His son brightened under her admiration. “Really? You think so?”
“Absolutely. And today we’re going to practice getting in and out of it, okay?”
“Okay.”
“This way,” Molly said, gesturing for them to follow her into the large therapy room. Dan pushed Josh’s wheelchair forward. “If you wouldn’t mind stopping right there,” she said, when he reached the center of the room, “I’d like to see what Josh can do on his own.”
Letting go of the chair and backing off to watch his son struggle to move the large wheels forward was difficult. Josh’s small arms seemed far too skinny to be of much use, although he did manage to wheel the chair all the way over to Molly.
“Excellent.” Once again she knelt before Josh so they were at the same eye level. “I need you to practice wheeling yourself around, Josh. I know your arms will get tired, but you still need to practice. It’s the only way to get your arms stronger, all right?”
“All right.”
“Good.” Molly’s smile was bright enough to light up the whole room. For the first time Dan wondered just what her life was like to make her so happy all the time. He’d noticed that she wasn’t wearing a wedding or engagement ring, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t seeing someone. He couldn’t imagine a woman like Molly being without a man, so he had to assume she was involved. Why that thought made him feel depressed, he had no clue. The last thing he needed was a woman to further complicate his life.
After Suzy had upped and left six years ago, he’d vowed to never let a woman get close to him again. Josh needed stability in his life more than he himself needed female companionship. He’d willingly thrown himself into his career. Maybe a little too enthusiastically, now that he thought about it.
“I’m going to help you stand up, okay? First we have to set the brakes.” She put her hands over his smaller ones to show him how to move the levers forward. “Now, I’m going to put my arms underneath yours, but I need you to push up on the arms of your wheelchair at the same time.”
He watched Josh struggle to stand, noticing that Molly took a good portion of his weight in order for him to accomplish the task. Although once he was standing, she made him balance there for a few seconds.
“I’m going to fall,” Josh whined. “Don’t let me go or I’ll fall!”
“I won’t let you go, Josh, I promise,” Molly assured him. “Just try and stand here for a little bit.”
After another ten seconds she let him sit back down in the chair. Dan watched intently so that he could practice this at home with Josh.
“Good job,” she praised his son. “Did you play any games with your dad last night?”
Josh nodded. “Yep, we played the ball game before dinner. It was fun. And I have a new tutor, too. His name is Mitch. I like him way better than Mr. Iverson.” Josh screwed up his face in an apparent attempt to mimic the stern tutor.
Molly’s lips twitched as she fought a smile, but when she lifted her gaze over Josh’s head to meet his, Dan could see frank approval reflected in her gaze. And despite the fact he shouldn’t care what she thought of him, he was secretly glad to have earned her favor.
The session went on, with more games that she dragged him into playing, and he was thrilled to notice that Josh was able to move his legs a little better today when Molly instructed him to kick the ball between his feet.
When she ended Josh’s session with another massage and the ultrasound treatment, he couldn’t help voicing his concern. “What exactly is the purpose of doing the ultrasound on his legs for eight minutes? I don’t see what good it can possibly do for him.”
She arched a brow, as she continued providing the treatment. “These are very intense ultrasound waves that are focused directly on the injured muscles. They help increase blood flow, which in turn helps to reduce pain and swelling,” she said patiently, as if speaking to a first-year medical student.
“Really?” He frowned, trying to work through the pathophysiology of what she described. “And ultrasound waves are safe and harmless?”
“Definitely safe and harmless,” she agreed. “But that doesn’t mean they don’t have helpful properties, as well. I also wanted to mention that you shouldn’t let Josh overdo the games at home. What you did yesterday was perfect. An hour in the evening is enough so that Josh doesn’t overwork his injured muscles. We wouldn’t want him to suffer from muscle spasms.”
He nodded, unwilling to admit how much he’d wanted to push Josh into playing her therapy games for longer than he had. Not because he wanted Josh to overwork his injured muscles but because he desperately wanted to see his son walk again.
Patience was a virtue, he reminded himself. Although having patience while performing heart surgery was far easier than having patience with his son struggling to learn how to stand and walk.
When she’d finished the ultrasound therapy, she handed Josh the candy jar, and this time it didn’t take him long to choose a cherry-flavored lollipop. Dan figured that by the time they’d completed the initial twelve weeks of therapy, his son would have tried every flavor several times over.
“Okay, Josh, I’m going to talk to your dad again for a few minutes,” Molly said as she put the candy jar away. “Wait here and I’ll help you get into your wheelchair when I return.”
Josh nodded, the skin around his lips already stained red from the cherry sucker.
Dan followed Molly’s petite frame back to her office, trying not to imagine what her figure looked like beneath the baggy scrubs.
“Dr. Morris—” she began, but he quickly interrupted her.
“I asked you to call me Dan,” he reminded. “I’ll be attending therapy with Josh because I’m his father, not because I’m a surgeon here at Angel’s.”
“Ah, okay, Dan, then,” she murmured. She paused, as if she’d lost her train of thought, and he took a moment to savor the way she’d said his name. For the first time in six years he preferred hearing his first name to his formal title.
“I want you to consider getting a wheelchair, too,” she said.
He blinked, and tried to gather his scattered thoughts. “You mean one for Josh to use here as well as the one he’ll use at home?”
“No, I mean one for you to use specially while we’re working together with Josh.” She tilted her chin in a gesture he already knew meant that this was a topic she felt strongly about. “Josh needs you to be a role model for him. And he needs to learn how to get in and out of it by himself. I think he would find that easier to do if you were learning alongside him.”
Was she crazy? He’d never heard anything more ridiculous. What good would it do for him to be in a wheelchair, too? “I appreciate your advice but I don’t see the need to get myself a wheelchair.”
“Dr. Morris—Dan,” she corrected swiftly, “You don’t have the option to refuse. You have to stop questioning everything I do or suggest. Like the ultrasound treatments, and now getting a wheelchair of your own. For years you referred
