one.
"Don't worry, this is only temporary." Winter said as Jem continued to take a few steps forward.
"WOAH!" He said as he fell on his face.
"Jem!" Winter rushed towards him.
"NO!" He yelleda bit harshly as Winter took a step back.
Jem snarled as he put his palms to the ground. He was angry. He used to ruck 20 miles with full battle rattle and a rucksack! He could do this. But as he tried to push himself off the ground. He was limited by the suit itself, and it wouldn't do all the work for him. It couldn't allow him to go beyond a limit where he was in danger of hurting himself. So Jem fell back to the ground.
"DAMN IT! DAMN IT! DAMN IT!" Jem had never felt so weak in his life.
He was on top of the world half a year ago, and now its like his world had gone to shit. It didn't even feel like six months had passed. All they told him was that he was in an explosion. But they wouldn't tell him anything else about it. They kept telling him he needed to wait to hear anything else since they only wanted him to focus on recovery.
Winter slowly approached Jem and picked him up. She may have been hurt by him screaming at her. But she knew that he was stressed out all to hell.
Sadly, he needed to get through this before she even told him about everything that had been going on since he had been away.
Jem was impatient. He knew he could recover from this. But it was really hard to accept his progress at the time. Sure he didn't need to use the wheelchair all the time. But he felt out of breath just from standing. A far cry from the man who used to be able to run two miles in 13 minutes. He was supposed to be around 80 or 90 years old before he needed assistance just to walk.
"It's okay, nobodys expecting you to be fully recovered." She said as she could swear Jem wanted to cry, but it just came out as anger.
"I know that, but it feels like I'm stuck and can't do anything about it." Winter helped Jem sit down at a nearby bench.
She reached into a cooler she had nearby. They were filled with some cherry soda bottles. Jem had quit drinking so she found a suitable replacement to help him relax. She was about to twist the cap off for him when she paused.
"Here ya go." She said as she handed it to Jem.
PFT
Luckily it didn't take much effort. But it was enough to take some of the worry off of Jem's mind. It seemed like such a minor thing being able to twist a bottlecap off, but it was enough to give him some comfort. The cherry soda bottle itself wasn't heavy at all, so he was able to lift it up to his lips without straining himself. The taste of cherries and sugar did help him calm down from the temper tantrum he just felt.
Winter smiled a little at him. Little victories like that were important for morale. And the simple act of enjoying an ice cold drink after a long hard day could do a lot for one's mental health.
"Winter I'm sorry. Its just...this really fucking sucks." He said as he looked down at the bottle in his right hand.
"First you tell me I took a bomb to the back, then you tell me I almost died twice. On top of that, I've been in a coma for six months, and now the doctors don't know when I'll be able to be back to work? It's just a lot to take in all at once." He said as he looked around in the room he was in.
"You know, would it kill them to put windows in this place? I swear it feels like I'm in a prison rather than a hospital." He had been stuck in the same three rooms for the past few week.
His hospital room, the bathroom and the rehab room.
It wasn't exciting.
"If it makes you feel any better, if you progress like the doctor thinks you will, you'll be able to be released in a few more weeks." She said as Jem sighed.
"That still seems like a long ways away." He was growing restless.
He wanted to see mountains again, after almost dying he needed to do something to remind him that he was still alive. And what better way then to look at something that made you realize how lucky you were to be alive in that exact moment in time where you could see something as majestic as the mountain range stretching out over the land?
"I don't know about you, but I can't wait to go home." He said as he was so sick of hospital food.
Winter wasn't even supposed to bring in the soda, but when you flash your Atlesian Army credentials, you could get away with a lot of stuff. And even if someone did ask questions, she would just claim they were for her daughter. It wasn't the truth, but it wasn't exactly a lie. Nala did drink cherry soda like a crakchead on bath salts. It was weird. Why Cherry soda specifically?
"God, what I would do for a nice juicy porterhouse with a side of mashed potatoes and green beans." Jem's mouth watered at the idea of a steak dinner.
"Well, you know what the doctor said, you still have a way to go. So for now its still soft food for you mister." She said as Jem groaned.
"I swear, I didn't think it was possible for someone to make me hate mac n cheese. But hospital mac n cheese is like chewing on bits of eraser bits with a single kraft cheese slice on top." He couldn't believe the kind of stuff they passed for food in this place.
He could handle it if they at least had some variety in the seasonings. A bit of Tony C's here, a bit of Kinder's there. But nope, he got discount cheese on rubbery pieces of pink eraser. How they could call that abomination mac n cheese was beyond him.
He could feel the rage of Wisconsin growing at the mere thought of it.
"Hows everyone else doing?" Jem asked as he wanted his mind off of rehab for a bit.
"Whitley is still working on the ranch, you wouldn't believe how much he's grown to love it there." Even she was surprised.
Whitley as a rancher? On her list of things that she thought were impossible. That came in third place. Right behind Jacques being a benevolent man, and Jem being a communist.
As Jem liked to put it, 'Commie guns are awesome, but commies themselves suck."
"And what about my mom and dad? Recently you said they moved to Atlas?" He asked as Winter nodded.
"Why? I never thought they would willingly leave the US?" He asked as Winter shrugged.
"Well simple, they showed up to help take care of Nala. And well...Taxes." She said as Jem just made an 'Oh' noise.
"Yeah nevermind that checks out." He said as Winter quickly changed the subject.
"But speaking of Nala, they did increase security at the school as well as change the routines. They identified some of the issues with the security holes and planned accordingly. As bad as it sounds, what happened to you helped people realize how vulnerable schools could be to...psychopaths..." She said not wanting to tell Jem about what happened.
"Speaking of which, did they ever find out who did it?" He asked as Winter went silent.
"Well, its currently an open investigation." She knew it hadn't been as simple as she had hoped.
Jem didn't need to know she beat a woman so severely she couldn't even recognize her face. They knew she must have been associated with the happy huntresses due tot eh insignia they found at the bombing. But the woman she killed had no blood, dental or any records to identify her. It had freaked Jem's parents out talking about the 'deep state' and how they were after his son.
She never did get a good look at the face of the woman who tried to kill Jem. As soon as she realized what had happened, her vision went red and she only regained control long after her face had been splattered all over the ground.