Peyton Ackley - The Beginning of Change

Chapter 2 - My New Job

It was a sight to see in the morning when I woke up. I was quite lost at first, the white walls from yesterday still remained, but newfound sunlight shone into my bedroom slapping me straight in the face. I had work this morning, only my second day in London and I had to get out of bed and into the city for work. I hadn't been given my uniform yet, so I chose to wear a pair of tracksuit pants and a long-sleeved shirt, paired with some white sneakers and a puffer vest.

London isn't the kind of city to take your own vehicle, or your own car through the bustling streets. My new car is being sent in soon, a white Jeep Wrangler. It's going to be my element of the beach while I'm over here, I couldn't bear to leave Australia without some kind of reminder. The bus was coming around at 7.30 am so I had to be quick. My bag was already packed from the night before, I didn't have much just the basics for a day at work, my laptop, a notebook and pen, and a hoodie, as well as some snacks.

The bus was really busy, people were pushed up against each other trying to cram onto the double-decker that was still somehow not big enough for everyone. I found a spare seat next to another young girl, she had her AirPods in and was reading a book, so I quietly sat down trying not to bump her. She glanced up and flashed me a small grin before returning to her book. I pulled up my phone to scroll through TikTok, but there was nothing of interest. 

I eventually pulled up to my stop and jumped up to go, the girl whispered a 'goodbye' to me which I flashed a quick smile to before scurrying off the bus. People in London seem to be so nice, for some unusual reason, but I'm not going to shut it out just yet. The clinic I was working at was only a short walk from the bus stop, so I very quickly arrived. 

Walking in, I was the most stressed I think I've ever been. I was entirely unsure of where I needed to be so I went and checked in at the front counter. The physiotherapist clinic was rather small, the waiting room only had a few seats, and there were only five or so rooms as well as a small gym. It wasn't massive but it seemed like the company was like a family, very close-knit. 

"Hi, my name is Peyton Ackley, it's meant to be my first day working here," I said to the lady at the front desk.

"Hello, my name is Amy, I'm the head receptionist here. I was told when you arrive I should take you back to the staffroom to introduce you to some of the other physios we have here," she said with a smile and a bubbly tone and led me down the hallway.

I was handed off to some other physios who were chatting in a circle and they each introduced themselves. There was Miles, who was in his late 20s and specialised in orthopedics and Nina who was a bit younger and specialised in pediatrics. One of the more senior physiotherapists came in, she worked in sports physiotherapy and introduced herself as Olivia.

"I'm going to be taking you through a typical day and explaining to you how your schedule works and how our systems work here. Does that sound good?" she asked which I simply replied to with a 'yes'.

The day was going slow, I didn't realise that I would actually be seeing any patients today but I had quite a few. A lot of them were young people below the age of 30 struggling with sporting injuries, a lot of them just had sprained ankles or strained muscles. At one point during the day, I asked Olivia why I was allowed to work with so many sporting injuries when she was the physio qualified to work with sports-related injuries.

"You are studying your Masters in Sports Physiotherapy, are you not?" she asked

"Yeah, but I'm still studying."'

"We want to give you this opportunity, so just take it and stop asking questions," she said with a giggle and a slight shake of her head.

I thanked her and returned to my physio room, it didn't feel quite right if I was being honest. I'd been given my uniform now, a navy shirt and navy pants, but I didn't feel like I fit in. I'm sure it will change, won't it? Anyway, there had been many an ankle sprain today, apparently no one trains to strengthen their ATFLs or CFLs. 

Miles ended up sticking his head through my door politely knocking as he made his way in. Turns out he just wanted to check in with how my day was going, it was actually really sweet.

"Everything going well?" he asked as he hopped up on the bench.

"Yeah I guess, it's insane that I'm looking at sporting injuries though, it's a step up from back home," I replied.

"Really, so sports physiotherapy is your thing?"

"Yes, I guess," I replied as I prepared for my next patient. "I've always wanted to work in sports physio, working with athletes, travelling, the whole lot, it's a dream ya know."

"Yeah, it sounds amazing. I'm one of those people who took up physio because I was told I 'couldn't do it'. I can't say I have the same motives as you, or the same dedication," he laughed. His eyes creased as he laughed and his flowy brown hair shifted as leaned back onto his hands.

"Why orthopedics then?" I asked.

"I broke my neck when I was 11. Bones, crazy things they are," Miles spoke.

"But you're okay now?" I questioned.

"Yeah," he nodded. "When's your next patient?"

"In about five minutes."

"I'll get out of your hair then, maybe we can catch up later, outside of work?" he questioned with a grin.

"If you're asking me on a date, I don't really date men, but if you want to hang out as friends I'm all ears."

"Well, friends it is then?" he asked.

I nodded and waved him on his way, I had patients to prep for. This job was turning out to be a much bigger step in my life than I expected. I'm in London, and I'm not just working a clinic physio job, I walking with sporting injuries. It didn't even matter at this point if I got hired by a sporting team, I just wanted to be here, in this moment where not everything seemed so dark anymore like there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

WORDS: 1115

a/n: short chapter but still laying down the back story and stuff, hope you enjoy