18 Physical Therapy

Nathan knew he needed a ride to physical therapy once he was finally cleared by the doctor to start it and didn't want to bother Lisa or Jake. The sticky note about Sierra helping him on a Monday morning was still on his desk so he ended up scrolling through the contacts on his phone to see if he had her number saved.

Sure enough, there was a Sierra Nolan in there and as soon as he saw her contact photo, he recalled that she said she had Mondays and Tuesdays off but was available most mornings. He was supposed to go to physical therapy three times a week so as long as he kept scheduling morning appointments, she should be able to help him out.

He made sure to write down that she was coming to pick him up on another sticky note for when she inevitably vanished from his memories again and got back to watching Person of Interest. It was a good show and bingeing it had kept him from going insane when he couldn't use his arm.

The last month had been a true struggle but at least Nathan didn't have much required of him. There wasn't anything Jordan wanted him to fix (hallelujah!) since he went over the minor grammatical or spelling mistakes everyone makes now and then by himself. The book would officially be coming out in a few months and he hoped to have use of his right hand back by then for that signing event they wanted him to do.

He had a terrible feeling physical therapy was going to be brutal. His whole body ached following the accident but his arm was especially bad now that he had been weaned off of the painkillers that had helped keep him semi-functional. Light stuff like Tylenol did not cut it.

By the time his first physical therapy appointment rolled around, he was dreading what was to come but knew it was necessary for the healing process. He simply had to keep reminding himself that he wanted his life back when it hurt.

Sierra came to pick him up right on time and he made sure he was ready for her. He was wearing cargo shorts with his light red button-down shirt and did not look like he had rolled out of bed.

"Hey, Sierra," Nathan greeted. "Thanks for driving me."

She smiled at him. "No problem. How are you feeling today?"

"Same as usual. I've heard physical therapy makes things worse before it makes things better though so I'm not looking forward to it."

They walked out to her car, which seemed to be a fairly new Nissan, and he couldn't help but wonder how a waitress had managed to afford this. It was way nicer than his car. He was driving the same old Toyota Corolla he bought for himself used with his first ever book advance. It was running okay so he hadn't seen the need to replace it yet.

The car had a Vanillaroma air freshener in it and he held back a chuckle. Lisa liked using that scent too. When Amber was younger, she ripped the whole wrapper off way too soon and the entire car smelled like a vanilla bomb had exploded in it long after they threw the air freshener away to spare their noses.

"Hang in there," Sierra said sympathetically. "If it'll make you feel better, I can buy you some sort of treat afterward."

Now Nathan actually did laugh. "What am I, five?"

"You're never too old for treats to make you feel better. I still buy myself something whenever I have to get blood drawn. I hate needles. Adults need rewards as much as kids do, you know."

He supposed she was right. He had been happy to receive those get-well cookies from his family.

"If you're sure then I'm not going to stop you."

"Good!"

Sierra didn't say anything else for the rest of the drive and Nathan couldn't help but wonder if she was the kind of person who didn't talk a lot or if she simply disliked him. In all the times they had interacted they had rarely spared more than two sentences for each other.

In his case that was because he wasn't so great with people and had already made her mad once. He would prefer to avoid doing that again. Maybe she remembered that too and it was why she didn't want to talk to him.

The thought made a pit form in his stomach for some reason. He truly was an idiot when it came to other people. He was grateful he took his creative writing professor's advice instead of having to go into a field that involved seeing people in an office every day.

Nathan was on high alert as soon as they arrived in the parking lot. With the way his arm was right now, he wouldn't be able to potentially stop anyone from getting hurt if he had a vision. They happened almost every time he went outside because the world was a dangerous place.

Nothing happened on the way in, which was a relief. When they made it to the waiting area Sierra put in a pair of earbuds and closed her eyes as she leaned her head against the wall behind her.

Yep. She definitely didn't want to talk to him. He wasn't sure why that made him feel so bad but it did.

He filled out all of his paperwork before getting called back. Most of the appointment involved answering questions about his pain and the nature of the accident but the physical therapist showed him a few gentle moves to try as well, telling him to give those a shot over the next couple of days before he came back Wednesday morning.

Nathan scheduled it for the same time after double checking with Sierra when he saw her sitting in the lobby. It wouldn't work very well to set something up without having a ride.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah. Thanks again for taking me."

She shrugged. "It's the least I can do. So how about that treat? It's kind of early in the day for ice cream but I'm sure there are some bakeries open somewhere selling pastries or cupcakes."

"Could I get a donut?" he asked. It had been a while since he last had one and he could go for a maple bar about now.

"Sure!"