Love is Silent

Chapter 11

“You don’t have to come in with me,” I told Chase. “You might get bored.” It was Tuesday after school, and we were currently sitting outside the building where I did my physical therapy. Chase had offered to drive me there, and now he was saying that he would stay for the session so he could drive me home after.

            “I’ll be fine, Dana. Come on; let’s get in before you’re late for your appointment.” He got out of the car and waited expectantly for me to join him.

            I sighed and climbed out of the car, hunching my shoulders against the biting cold. I went into the building with Chase following along behind me. I put my coat on the hanger in the small waiting area and Chase did the same. We sat down in two of the chairs and waited until it was time for me to go in.

            Jared came out of one of the rooms with an older man. “Okay Gerald, I’ll see you next week.” He turned to me and gave me a warm smile. “Hello Dana. Who’s this?” he asked, looking at Chase curiously.

            “This is Chase. He volunteered for chauffeur duty today.” I got to my feet. “Let’s get this over with.”

            “Chase, would you like to come into the room with us? That is, as long as Dana doesn’t mind.” Jared glanced at me with a questioning look.

            My heart sped up slightly at the thought of letting someone see my leg, but I nodded anyways. “Sure. You’ll probably be less bored if you can come in.”

            The three of us moved into one of the therapy rooms and I hopped onto the padded bench and lay back. I hesitated for a moment before pulling the left leg of my pants up, revealing the mass of scars that covered the entire leg. The leg was also slightly crooked from the crash, but it wasn’t nearly as noticeable now as it had been at the beginning.

            I couldn’t bring myself to look at Chase to see his reaction, so I just closed my eyes and tried to stay still as Jared poked and prodded at my leg. I had to grit my teeth a couple of times to keep from cursing at him, but I managed to stay quiet. He spent twenty minutes massaging the muscles before hooking me up to the machine that he always did. I opened my eyes once he was done that and saw that Chase was sitting in a chair next to my head. Jared wrote a couple of things down on a clipboard and then smiled down at me. “You’re doing really well, Dana. Have you been doing the exercises every day?”

            I nodded. “Yeah, I do them twice a day. Once when I wake up and once before I go to sleep.”

            “Good. I think in another month or two you’ll be able to get around without the cane.”

            That perked me up a little. “Really?”

            “Yeah. Your left leg will always be weaker than your right, but you should be able to walk without aid again one day.”

            I heard the front door of the office open, and then a female voice called out. “Jared?”