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The next morning, Allayna was up doing her same routine as though nothing were wrong. Despite the fact she had a big boot on and had to use crutches. But at seven am, she was awake, made us a protein shake and we headed to the gym.

“I sent you a text saying you didn’t have to come in.” Eric had greeted us at the door. He had on a cut off shirt that said Gainze, shorts and a pair of black Nikes.

“Oh, must have never got it.” She lied.

“Well, had you gotten it, it would’ve also said I have taken over your clients and gave them to Anna Marie.”

“You did what?” She stood taller, balancing on one foot.

“You’re injured. It’s only fair our clients get the best.”

“I am the best.”

“When you’re back on two feet and in shape, yes, you will be again.”

“It’s been a day. I am in shape.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Obviously I don’t. You had no right.”

“It’s my gym now Lanny.” She rolled her eyes and I waited for her to bash Eric over the head for calling her that nickname. She despised it. “Look. You two can still come in, workout whenever you want for free. But it’s best if maybe you don’t work for me anymore.”

That was my tip to back away and give them some room. I could still see Allayna arguing, using hand gestures, toward Eric. A minute later, she crutched her way to me and headed for the doors.

We got to the car, she opened my door, leaned her crutches against the car, waited for me to get in. I knew better than to say anything at that moment. After I was in, she got my chair in the back, and then got into the drive side. Slamming the door shut, she hit her fist on the steering wheel.

“I don’t know why I’m so pissed. I was planning on leaving his gym anyway.”

“Because you couldn’t do it on your terms.” I stated the obvious. She looked over at me.

“And I wanted to take my clients wherever else I’ll go.”

“You don’t need a job right now. You know I’ll take care
of you.”

“I’m financially set for a while because of the fitness tour I did last fall but you know I like to be independent.”

“I know.”

“Well, crap. I wanted a workout in.”

“Let’s go to PT early and I have an idea for our workouts.” I grinned.

“Oh?”

“Drive.” So we headed to my PT a few hours earlier than planned. It was one of the things I liked about this place. They gave me a few different times to come to be worked on or to work out without really having to make an appointment.

“Are you two serious?” Jonathan asked as we made our way into the building and laughed.

“I couldn’t let him have all of the attention,” Allayna joked.

“What did you do?”

“It’s just a sprain. Lost a fight with a pair of my favorite high heels and a stone walk way.” It wasn’t a total lie.

“Come on in, I’ll get Nick heated up and I’ll take a look at it.” I watched as he put his left, un-wedded band, hand the small of her back. Was that jealousy I was feeling?

I got myself situated on the table, laid down and Jonathan layered my back, hips and legs with large heating bags. This was where I’d normally close my eyes and relax. I watched as Allayna hopped up onto a taller table and as Jonathan helped bring her casted leg up onto a pillow.

“When did this happen?” He asked unstrapping her boot.

“Night before last. It was dark, I got my heel stuck, I went one way, body the other. It’s not bad.”

“Ha.” I said still lying down. I couldn’t see, but I could feel Allayna’s eyes shoot me a glare. Like Cyclopes from X-Men.

“I have to go with Nick on this one.” I heard Jonathan say. “You got X-Rays done?” He asked examining the swollen, dis colored foot.

“Yeah.”

“Did they ask you to come in for another set of them in a few days when the swelling goes down?” His voice was serious, and I propped myself up on my elbows.

“No. I have to go back in 2 weeks, mostly to check on my asthma but they said they’d give my ankle a look too.”

“You think something is broken?” I jabbed in.

“It’s probably one of the worse sprains I’ve ever seen. So just being cautious. I’ll keep an eye on it, but we may want to get another set of films in a few days. If you did break something, sometimes it won’t show because of how swollen it is.”

“Great.” Allayna showed off a fake grin.

“I’m going to use an ultra sound on it, to get the blood flowing a bit and then we will do some hot/cold therapy. The ultra sound won’t hurt but the therapy will be painful. It should bring down the swelling a bit.”

“Thanks.” Allayana’s voice soft and she looked over to me.

“We are now PT buddies!” I laughed and laid back down. I then felt a pillow be thrown at my face.

Jonathan did the ultra sound thingy on her ankle for five minutes, then put the heating on her ankle. It would be ten minutes of heat and then ten minutes of cold for the next twenty minutes.

As she was heating or icing, Jonathan had me do my stretches, did some stim work and then surprised me when he said we were going to be standing.

“Yeah, how is that going to happen?”

“We have this thing you stand in, it will lock your body out, but get you to have body weight on your legs, hips and torso. We will take it slow, however, because it’s been quite some time since you’ve been completely up right.” He helped me into my chair and then went over to Allayna to check on her.

“You were right about the painfulness.” She was sitting up, leaning against the wall and I could tell she was in a good amount of pain. “How many more times?”

“One more of heat and then we will finish on the ice.”

“That’s what I was afraid of.” He took the ice boot off her and put on the heating pad. She grabbed her thigh as he did this and I saw as he put his hand on top of hers.
“You’re doing great,” he smiled. “I’ll be taking Nick over there. If you need anything, just holler. But I’ll be back in ten.” She nodded, smiling back at him. “Let’s head this way Nick.”

“Good luck,” she told me as I followed Jonathan. He got me to sit in this upright chair, in this huge contraption.

“So, after I get you strapped in, I’ll slowly start the machine to get you standing. It’s normal to feel nauseous, or light headed. As soon as you do, let me know and we’ll stop. We’ll see how many degrees when can you get to your feet.”
“Will it hurt?”

“You haven’t show much discomfort lately, so it may not. But that’s all it may be, is uncomfortable. You may be sorer tomorrow. I’d like to start doing this every day, or working on standing every day. So before you leave, I’ll order you new leg braces; which we can practice get you standing without this machine.”

For a minute I was speechless. The first day in the hospital they were telling me I’d probably never walk or move again. And today, today I’d be standing. Okay, I shouldn’t get so far ahead of myself but it was definitely motivation.

Jonathan made sure the straps were tight and my legs were locked. He then started pushing buttons on the machine and it slowly started get me from a sitting position to a standing/seated position. We’d gone maybe five degrees when he stopped.

“I’m going to go a couple degrees at a time to see how you feel.” I gave a thumbs up and wish Allayna could see me. The machine then started going up again, I could feel my knees almost start to straighten out and a wave of dizziness hit me. I tried to ignore it but then a sharp pain went up and down my right leg and into my back. My head fell forward and just like how it started everything went black.

“He’s coming to.” I heard someone’s voice say. I tried to open my eyes but they felt heavy.

“Nick? Nick wake up.” That was Allayna and her voice forced me to open my eyes. She was standing over my head, Jonathan next to her; along with another woman I had no idea who she was.

“His BP is almost back to normal.” The woman with curly hair told Jonathan.

“What happened?” I started to sit up, but Jonathan put his hands on my shoulders, gently pushing me down.

“It was just a bit too much. But it’s normal. Happens everything almost. You did great Nick.” He reassured me. “Are you in any pain?”

Pain? Normal? I had no idea what was going on. I then felt Allayna’s hand in mine.

“Nick does anything hurt?” She asked, searching my face.

“Not like before I passed out.”

“What did you feel before that happened?”

“A sharp pain.”

“Where?” Jonathan asked.

“Um. I think it started in my right leg and went to my back.” Jonathan started to then press on my right leg, move it in weird directions and then pressed on the bottom of my foot. “Ah! Yeah, you found it.”

“Where about in your leg?”

“My knee and hip.”

“Anything on your left side?” He did the same poking and prodding. I waited for the same pain but nothing.

“No.”

“Alright, well, this was the leg that was more severely injured; it makes sense. And it’s going to take time for your back to get stronger to hold you up. We’ll keep at it. I’m going to ice you down and call it a day.” He patted my shoulder, flashed Allayna a smile and walked away.

“How long was I out?”

“Just a couple minutes. They were quick to get you out of that and lying down.”

“How did you get over here so fast?”

“I heard Jonathan say he needed some help, so I jumped off the table and ran.” She smiled. “Or crutched.” I was glad she was there. I felt tired, and my body hurt and just defeated. My eyes closed and I let out a breath. “Nick, you did good.” She rubbed my forehead and pushed my hair back.

“I failed.”

“You heard Jonathan. It’s normal for the first few times.”

“Few times?”

“Relax Nick. Day at a time.”

“Alright, let’s ice you down.” Jonathan put a bag of ice
under my back and strapped my legs in the ice packs. “You need to get your cast back on if you’re moving around.” He scolded Allayna who was standing, using her crutches.

“I’ll be back,” she told me and went over to the side of the room where her stuff was. Jonathan followed her.

“You think he’ll be able to walk one day?” Allayna asked Jonathan in all seriousness. She hopped onto the table and brought her leg up gingerly.

“As long as he has the right attitude anything can happen. Your ankle looks a bit less swollen. Stay off it as much as you can. We will do the same thing the next few days when you come in with Nick.” He helped her strap it in.

“Thank you. For everything.” Allayna smiled and swung her legs over the table. Jonathan handed her the crutches.

“If you need anything and aren’t able to come in, here is my card. It has my cell on it. You can call or text me anytime.” He handed her the white card, she looked at, said thank you and slipped it in her purse. She draped her purse around her shoulder.

“Would you mind helping me get Nick in the car. I have a feeling he’s going to need more help.”

“Of course.” They made their way back to me. “Okay Nick. Let’s get you sitting up.”

“Is that safe?” I asked as Jonathan removed the ice.

“We’ll go slow.” It wasn’t until that moment, I realized how much I hated being useless; I mean I had this tall, dark handsome dude helping me move and I was pretty sure he’s been hitting on my best friend. “How are you doing?” He asked once I was in my upright position.

“Shakey.”

“I’ve got ya.” Allayna stood on my other side, and Jonathan helped me into my chair. I was surprised when he pushed me out to the car, but I suppose I shouldn’t have been considering Allayna’s condition and what just happened. Once I was in the car, he followed Allayna to the driver’s side. He helped her in, took the crutches and put them in the back seat.

“Thank you again. We’ll see you ten am tomorrow?” She said.

“You got it. Take care.” He shut the door and walked back into the office. I just stared at Allayna.

“What?” She asked starting the car.

“You tell me.”

“Tell you what weirdo?” She laughed and began to pull
out of the parking spot.

“What’s going on with you and Jonathan?”

“Really Nick?”

“He just seems to be into you, and I’m pretty sure, well,
I think you were trying to flirt back. But you’re not very good at it.”

“Please.”

“He seemed very interested in you today.”

“Because I have a sprained ankle. He was helping.”

“Uh huh.”

“Ugh. Come on, I’m hungry.” And we headed home.
I was thankful for the short trip home. I was in need of my pain killers. Desperately. When Allayna pulled in, I wasn’t sure how much more I was going to last before the pain had me passed out again.

“You don’t look so good Nick.” Allayna noticed as she opened my door. I hadn’t even unbuckled my seatbelt yet.
“I need to lay down.” I could fee sweat beads forming on my forehead.

“Well, unbuckle your seat belt so we can get you inside.” She waited for me to move and when I didn’t, she reached in and did it for me. Slipping the belt over my head, she then felt for my pulse. “It’s normal.” She said, I think more for herself. “Nick you have to help me. Put your arm around me.” I lifted my right arm up, she put it around her neck. Her right arm slid under my legs, and I could tell she was trying to balance on leg.

“Ah wait.” I had started to push off my left arm and the pain in lower half started up. I tried to focus on my breathing.

“On two Nick. One-two-,” she dragged me over to my chair and then she let the F bomb go. She was now standing, her head on the roof. “Dammit.”

“What?” I asked trying to adjust myself and figure out what just happened.

“I stepped on my foot. I’m fine.”

“Sorry.” I said guilty.

“It’s okay.” She picked her crutches up that were leaning against the car and as I started to wheel myself to the front, that caused my more pain and my back seized.

“Allayna,” my head dropped backwards and I pushed off my seat a bit, to try to rid the immense tightness.

“Nick maybe we should get some help.”

“I just need,” I took a breath. “I just need to lay down. It got worse when I started to move.”

“Hold these.” She put her crutches on my lap and she began to push me.

“You shouldn’t be walking on your ankle.”

“Well how else are we supposed to get inside?” She pushed me slowly, keeping the majority of her weight on my handle bars and her good leg. Once inside, she brought me to my room. She pushed me near my bed and I knew I had to help more, no matter what. I could tell she was in a lot of pain but wouldn’t say much.

I put my hands on the bed and as I pushed up, she picked my legs up and as soon as I was flat, it felt a lot better.

“Can you hand me my pills and water right there.” I pointed to my night stand. She took out the two pills, I took both with the water and she sat on the edge of the bed.

“Maybe we should call AJ or Lee to come this week to help. Especially if you’re going to be working on standing more. I just can’t. I thought I could but I physically can’t with my ankle. I’m sorry.” She let out a sigh of defeat.

“I’ll text him in a little bit. Lay down with me and get your leg up.” She crawled over me, grabbed a pillow, put it under her leg and laid down.