Line of Time

A step at a time

The week went by fairly quickly and before he knew it Chase was driving to the hospital for Tino's appointment. Tino was fine until they went inside the hospital and that's when Chase noticed that he went quiet. Chase pushed him where they were told to go and when he looked down at him he saw Tino sinking back in his chair, he was nervous. 

"It'll be alright, bud. Ya don't need ta be scared." Chase told him as Tino looked up at him, he gave his dad a small unsure smile, Chase saw the worry in his eyes. He pushed the chair with one hand and gave his now free hand to his son. His small hand gripped it and held on, gaining whatever comfort he could from it. 

Chase had found that Tino had been shying away from new things recently and now hide more from the world around him. But this was just with new things, like this, Chase knew that being a little shy was normal for children and he knew that Tino had been shy from the start. Tino would be so open and sometimes loud when he was just with Chase or the boys from the complex but the minute he was faced with a group of people or a new place he became very quiet and hide in anyway he could. 

When Chase wheeled him into the rehabilitation room, he and Tino scanned the room. Chase finding the doctor he had spoken to and a nurse. Tino on the other hand looked at objects in the room, equipment and the walls. They were painted in a kid friendly way. A landscape of meadows and some small wildlife like butterflies, a deer and some birds. This alone put Tino at ease to a point where he let go of Chase's hand and smiled at the decoration around them. He had yet to see the doctor and nurse. When the doctor spoke it spooked Tino out of his daze and he jumped a bit and looked at them. 

"Hello there Tino, how are you doing today?" The elderly doctor asked as a warm smile appeared on his face. 

"...I'm fine..." Tino said with a small smile, his way of greeting people. 

"That's good and you Chase?" He asked as he looked over to him in turn. 

"Same old, same old. How about you doc?" He asked as they then went on to make small talk, Tino ignored them for now and looked around the room and the various things it had. A scale, weights and a set of metal bars that made a railing on both sides of a small walkway. A harness hung from the ceiling at it's start and it's track went to the end, he guessed this was so no one fell and hurt themselves when they did this. The floor on the equipment area was padded with a thick foam like mat. This place was made to help people get better after an accident but when Tino looked around he began to get worried. He had enough trouble keeping himself up with his braces, which did most of the work he just had to make sure he didn't tip over. He was worried that he wouldn't be able to hold his own weight up without them. He had used them a lot when he had walked over to Chase that night. He worried that he would disappoint Chase if the doctor said what Tino had already heard before. The phrase that had landed him in this chair in the first place. 'He'll never walk again.' Tino didn't want to be stuck here anymore... He wanted to move for himself and not have to rely on Chase for doing simple things like going upstairs, reaching something high up or even getting in the bath tub. He felt bad when others were stuck doing things for him.

The doctor's voice snapped him out of his thoughts as he looked around the room. He turned and looked up at the adults around him. The doctor explained that they had do some tests before they could use any of the things in the room. Chase fallowed as the Doctor and nurse walked them over to a sitting area. Chase sat down and watched as the doctor asked Tino some questions and then did the tests. 

After they were done the doctor let out a sigh and gave Chase a look that told him that he wasn't sure if he should do his next test. But he did, he undid the braces that Tino had and stepped back as he motioned Tino to get up and try to walk over to him. He waited a moment as he then grabbed the handles on his chair and stepped onto the floor. He let go and he was standing up. The doctor let a small smile slip onto his lips as Tino took a wobbly step forwards. Chase watched as he looked like a fawn taking his first real steps, he didn't have his braces holding his movements back anymore. Tino started to take steps without stopping between them. He kept his eyes on his feet as he walked and before he knew it, the doctor put a heavy hand on his small shoulder. He looked up at him and then behind himself and smiled widely. The space between them and his chair was far more than what he had seen when he started. Because Tino hadn't been paying attention, the Doctor had backed away as he came forwards. They were almost haft way across the room. Chase got up and walked over with the nurse, he smiled down at his son.