Physical Therapy

"Honey, knock it off."

I set my hand on Reilly's knee, hoping he'd still his foot for the first time since they'd gotten to the doctor's office. He didn't, he only switched to the other foot, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Reilly, baby, you have to calm down. It's going to be good news."

"You don't know that Shay." He retorted, bottom lip jutting out in the pout he'd been sporting for the past ten days. I fought the urge to reach out and pinch it until he put it back. I'd watched him sulk on the couch since he came home from the hospital, not moving a muscle since his mom came down to take care of him.

"You'd be surprised what a positive attitude can do."

He opened his mouth to respond when the door opened, Dr. Knox walking in and dropping a chart on his desk. I mentally thanked God for that intervention, looking forward to the conversation we'd been waiting to have since Reilly had ruptured his appendix on the ice.

"So how are we feeling?" the doctor asked, flipping to a new page and leaning onto his elbows.

Reilly scoffed and ran his fingers through his hair. "We're ready for some good news, Dr. Knox." I said, reaching over to pinch the back of his arm.

The doctor pulled his lip into a grimace, scanning the sheet on his desk and pulling out an X-Ray. "Well," he stood, flipping off the lights and pinning the scan to a board, "I'm afraid I don't have much to offer." I watched Reilly's head fall next to me and I reached out to take his hand. "The hit you took was... it was pretty rough. You were left with some internal bleeding that we had to monitor while you were in the hospital, not to mention this crack here. This one," he gestured to two of the ribs on the X-Ray, "completely cracked. We had to set it in surgery."

He droned on about a healing timeline and I tried to listen but I couldn't focus, my mind on Reilly next to me. He'd let go of my hand and leaned back again, eyes not focused on anything in particular as that bottom lip slipped into a pout again.

Notes