by Dale Mayer
“It matters,” he said. “I’m not exactly sure how or why, but I’m glad that you were there to share this with me.”
She squeezed his fingers back and whispered, “I am too.”
Just then Dennis came over with a great big tray. “I’ve got steaks here,” he said. “Put up your hands so I can remember who ordered what,” he said, in a cheerful voice. In no time he had those plates distributed, and Lance had a big slab of steak, a baked potato, and Caesar salad in front of him.
“Now this is awesome,” he whispered.
Just when they thought dinner couldn’t get any better, Dennis came around with a few beers and some sparkling juice and said, “This is a night we all need to celebrate,” he said. “It’s nonalcoholic beer, since most everybody is on medications, but let’s make the most of it.”
Everybody raised a can and cheered.
Just something was so special about this evening. It had started with Lance’s music, but it had also stretched into dinner. She was on the inside of the big square they had created, as were another twenty-odd guys, with another forty or so on the outside. It was freaking awesome. Dennis was working like a madman, trying to keep them all happy.
She called out to him and said, “Dennis, cheers to you for making this happen.” He stopped, looked at her as a big smile split his face, and he said, “Cheers to you for your part in it too.”
She laughed. “Okay, this mutual admiration society,” she said, “we’re both members.”
He howled with laughter at that. Then he said, “Well, when you guys are all done, I’ve got fresh raspberry cheesecake coming out too.”
They all just moaned in joy and tucked into their meals. She was having a steak too, but hers was about half the size of Lance’s, and her salad was twice the size of his. She skipped the baked potato, and, of course, Dennis had remembered. It had been more than perfect.
The whole evening produced a glow that lasted for days. Lance went back to play the piano for a few minutes at a time, trying to adjust his spine on the bench, wondering if he could do it long-term. Shane was working on strengthening his ability to sit on something hard like that. He could get a cushion, but it wasn’t the same thing. It was more the angle, where he had to sit with his back straight, yet get his arms spread out and his fingers as wide as they needed to go.
It was the leaning forward and the pulling back again that was absolutely killing his system. Shane had devised some very specific exercises to allow Lance to do it a whole lot easier. He paid in a big way for that concert and had ended up in the hot tub before going to bed, just to ease up on the cramps. Shane had even given him some muscle relaxants to hopefully stop the muscle knots.
But unfortunately he’d woken up early in the morning, nearly screaming in pain from muscle cramps anyway. The night nurse had come and had helped massage some of them down, had given him some more medication, but the news had gotten back to Shane first thing in the morning, and he was all over it. He also had Lance on some vitamins—calcium, magnesium, and a few other things that he didn’t recognize—in order to help calm down the muscles.
“When you overwork them,” Shane said, “they’ll spasm like that.”
“Well, I really hope not to go through that again,” he said. “It was painful.”
“I know it is,” he said. “It’s a movement we haven’t worked on at all.”
“We were doing so much,” he said, “and I didn’t tell you that the leg was really struggling too.”
“You didn’t have to,” he said. “I was at the concert and watched,” he said. “I could tell by the way you were moving what some of the issues were.”
“Yeah,” he said. “I keep hoping.”
“And don’t just worry,” he said. “You keep planning for success. You know what they say. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”
At that moment, Lance stopped and stared at him. “Wow,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard that before.”
“You should have, and, if you haven’t, it’s something you need to emblazon in your brain,” Shane said. “Some things in life you have to take concrete steps toward in order to make them happen. If you want to get back to playing like you were,” he said, “then we need to strengthen some of these muscles, but we can’t do it and cause a problem with some others. So it’s got to be a full-body thing.”
“So, what are you thinking? Will I get there?” He lay on his back, exhausted from the exercises he’d been doing with Shane and his knees.
“Absolutely,” Shane replied. “Not only will we get you back there but we’ll get you better than ever,” he said. “That’s my motto.”
“If you say so,” Lance said, and he groaned. “I really would like to get into that pool and do some weightless water exercises,” he said.
“Good idea,” he said. “That’s a full-body workout too. How about we do that this afternoon? Meet you down there at what? Two o’clock? Or do you have any other appointments this afternoon?”
“Not today,” he said. “Two o’clock it is.”
By the time two o’clock rolled around, Lance wasn’t sure he should have signed up for anything more. Most days, Shane just wiped him out, and now he’d added in swimming. But, even though Lance was exhausted and in pain, he was also looking forward to it in a big way. He also wanted to make sure he got some sleep tonight, and, if this is what it would take, then that was fine. At the pool, he rolled up to the side to see Shane standing there, waiting for him.
He assessed the wheelchair and the look on Lance’s face. “Starting next week,” he said, “we’ll get you up on crutches. You’re using the wheelchair as an extension of yourself.”
Lance looked up at him, frowned, and said, “It is an extension of myself.”
“It is,” he said, “but, at some point, it can also become a crutch. And, for that to stop, you have to have crutches.”
“So, I get rid of one crutch and end up with two?” he asked sarcastically.
Shane’s smile was bright and flashy, showing his white teeth. “Okay, funny guy, into the water with you.”
Putting down the locks on his wheelchair, Lance slowly stood, hobbled the few steps to the railing, and, rather than making any attempt at a bit of form, he just fell into the water. When the warm water closed over him, and his body floated midpool, something was just so freeing and glorious about it. He slowly rose to the surface, brushed the water out of his eyes, and smiled up at Shane. “What is there about being in the water that is so awesome?”
“Well, nothing in your body has to work as hard to be there,” he said, “so it’s very freeing. So you can swim?”
“Fine time to ask that,” Lance said with a laugh. “I used to swim very well, but now I don’t know.”
“Try a couple laps, so I can take a look,” Shane said.
Lance dove under the water, came up to the surface, and started with a strong right crawl. He flipped and turned at the other end, came back, then flipped, and turned again. He did this a couple more times until he could feel his body fatiguing. He came up halfway in the middle and then slowly floated toward the shallow end.
Shane was making notes.
“So, is it good news or bad news?” Lance asked.
“I’d say it’s great news,” Shane said. “We have some work to do, but you’re doing quite well.”
“It feels great,” he said.
“Yep, and you were strong enough to do six laps today, even after a workout,” he said. “So we’ll need to work you up to twenty laps,” he said, as he continued to write notes.
Lance lay in the water and just floated. “Something is so special about this,” he murmured. “Dani was so right to put in this pool.”
“She did it quite early on,” Shane said. “We get the same reaction from everybody who comes here. The pool is an added benefit, and you’re free to come here after we’ve gotten through a certain amount of training,” he said. “There’s no lifeguard on duty, and everybody
has to understand that.”
“Got it. What about the staff members?”
“Same thing. They’re allowed to come and go after physiotherapy sessions are over,” he said. “So you’ll often find them down here Sundays, tanning or swimming in the pool or just sitting in the hot tub.”
“That would be nice too,” he said. Pulling himself up, he sat on one of the lower steps and asked, “Am I done for today?”
Shane looked at him and smiled. “Are you kidding? We haven’t even gotten started,” he said gently.
Lance winced. “Okay, then, do your worst.”
Chapter 13
Jessica heard about the swimming over the next couple days. Lance told her about it. Shane told her about it. And even a couple other people told her about it. In other words, everybody was excited that Lance’s progress on land—which had been slow but steady—was nothing like his progress in the water. She was happy for him. The water was a full-body workout, and he would show quite a rapid improvement, if he kept it up. When she came in at lunchtime one afternoon, tired and stressed with some computer glitch going on, Dennis looked at her.
“Uh-oh.”
She gave him a wan smile. “Honestly, it’s not bad. Just computer stuff.”
He gave a mock shudder. “I don’t like computer stuff at all,” he said. “So, what can I get you for lunch?”
“A chicken Caesar salad, please.”
He quickly made her a beautiful Caesar salad, then chopped some chicken and put it on top for her. She smiled broadly and said, “You’ll make some woman a great husband,” she said with a laugh. “This is perfect.” He just smiled at her and turned to the next customer in line. She wandered onto the deck but couldn’t handle the direct sun at this time of day and stepped into the shade a bit.
“Hey, why don’t you sit with me?” a man called out to her.
She turned to see Lance. She walked over with a weary smile and sat down.
He looked at her and frowned.
“I’m fine,” she said. “We’ve just got some real glitchy computer stuff going on right now, and it’s frustrating me to no end.”
He shook his head. “I love technology, but only when it works.”
She laughed and laughed. “I think that’s how we all feel,” she said. “And all too often it doesn’t work at all.”
“True enough.” He looked at her lunch and said, “Now that looks really good.”
“I was hoping for something that would give me vitamins and nutrients but with a little protein at the same time, so I can destress and head back to work,” she said. “So, how’s the swimming going?”
“It’s wonderful,” he said. “I would go in every day, but Shane wants me to up some of my regular gym routines and to ease back on some of the water stuff.”
“I’m sure it’s more about balance than anything,” she said.
“Absolutely,” he said. “Still, it’s frustrating because I’d rather do the water.”
“Which is why you have to do the land,” she said, laughing. He just grinned. She looked at his empty plate. “I guess you got here before I did.”
“It’s almost one-thirty,” he said, checking his watch. “I have to go for one of my doctor visits and then another at two-thirty.”
“Wow,” she said. “I forgot your schedule is always so busy here.”
“It’s seriously busy,” he said. “I never expected that.”
“A lot of different avenues to improve,” she said.
He nodded. “True enough, but my first appointment is with the medical doctor to go over my meds, my supplements, and my general physical condition,” he said.
“That’s very important,” she said. “Better not miss that one.”
“I don’t dare miss any of them,” he said. “I hated going to the shrink at first, but now, well”—he gave a light shrug and a lopsided grin—“I am finding it to be very helpful.”
She beamed. “Good,” she said, “because, like I’m sure he said, it’s all about balance. Emotional, spiritual, and physical.”
“I don’t know about the spiritual part,” he said, “but the emotional and the mental are finally coming into line.”
“You’re doing so great. It’s really amazing,” she said, leaning in with a smile.
He reached across and covered her hand with his. “Thank you.”
She shrugged and settled back a little bit, but she was pleased. “Are we getting another concert next weekend?”
He grinned boyishly. “Dani did ask me about that,” he said. “A lot of the other patients were hoping that it could be a regular thing.”
She stared at him in delight. “What about the dissenters?”
“Well, apparently they’ve been fairly quiet this time. Maybe just having it as a scheduled occasion was enough to make the difference.”
“It probably was,” she said, “so it’s good news all around.”
“Exactly.”
“So, is that a yes then?”
He shrugged. “I’ll listen to Shane on this one,” he said.
“And what does Shane say?”
“He said that I could do it again, but that he wants to change my seating.”
“Oh, I like that idea,” she said. “If he can sort out how you should be sitting, and you can find a way to make that work along with your natural playing style,” she said, “that’s probably all working together for the good of your core.”
“Well, that’s the thing,” he said. “You’re the first one to mention my natural playing style. Because really, when you get into playing, you don’t think about how you’re sitting,” he said. “So it’s a little awkward because Shane always wants me to consider my posture, and, once I’m into the music, I don’t think of anything but the music.”
“So, go around the place and see if any other chairs would work for you,” she said.
“Shane suggested that as well—or maybe even an office chair or something that will give me a little bit better lower-back support.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “We have a bunch of chairs in the offices. You can always ask Dani about having one for the concert.”
“Yeah. Shane’s got a whole pile of chairs for our next session that he wants to work with.” At that, she stared at him, and he nodded. “They’re all lined up—like fifteen of them.”
She chuckled. “The thing about Shane is,” she said, “if you put him on a mission, he’ll see it through. And he’ll see you through, to the best you can be. So, if he has all these chairs lined up to figure out how to make it work for you,” she said, “I’d let him do it.”
“I’m not sure I have a choice,” Lance said, laughing. “Shane is beyond determined.”
“And so are you,” she said gently. “And you should be. You’re very talented, and, if this is what you want for your second career, then go for it.”
“I never thought I could have a career at it,” he said, “and I still don’t know that.” He stared off in the distance. “Shane mentioned a couple bars in town.”
“And would that be where you might want to play?”
“I’m not sure,” he said. “Somebody else mentioned YouTube, but I wouldn’t have a clue how to monetize something like that.”
“That may be something where you have your own channel to increase your visibility or something,” she said. “I don’t understand how that works either, but I’m sure it wouldn’t take too much to figure it all out.”
“Personally, I really enjoy the bar atmosphere,” he said. “Especially a bar that plays jazz and the blues too.”
“Well, like Shane said, a couple are in town. I’ve been to one of them,” she said. “I know they have live music. I suppose I could always ask how they pick their musicians.”
He looked at her, surprised, and then slowly nodded. “Well, whenever you’re there next, if you wouldn’t mind, it would be good information to have.”
She smiled. “Absolutely,” she said. “In fact, I’d be de
lighted. I really want you to succeed at this.”
“What? Are you getting rid of me already?”
She gave him a slow smile and said, “Honestly, I’m trying to keep you close. If you find jobs in Dallas that you actually love and want to stay with,” she said, “then maybe I’ll be lucky, and you’ll stay nearby when you’re done with your rehab.”
He looked at her in surprise, and then the most beautiful of smiles flashed across his face. “You know something? That’s exactly what I was thinking too.”
Lance shouldn’t have said anything to her about the clubs. That was putting a job on her shoulders that didn’t belong there. If he couldn’t go to the club and talk to the owners himself, he certainly shouldn’t be the one playing there.
He’d always been independent.
This was on the edge of not.
He frowned at that. He hadn’t had any qualms when he’d asked her initially, so what was the hindsight issue now? It’s not like she’d shown any hesitation. Still, it worried him until Shane stopped him at his next session.
“What’s going on?”
“Just pondering the fine line between dependence and independence.”
Shane gave a low whistle. “Now that’s an interesting argument. I think the difference is in the ability to accept help when needed, versus using help when it’s not needed. Everyone needs help sometime. It’s abusing that help that makes the difference.”
“So, dependence should be acknowledged when one has no choice, and independence should be exercised if one can make that choice.”
Shane looked at him in surprise. “If that pertains to the situation at hand, yes. But remember. It’s also a gift to ask for or to accept a little help. As long as you don’t abuse it, it’s all good.” With that, Shane motioned at the medicine ball. “Now let’s get back at it.”
Lance laughed and bent from the knees to pick it up. He’d just wait and see. If he’d crossed a line with her, hopefully she would tell him. And, in the future, he’d have to remember not to ask for something if he could do it himself.
His future was at stake here.