Angry and pushing himself too hard. Well, he was Mrs. Moretta’s son. It was to be expected.
They waited in silence for a few minutes until a nurse in cheery flowered scrubs called them back.
“Lieutenant Moretta, welcome to PT,” she smiled at him. “I’m Annalise.” She extended her hand to him. After shuffling crutches, Aldo shook it.
“Aldo.”
Annalise turned her attention to Harper.
“I’m Harper,” she said, taking the offered hand.
“Thanks for coming,” Annalise said, leading the way through tables and cardio machines. “It’s important for family to be involved in recovery.”
“We’re just friends,” Aldo mumbled.
“Well, it always helps to have another pair of eyes and hands,” Annalise said, unphased. She pointed to a pair of chairs next to a set of parallel bars. “Let me get these set to your height and the doctor will be here shortly.”
Aldo glared at the bars while Harper tried not to think of the friendly, funny man who left Benevolence not so long ago.
“Lieutenant.” A slim man in a white coat and glasses approached. “I’m Dr. Steers. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Aldo shook his hand, but said nothing.
“Harper,” she introduced herself.
“Great to meet you Harper. Let’s get started, shall we? Lieutenant, Walter Reed gave me your file and you already have our staff impressed. To be where you are right now, barely a month from the injury, is almost superhuman.”
Harper saw the corner of Aldo’s mouth lift. So he was still in there somewhere.
“He is pretty awesome, isn’t he?” she grinned.
Dr. Steers flashed her a grin. “We can understand the lieutenant’s frustration with the pace of therapy, and we’ll do our best to write a program that challenges him at his level. We just need to make sure we’re not asking too much of your body while you’re still so early in the recovery process. Okay?”
Aldo nodded.
“So let’s get you up. You know the drill.” The doctor pointed to the bars.
Aldo stood and handed Annalise his crutches. He gripped the bars and walked, one foot in front of the other, toward Dr. Steers who paced him backward on a wheeled stool.
“Looks good,” the doctor said, making notes. “Go ahead and go back to the top.”
They had Aldo walk, holding the bars several more times, pausing briefly to make slight adjustments to the prosthesis.
“Lieutenant, let’s try it without the bars.”
Aldo dropped his hands to his sides and sauntered toward Annalise. “That’s perfect,” Dr. Steers said. “Your gait looks great.”
Again, they put Aldo through his paces this time without walking aids.
His impassive face gave no hint of exertion, but his t-shirt was soaked with sweat.
“Let’s take a quick water break and then we’ll move on to some of the balance exercises,” Dr. Steers suggested.
Aldo shrugged, but dropped into the chair next to Harper.
“Harper, there’s some bottles of water in the cooler on the far wall. Do you want to grab a couple for you two?”
“Sure.” Happy to be able to do something, Harper hurried to the refrigerator and grabbed two bottles.
“Here,” she said, holding one out for Aldo.
“Thanks,” he said, twisting the top and downing half of it.
She resisted the urge to rub his shoulder.
“I know the energy expenditure is frustrating. Typically, mobility with a below knee amputation consumes up to forty percent more energy than what you’re used to. That’s why you feel like you just finished a marathon. It might only seem like a few steps to you, but to your body, it feels like almost double that.”
“I’m fine. I can do more,” Aldo shrugged.
“Lieutenant, you live up to the hype,” Annalise said, readjusting the bar height. “You’re a beast.”
“When can I start running?”
Dr. Steers looked at him over his glasses. “I’m going to make a promise that in most cases I don’t get to make. Soon. In fact, I think you’d be a great candidate for a carbon fiber running blade.”
Aldo’s nod was brisk, but Harper saw the spark in his eye.
“Let’s move on to some balance work.”
After another hour of balance and strengthening exercises, followed by some electrical stimulation and massage, Aldo was putty on the table.
Annalise handed Harper a stack of papers. “These are at-home exercises that will really keep the momentum high for his therapy. The lieutenant is going to have three outpatient appointments a week here, but if you can help him on off days and work through these, he’s going to see more results more quickly.”