to come alone. If their parents can’t be here, it’s nice for them to have support from someone other than us. Regardless of our relationship with them, we’re still the people doing the treatment. Sometimes, they just want someone else around to encourage them.”
“Sounds like a cool program.” I eyed Adi on the mat. “I think she might like to join something like that. Will you continue with it once you move to your new building?”
“We’ll try.” He glanced at the open door. “Realistically, we might have fewer people signing up or be willing to come back when they won’t be around the hospital anyway. We’ll have to see how it goes.”
I gave him what I hoped was a reassuring smile. Chris was still having trouble making his deal with the board, and I knew he was worried about leaving the patients behind if he couldn’t get it done.
Eventually though, I knew he would get something worked out with them. It was just a matter of what and when.
“How’s the building coming along?” I asked. “Have you picked a name yet?”
“No, we—”
Hunter cleared his throat. “Actually, I’ve come up with another possible option. What do you think about ‘The Therapy Hounds’?”
“Hounds?” Chris shook his head. “That’s terrible.”
“I have to agree with him,” I said. “I’m not sure it’s going to create the impression of a reputable, reliable practice with a name like that.”
“PT Superheroes?” he suggested hopefully. “I think kids will love that.”
“And adults will think it’s a pediatric practice only,” Chris said. “We’ll have to keep thinking.”
“I like both,” Adi offered.
Hunter smirked at us before pretending to dust off his hands. “My work here is done then. Adi’s a patient and it’s all about what they think, right?”
“Right.” Chris rolled his eyes at his friend before giving his attention back to Adi. “How’s that arm feeling? You’ve managed to hold the pose for a couple of minutes, which is fantastic, but let’s not push it.”
She nodded and pushed back to sit on her knees, eyes shining with excitement. “That felt good. What’s next?”
“Hunter’s going to show you some new stretches to cool off with. I’d like you to keep doing them at home after you’ve done your exercises.”
“I will,” she promised. “Am I getting new exercises too?”
“Yep.” He grinned and lifted the tablet in his hand, tapping the screen with his thumb. “I’m going to print out your new homework before you leave and I’ve already emailed it to your mom. A few more weeks of these and you’ll be good as new.”
Clapping her hands as she stood up, she turned toward Hunter and bounced on the balls of her feet. “I’m ready.”
“Great, so am I.” He led her to the cabinet with all the equipment in it and started rummaging around for something.
Chris and I watched in silence as he handed over a small weight and demonstrated what he wanted her to do with it. Once they were immersed in their exercises, I fished my phone out of my pocket and showed Chris the email I’d received from the lawyer earlier.
Anxiety pinged around my chest at the mere thought of what he was reading. “Our first court date is in a month.”
He scanned the contents of the message, his eyes narrowing when he got to the end. “Is this really the earliest date they could get? It hardly seems fair that you have to wait that long for this bullshit.”
I sighed. “Part of me would’ve liked to have it heard tomorrow, but I’m also glad we’re going to have some time to prepare.”
“I suppose that’s true. What do you need from me?” He handed my phone back. “I’ll speak to Howard about it as well, but is there anything I can do to help you?”
“You’ve done more than enough already.” I looked up into his eyes, wishing I could just fall into his arms and stay there until the court case was done. “Howard mentioned again that he might need you and Hunter to give evidence about the day of the accident, but he says we’re not there yet.”
“We’ll be ready when he is,” he said before leaning over to drop a kiss on top of my head. “I hate that you’re going to have to live with this hanging over your head for another month, but try not to stress too much about it. Okay?”
I laughed but the sound came out bitter and dry. “Yeah. That’s about as easy as telling an orange not to be orange.”