Chapter 6 - BEYOND THE COMFORT ZONE
November brought a bitter frost that turned the Portland streets into sheets of treacherous black ice. Inside the rehabilitation gym, the atmosphere was charged with a different kind of tension.
Mason had set up a pair of parallel wooden bars in the center of the room. Ava sat in her wheelchair at one end, her tiny hands resting on her knees, staring at the long wooden rails as if they were made of hot iron.
"No," Ava said clearly, her voice stronger now, though still carrying a gravelly edge from long disuse. "I can't."
"You can," Mason said, standing at the far end of the bars. "Your last nerve conduction study showed thirty percent recovery in the motor pathways of your quadriceps. The signals are there, Ava. You're just refusing to answer the phone."
Sienna sat on a bench nearby, her tablet open in her lap, though she hadn't looked at a single line of work for over an hour. Watching her daughter confront her physical limitations was far more brutal than managing multi-million-dollar corporate acquisitions.
"It hurts," Ava said, her lower lip trembling.
"I know it hurts," Mason agreed without a drop of sympathy in his tone. "Pain means the nerve is alive. Pain is proof that your body hasn't given up, even if your mind wants to. Stand up, Ava."
"I'll fall!" Ava shouted, her eyes flashing with sudden anger—an emotion Sienna hadn't seen in her child since before the crash.
"I won't let you hit the floor," Mason said quietly. "I've dropped a lot of things in my life, Ava. I won't drop you."
Ava glared at him, a fierce, indignant spark lighting up her dark eyes. Slowly, reluctantly, she reached out her small hands and gripped the smooth polished wood of the parallel bars. She set her feet flat on the rubber mat.
"Drive through your heels," Mason commanded softly. "Don't look at your feet. Look at me."
Ava locked her eyes onto Mason's face. She gritted her teeth, a low groan escaping her throat as she pushed downward with her arms and forced her legs to contract. Her knees wobbled violently, shaking like saplings in a gale, but slowly, agonizingly, her hips lifted off the vinyl cushion of her wheelchair.
She was standing.
Sienna stood up involuntarily, her breath catching in her throat, her knuckles white as she pressed her hand against her chest.
Ava stood unassisted, supported only by her grip on the wooden rails and the sheer, stubborn power of her own willpower. The violent tremors in her legs threatened to collapse her at any second, but Mason didn't reach out to grab her. He remained standing three feet away, his arms at his sides, his gaze steady and unwavering.
"Take a step," Mason said.
"I... can't," Ava panted, sweat pouring down her forehead.
"Left foot," Mason repeated, echoing the exact words Ava had overheard him say to that frightened boy weeks ago. "Don't think about falling. Think about getting to me."
Ava shifted her weight. Her left leg dragged forward two inches, her heel catching on the mat, but she locked her joint and held her balance.
"One," Mason counted quietly. "Again."
She moved her right foot. It slid three inches forward.
"Two."
Then, without warning, Ava's right knee buckled. The world tilted sideways as her strength vanished instantly. Sienna let out a sharp scream, taking a step forward—but Mason was already there. Moving with lightning speed, he dropped to one knee, slid beneath her collapsing frame, and caught her smoothly against his chest before her body could hit the hard floor.
Ava buried her face into the rough canvas of Mason's gray facility shirt, her small shoulders heaving as she sobbed uncontrollably—not from pain, but from the overwhelming flood of sensation, exertion, and released fear.
May you like
Mason wrapped his large, steady arms around her, holding her securely against his chest. "I got you," he whispered into her hair, his own voice thick with emotion. "I got you, kiddo. You took two steps."
From the doorway, Dr. Marsh stood watching the scene, tears streaming down her cheeks. Sienna covered her mouth, her tears blurring the sight of the former soldier holding her daughter on the gym floor, a fortress finally crumbling into something beautiful.
