Free Learning to Walk, a City Hospital Novel by Drew Zachary

until it was out, then totally meaning it.
    Neil jumped, began to blush, and then cleared his throat. “Here’s the site for the place I was telling you about.”
    Kit got his chair in real close and leaned to see the monitor better. “Does insurance cover this as therapy?”
    “I’m afraid not. It’s not working the right muscles, you know? Your upper body is already doing great, and this doesn’t do anything to improve your leg muscles.”
    “Boo. Still. An hour or three can’t cost too much, right?”
    “Well, it’s not cheap, but it isn’t outrageously expensive, either.” Neil clicked on a link and showed him the page for the gimps. There were a couple of pictures of guys with their legs wrapped in black... bags? “See, they’ve got the equipment so your legs don’t get banged around as you climb.”
    Kit made a face, but studied the wall intently. “There’ll be bruises, but that’s nothing new. I assume you have to partner with someone, either another paraplegic or an able-bodied person?”
    “Yeah. I think these guys want you to bring your own able-bodied with you. At least that’s always how I’ve seen it done. We can call and find out.” Neil shrugged. “Well, I’ll be volunteering to be your partner anyway, so I suppose it’s a moot point.”
    “You don’t have to,” Kit said, trying his best to be polite. “But I’d appreciate it. Since you climb already and all.” His gaze went right back to the images, and his fingers itched to curl around an edge and hold on.
    “No, I love climbing, and I don’t know if I’d feel right sending you to do it on your own, seeing as I’m the one who suggested it.”
    “Uh-huh.” Kit nodded, barely paying attention. He leaned more, reaching for the mouse so he could scroll through the site. “Have you been there before? To this facility?” Kit’s arm pressed against Neil’s, practically sharing the chair’s armrest.
    Neil shifted, letting him take over the armrest. “Yeah. It’s one of the better ones in town. I’ve seen them doing the climb on these two particular walls. They’re safe, good. And lots of fun.”
    Kit noticed when Neil moved, grinned to himself and wiggled his chair a fraction closer with a fast back and forth motion. “All right, then. I’ll take a look at my calendar and let you know what dates and times work best around my other appointments and see what matches your schedule. Although, honestly, weekends are best.”
    “That would work best for me. I can’t always get away during the week.”
    Kit nodded. Even with his days filled up with various doctors and therapies, he had a lot more room to maneuver than Neil did, with his full-time job. At least Neil’s hours were regular. “Maybe this weekend or next. I want to see how long I’m stiff from falling yesterday before I do more damage.”
    “Yeah, I think we should look at next weekend. Give you all the time you need to get back to where you were BTF.”
    “BTF.” Kit laughed. “I like it. Do you think you can get me into the pool before then, though?” That would be awesome.
    “I’ll see what I can do.” Neil’s hand landed on his shoulder. “Speaking of being stiff, do you need a massage?”
    Kit was going to say no, that the shower had helped a lot after all the stretching, but his brain yelled at him almost immediately. Hand on his skin. Neil hands. Oh, yes. How long had it been? Which, yeah, partly his fault because he didn’t like people touching him, but this was different. “That would be great. We have about twenty minutes before I have to do anything at the stove.”
    “Cool. Are you comfortable there? Did you want to move into the middle of the room? And did you want some music? A lot of people like something gentle playing. Helps them relax.”
    “Whatever’s best for you.” Kit moved out from the computer a little, assuming Neil would need room to work. “I don’t have any of that weird nature music or anything.”
    Neil