Lean on Me || Jill Roord

7. Nine More Months?

I got into bed rather quickly as I was super tired; once I was settled, I fell asleep almost instantly. Disregarding anything Jill was saying to me, of course I said goodnight, but after that I was out like a light. Jill had laughed at me, and I groaned and turned my head so I was somewhat facing away from her. This only made her laugh more, but I didn't care. I was too tired to care.

When the rare morning sun began to shine into my room, I cherished the warmth I felt. I stretched slightly but froze in my tracks when I realised there was a weight on my stomach. As I glanced down, my heart nearly jumped out of my own body. Jill had lazily thrown her arm across my abdomen at some point in the night.

The more I stared, the more I felt eerily content with the position I was in. I glanced in Jill's direction, taking in the way she was lying quite close to me with her nose mere centimetres from my shoulder. I couldn't help the soft smile that crossed my face briefly. Too content to move and not willing to ruin the moment I very much cherished, I decided to sleep in a bit more. My appointment wasn't until the late morning, allowing me another hour or so of sleep before I wanted to get moving. Closing my eyes once again, I subconsciously shifted closer to Jill, falling into a peaceful slumber in the early morning hours.

Dread. That's what I was feeling—dread. Anxiety coursed through my veins as Jill stopped the car, letting me know we'd arrived at the physical therapy office. Today was the start of my nine-month physical therapy, and I don't know if I was ready. Of course I was; I wanted to get back on the pitch as soon as possible, but I also was scared and didn't trust my knee in the slightest. After all, I'd only had the surgery a week ago. "Hey, Caroline."

Jill's voice beside me snapped me out of my thoughts. "You're going to be fine. We're all here for you; I'm here for you." She reassuringly squeezed my shoulder yet again, making me forget what I was thinking about in the first place. I was solely focused on the contact.

Snapping myself out of whatever trance I was in, I replied to Jill, "Thank you."

She walked me to the door before giving me a quick hug, and I shooed her off, telling her to enjoy her off day. She was persistent in saying it wasn't a problem for her to drive me today, even if it was her off day. And was also keen to pick me up whenever my appointment was over.

Once inside the small building, I knocked on the physios door; it clicked open a few seconds later, revealing a brunette-haired woman who couldn't be too much older than me. She smiled, ushering me inside, "Hi! You must be Caroline. I'm Daphne, and I'll be your physical therapist for the next couple of months."

"Hi," I mumbled quietly, taking the hand she had offered and shaking it out of politeness.

"So I understand you've suffered an ACL tear, yes?" I hummed, glancing down at my knee in its brace.

"I see," she paused a moment, taking a look at the file and having it in her hand; it was probably mine. I awkwardly stood in the front of the room with her glancing around at the various things in the large room that I would probably be using over the next couple of months. Daphne glanced up at me for a moment, "Sorry! Sorry, here let's go sit over here for a moment."

I slowly followed her to a bench that was low enough for me to sit on that I didn't have to jump up or anything. Daphne set the file on the physio bed not far from where I was sitting before taking her seat on a swivel chair and rolling herself to me. It was a bit silly, and I forced down the smile that wanted to break through.

Daphne smiled before stopping in front of me, "Not even a laugh? I thought that I'd get a laugh out of you."

I raised an eyebrow. She brushed it off, "Anyways. I'll tell you a bit about myself before we begin and a few ground rules. Sound good?" I nodded.