Sidelined by Kendra C. Highley

Author:Kendra C. Highley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC (Teen)
Published: 2013-08-28T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

“Just relax the muscles and breathe.”

“It’s hard to breathe when I’m being turned into a pretzel.” Lying passive on a mat while the physical therapist bends and stretches my muscles is much, much harder than it originally sounded. In fact, it sucks.

Raymond, the PT Dr. Jamison recommended, is part drill sergeant, part mother hen. Olive-skinned and raven-haired, he looks like an extra out of a Western. That made more sense once he told me that he’s a quarter Cherokee, with warriors in his family tree. “My great-great-great grandpa was a scout. My meemaw says I got some of his badassedness. Be warned.”

Of course, I had to ask if “badassedness” is a word. That earned me another sixty seconds of stretching exercises on calf muscles that already felt like they’d been through a meat grinder.

The PT facility itself is a cross between a fitness center and a hospital. Mirrors cover the walls, and half the space is taken up by exercise equipment. There’s also a whirlpool and indoor pool in the back room. The patients add their own charm. The old guy lying on a big heating pad on a long table at one end of the room is Mr. Norris—back surgery. The big, middle-aged man grunting and squirming as a tall, buff PT named Karen forces his knee to bend is Coach Jenkins. He used to coach football and had knee replacement. The white-haired, sweet-as-pie grandma—Mrs. Sentera—is learning to use a walker because she broke her hip.

And then there’s me…the only person under forty in the room. I’m a source of great interest, apparently, because most of the patients watch closely as Raymond puts me through my paces. Self-conscious, I tough through every bending exercise without so much as a grimace. By the time we’re through, I feel like I ran a marathon and I wasn’t even doing the work.

“How’s your pain?” he asks at the end of my hour-long session.

I sit up and catch sight of my face in the mirror behind the weight racks. I’m so pale, I’d put vampires to shame. Even the sparkly kind. “Ergh.”

“First day is usually pretty bad. Take it easy tonight and elevate the leg.” He makes a few marks on the clipboard he’s carrying. “I’ll see you Wednesday.”

I nod and strap my boot back on. When I stand up, I have to close my eyes a minute to steady myself. I’m so weak, it’s embarrassing, but I’m determined to walk out of here on my own. By the time I get to the car, I’m in tears. I can’t stand being debilitated like this. I’ve always been one of the strongest, fastest people in any room I enter. Now, I’m one of the weakest. The pain is bad enough. The weakness makes it so much worse.

Dad takes one look at my face and gives me a long hug before driving me home.

After dinner, I do what Raymond told me—I lie in bed with my foot elevated and stare at the ceiling until Jake calls.

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