Dog Days

Chapter 52

At the end of the session, Banner walks me out of the office, down the hall, and into the waiting room. Odin springs out of his chair and looks me over, a worried look covers his face. Banner looks towards me and states "I'd like to schedule visits twice a week. Do Mondays and Thursdays work for you?"

I look to Odin, who speaks, immediately "We can do that."

Banner looks to me with a soft smile, before asking "Do you mind if I speak to him about your medications?"

I shrug, and he looks to Odin "I'm starting him on sertraline. I want him to take a week at twenty-five milligrams a day, before he goes up to fifty."

He looks down at his notes and states "I also want to start him on prazosin, which has a slightly trickier schedule. We have it labeled and divided for the first six weeks. Just go in the correct order and only one a night."

He continues "We're also going to continue the diazepam, but we're going to bump you down to five milligrams." He hands over the prescription notes to Odin.

He turns to the receptionist and smiles "Put in these orders for me, please."

She gives him a soft smile and he turns back to us "You can fill your prescription on the way home." He looks me over, cautiously "Let's try to get off those painkillers in the next two weeks."

I give him a soft smile and he looks at me, carefully "I meant it when I said it, Thor. You have to stop blaming yourself for what happened."

I give him a soft smile "Thank you, Banner. I know."

He rests his hand on my upper arm, about to say something, before he grips my arm with his hand "Are you solid muscle?"

I chuckle at him, before declaring "See you Thursday, Banner."

~

When we get in the Jeep, Odin asks "How did it go?"

I take in a deep breath as I get a notification on my phone. I pull out my phone as I sigh "It went fine, dad."

He nods, before he looks me over, nervously "Did you two talk about the nightmares?"

I sigh as I look down at the screen "Wouldn't be on sleep meds if we didn't."

I find an email confirmation that my package has been shipped and he asks "And did you guys talk about the Heimdall thing?"

I sigh "You mean the fact that you and Hela tricked me into fucking my best friend, even though I wasn't ready?" When I look up at him, I find he looks shocked "I don't want to talk about it, anymore. I'm in therapy for a reason."

He gives me a short nod, before he begins to drive off.

He's silent for a few moments, before he asks "Do you like him?"

I take in a deep breath, before realizing he just doesn't want to be silent with me "You picked a good therapist, dad."

He gives me a soft smile, before he asks "Think you can get off the painkillers?"

I look at him, tiredly "I'm down to half a pill, twice a day. I've been waining off for a while now." I sigh as I look down "Honestly think weed is the best choice, now."

He gives me a soft smile "How's the shoulder?"

I sigh as I declare "I honestly don't know if there's anything more that can be done for it." He gives me a confused look and I state "It's fine. The nerves just don't work right, anymore."

He furrows his brow and declares "You're not even three months post op. Are you feeling anything?"

I lean back in the chair and remark "I feel pins and needles in my arm, but I get some sensation in my fingers." I take in a deep breath and state "I got some sensation back over the past few weeks, but I don't know what will come back."

He pulls up to a red light in the crumbling downtown neighborhood, he looks towards me and declares "I've been meaning to call around about a physical therapist, but I wanted to make sure you were out of the woods, first."

I give him an annoyed look as I insist "I'm not going to physically therapy."

He gives me an annoyed look, before declaring "You could lose function of your arm."

I give him an annoyed look and declare "I use it as much as I can, and I do my own shit."

He takes in a deep breath and declares "It might be good for you."

I give him a tired smile, before declaring "I don't need it. I know my limits, and I know how to manage it."

He gives me a unsure look, before ultimately slipping into silence. A few minutes later, he asks "Do you ever hurt?"

I look up from my phone and sigh "That's a stupid question." He's silent, so I look at his with a meek smile "I hurt all the time, dad. There's nothing that can change that. I just have to get used to the fact that I'm always going to be in pain."

He gives me a soft smile "That sounds depressing."

I give him a tired smile "I was blown up and now I live with chronic pain. There's ways to momentarily stop the pain, but there's no curing it."

He looks me over, before he looks down at the medicine description in his lap "We have to pick up your medicine on the way home."

I give him a tired smile and he looks me over "Are you tired, my son?"

I scoff at him, before declaring "It was emotionally draining." He gives me a confused look, before I declare "We tried this thing, called EMDR. It took a lot out of me."

He gives me a tired smile "Lay back. I'll let you nap."

I hum, before laying the seat back and pulling off my glasses. As I set them in my lap, I yawn and order "Wake me up when we get to the pharmacy."

He looks at me, only to ask "Do you need something?"

I motion towards the med paperwork "Large possibility I get sick. I want to grab something to settle my stomach."

He gives me a soft smile "I'll wake you."

~

I'm awaken by the driver's door jolting open and Odin jumping in the the car. He holds multiple bags in his hands. He looks at me, apologetically "Didn't mean to wake you."

I sit up and yawn "I told you to wake me."

He gives me a confident smile "You looked so peaceful. I thought I would just go in." He tosses the bags in the back and cranes to pull stuff around "I actually grabbed some stuff for you."

He points out "I got you some pepto pills, and some ginger ale, but I also got this shoulder brace." He looks over my shoulders and states "I hope it's big enough." He looks into around bag "I got a heating pad, and blanket, and also this weird little upper body heating pad wrap, which I thought might work better." He looks in another bag "I also got this freezer pad, but that was really the only cold option that seemed worth it."

I give him an amused look and he shrugs "You don't have to use it. If you want to go in, you can."

I furrow my brow and declare "A lot of people gain weight on the meds. I mainly wanted snacks."

He smirks, before holding up another bag "I figured you'd want some junk food."

He sits it in my lap and I find a few bags of chips and some candy "Thanks, dad."

He turns the Jeep on and backs out of our spot "You're welcome."