Read Online In Dark Woods (Signal Bend Series #4.5) by Susan Fanetti - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Susan Fanetti
Ads: Link
Kendrick knocked and opened his office door. “We’ve got the tests scheduled. Have you made any decisions about how you want to proceed after that?”
Lilli stared hard into Isaac’s eyes. She didn’t know how she’d deal if he didn’t make the most of this chance. It felt something like a miracle to her. The cosmos seemed to be thinking that perhaps they’d suffered enough, paid enough.
He turned from her and faced the doctor. “I guess I’m going back to St. Louis.”
EIGHT
“Isaac, I know you’re frustrated. But it gets in your way. It’s always gotten in your way, and you know it. You need to give your body time to try out the new connections it ’s forging before you make demands on it for more.”
Noah was sitting against the end of a long metal table in the therapy room. Isaac, soaked in sweat and sore all the way to his marrow, was fucking pissed off. He was missing yet another goddamn ultrasound because he was imprisoned here. He was in a constant state of worry, a low-grade hum spiking to a jackhammer with every OB/GYN appointment. She was having scans monthly, and every time she brought him a funky black and white photograph, he was elated and furious in equal measure. He hated not being there for her. He hated it.
Today was her twenty- week scan. They were hoping to know what flavor she was baking—in addition to making sure everything was okay. She was alone, and he was here, strapped up in his torture winch, dragging his legs along behind him.
He could now feel his legs and his feet, waist to toes. The sensation he had was eerily akin to the way his arms had felt at first, when he was still on his back. Like Novocain, or as if the lower part of his body had been packed in cotton padding. But it was something, and it gave him an impatient fire to have more.
But he still had no control. He was gaining some reflex reaction, but he could not will his legs to move, and they certainly would not hold his weight. He spent hours every day in this cursed room, but nothing was working. He was becoming the fucking Hulk above his waist, but his increasingly meatless legs dragged on behind him.
“Let’s do it again. ” He wrapped his hands around the bars, ready to hoist himself back between them.
“Dude, no. First, you’re not my only patient, and your time is up. Second, you are going to undo the progress you’ve made if you don’t rest when you’re supposed to. I like your fire this time around, Isaac. It’s good. Until it’s bad. You have made incredible progress. I don’t like to throw the word miracle around, but I think you need to stop and remember where you were, like, seven months ago. Or, hell, three months ago.”
“It’s not fuckin’ enough.”
“Yeah, well, you’re wearing me out.” With one brawny arm around Isaac’s waist, Noah helped him out of the harness and back into his chair.
~oOo~
He was fresh out of the shower and ensconced in the recliner in his room, reading, when Lilli came in. He loved the way she looked pregnant. She was bigger, he thought, with this one than she had been with Gia—or maybe it was that the rest of her was smaller. She’d lost a lot of weight since he’d been shot. For awhile, when the bones in her shoulders had become pronounced, he’d been worried, but she’d filled back out a little, especially since the baby. But she definitely wasn’t the muscular Amazon she’d once been.
He loved the round swell of her belly, the way it stretched her t-shirt . With Gia, she’d barely shown the first half of the pregnancy, but this time she was quite clearly pregnant. She’d given up jeans in favor of yoga pants more than a month ago.
She closed the door behind her, and he set his book aside. “Hey, Sport. Miss ed you.”
“Hey, love. How was work?” They’d taken to calling his therapy ‘work.’ He couldn’t even remember how that had started.
He shrugged. “Same old. This might be as good as it
Lilli stared hard into Isaac’s eyes. She didn’t know how she’d deal if he didn’t make the most of this chance. It felt something like a miracle to her. The cosmos seemed to be thinking that perhaps they’d suffered enough, paid enough.
He turned from her and faced the doctor. “I guess I’m going back to St. Louis.”
EIGHT
“Isaac, I know you’re frustrated. But it gets in your way. It’s always gotten in your way, and you know it. You need to give your body time to try out the new connections it ’s forging before you make demands on it for more.”
Noah was sitting against the end of a long metal table in the therapy room. Isaac, soaked in sweat and sore all the way to his marrow, was fucking pissed off. He was missing yet another goddamn ultrasound because he was imprisoned here. He was in a constant state of worry, a low-grade hum spiking to a jackhammer with every OB/GYN appointment. She was having scans monthly, and every time she brought him a funky black and white photograph, he was elated and furious in equal measure. He hated not being there for her. He hated it.
Today was her twenty- week scan. They were hoping to know what flavor she was baking—in addition to making sure everything was okay. She was alone, and he was here, strapped up in his torture winch, dragging his legs along behind him.
He could now feel his legs and his feet, waist to toes. The sensation he had was eerily akin to the way his arms had felt at first, when he was still on his back. Like Novocain, or as if the lower part of his body had been packed in cotton padding. But it was something, and it gave him an impatient fire to have more.
But he still had no control. He was gaining some reflex reaction, but he could not will his legs to move, and they certainly would not hold his weight. He spent hours every day in this cursed room, but nothing was working. He was becoming the fucking Hulk above his waist, but his increasingly meatless legs dragged on behind him.
“Let’s do it again. ” He wrapped his hands around the bars, ready to hoist himself back between them.
“Dude, no. First, you’re not my only patient, and your time is up. Second, you are going to undo the progress you’ve made if you don’t rest when you’re supposed to. I like your fire this time around, Isaac. It’s good. Until it’s bad. You have made incredible progress. I don’t like to throw the word miracle around, but I think you need to stop and remember where you were, like, seven months ago. Or, hell, three months ago.”
“It’s not fuckin’ enough.”
“Yeah, well, you’re wearing me out.” With one brawny arm around Isaac’s waist, Noah helped him out of the harness and back into his chair.
~oOo~
He was fresh out of the shower and ensconced in the recliner in his room, reading, when Lilli came in. He loved the way she looked pregnant. She was bigger, he thought, with this one than she had been with Gia—or maybe it was that the rest of her was smaller. She’d lost a lot of weight since he’d been shot. For awhile, when the bones in her shoulders had become pronounced, he’d been worried, but she’d filled back out a little, especially since the baby. But she definitely wasn’t the muscular Amazon she’d once been.
He loved the round swell of her belly, the way it stretched her t-shirt . With Gia, she’d barely shown the first half of the pregnancy, but this time she was quite clearly pregnant. She’d given up jeans in favor of yoga pants more than a month ago.
She closed the door behind her, and he set his book aside. “Hey, Sport. Miss ed you.”
“Hey, love. How was work?” They’d taken to calling his therapy ‘work.’ He couldn’t even remember how that had started.
He shrugged. “Same old. This might be as good as it
Similar Books
