physiotherapy | awsten knight

20: six months

December 14th - December 28th, 2 weeks after the incident

So, there Cosima was, on a bed in the Emergency Surgical Unit, alone and desperately wanting to go home.

A nurse finally came up to her and took her information. She let Cosima  know that a doctor will see her soon, but until then they're going to have to hold off on painkillers. The nurse offered her a glass of water, which she accepted.

Ten minutes later, a surgeon was finally checking out her knee. He was asking her questions about the accident and her medical history. Then he asked her to bend and stretch as far as she could. It was painful, but Cosima managed to somewhat move it.

"Alright, you didn't break any bones, so that's a good thing. I think you may have ripped or pulled something, like a muscle or a tissue. We're going to do an MRI scan .", he ordered.

After that, the nurse finally put her on painkillers.

Half an hour later, Cosima was put into a wheelchair and brought the right hospital wing to get her scan done.

The MRI machine looked scary, but the nurses assured Cosima that she wouldn't even have to stick her head into the tunnel. They instructed her not to move during the whole scan. The half an hour it took, Cosima spent listening to the clicks of the hand of the watch.

They completed the scan and wheeled her back to the ESU. The wait on the results took another hour.

"Well", the surgeon said, they pulling the curtain shut behind him, "Looks like you've ripped your meniscus."

Cosima tried to mask the shock on her face, "What exactly does that mean for me?"

"Surgery. We're going to have to fix your knee cartilage. See, it's ripped about half.", he pointed out on the MRI picture, "Until then, please restrict your movements as much as possible. Walking is going to hurt, even with the brace. A doctor can prescribe you pain killers and put you on sick leave, if you need it.", he explained.

Cosima only nodded, "Sounds good."

*****

They arranged surgery for Cosima after Christmas. Until then, she was going to be glued to bed. Thanks to winter break, attending classes was out of the picture. However, she couldn't work either, the strain it would put on her would simply be too much.

She spent the holidays in Lexington with her family. It was nice to see everyone again, but she really did value living by herself.

Before her surgery, she looked up the estimated recovery time, in the hopes that it would at least be quick and that she could get back to her normal routine as quickly as possible, but instead it made her head spin.

Six months, she read.

Six months until everything would go back to normal. Until then - a cast, crutches, physio, no exercise, no excessive walking, just more physio and a never-ending amount of rest and caution.

The day of the surgery Awsten immediately offered himself to drive her to the hospital and pick her up afterwards. Fortunately, they already confirmed that she won't have to stay overnight, because it was an outpatient procedure.