My Marine

Chapter 5

"Let the ass kicking commence." She says and I look up at her putting on a mask of indifference. I then look around the room and awe at its sheer size. However I only recognize maybe half the equipment the rest... well they look like foreign objects to me. "Im going to start you out slow get back in your wheelchair we are going to the opposite side of the room." She says and I don't listen and attempt to walk to the other side of the room. I stair right forward and move my good leg forward them the crutch. I get about fifteen feet before I loose my balance and fall flat on my face. I hear her light footsteps come up beside me before she sits on the ground next to me.

"You can't do it all in one day this will take time. So you have to be patient and eventually your going to need to trust me." She says as I role over onto my side before pushing myself into a sitting position.

"Trust doesn't come easy for me. It is earned not given." I say before making may way into my wheelchair. I make it into the chair and give her a wink. Before making my way in the direction in which I believe we are going to go. I hear a laugh from behind me. 

I turn around to see her walking the opposite direction. I turn the chair around and follow her from behind. Until she suddenly comes to a stop in front of some seemingly easy equipment.

I watch as she walks over to the wall and grabs a clipboard and a pen out of a box on the table below.  She turns around and gives me an evil smirk.
She slowly slaunters towards me and bends over locking the wheels to the wheelchair. She walks towards the examination bench and leans against the wall.

"Get up." She says pen in hand ready to take notes.

"Last I checked I'm missing a leg and can't walk." I say sarcastically.

"Did I say walk? No, I said get up." She says rolling her eyes.

"No." I say back to her and she gets up off the wall and walks towards me then around around me. She grabs the back of the chair and lifts up and yet again I land on the deck.

"What the Fuck!!!!!!" I yell. And sit up.

"I said get up." She says walking back to the wall.

"And I said no." I respond with anger. She walks up to me and bends down so she is eye level with me.

"I said get you fucking ass up Marine. I've been given the wonderful opportunity to get your ass back in shape to heal you of the damage you sustained fighting for our country." She says rolling her eyes. "You can be difficult but I am more stubborn than anyone you will ever know. I will get your ass up every morning and we can do this over and over again. Or you can follow orders and heal and get rid of me as fast as you can. This is my way of serving." She says standing up to her full height. "So which one is it gonna be?" Says says walking back to the wall for the third time.

I turn so I can set my arms on the ground and get into a push up position before hoping up I balance myself carefully and attempt to stand up. Surprisingly I manage to stand using the arm of the wheelchair to support me.

"See it wasn't that hard to listen to me was it Marine?" She says laughing. I role my eyes and flip her the bird. Almost loosing my balance at the same time. "Now make your way here. I don't care how you do it but make it to this table." She says and If looks could kill I would be digging a six foot deep hole. One hop at a time I make my way towards the table and I watch as she scribbles things down on her clip board. 

"Well Mr. Shepard you are not in as bad of a condition as I had previously thought. Looks like you will be getting rid of me a lot sooner than I had thought." 

'Thank god.' I think to myself. 

"Can you please get on the table and remove your shirt." She says and I smirk. 

"Shouldn't you take me out for drinks before I strip for you?" I say barely holding onto my laughter. I watch as her face flushes red and she turns her head from me as I hop onto the table. When she faces me her eyes hold that death glare that almost every woman learns. 

"Take your shirt off I need to access the damage to you back." She says desperately trying to rid the blush from her face. Secretly I think its cute but I would never say that to her. I turn so that my back is to her and cross my arm grabbing my shirt and pulling it off slowly showing off the movements of my muscles. Until I pull my shirt off the rest of the way. I can her her suck in a breath and I grin but force it down. 

"Like what you see?" I ask humor completely lacing my voice. 

"Nope to bulky for me." She retorts back. I smile. 

'Feisty.'  I think to myself as I hear the movement of her pen on the clip board. 

"Turn towards me please." She says and I do. "Put your hands up and make them into ninety degree angles." I do and she pushes against them and I push back. "Straighten them out." I do and she presses down and I pull up. The tests continue  until she deems that she's gathered enough data.  "You can put on your shirt if you want we are going to start some basic training today to see what you can and can't do." She moves out of the way. "Lay down on the table please lets see to what degree your movements are hindered. 

I lay down and just listen to whatever she says. She pulls out a chair from under the table that I hadn't seen before.  She grabs my right arm and moves it slowly in different directions and my range of motion was not as good as it used to be. She then does the same to the left. Then my good leg and bad. "Well we have some work too do but not nearly as much as I have had to do with three fourths of the people that have gone though the same things that you have." She says smiling. 

She showed me a couple of exercises, being nothing but kind and understanding helping me though everything making sure I did the exercise to her specifications. I at one point stoped seeing her as a enemy, but as a person who would stop at nothing to help me and I admired her for it. 

When the day was done I was hungry, tired and completely exhausted. But it felt good. The Marines have a motto 'Pain is weakness leaving the body.' I always though it to be true but when Dr. Ace pushed, prodded and stretched muscles that haven't been worked in months it felt like a pain I have never experienced before and she helped me to push past it.  When we where leaving the work out room I turn towards her. 

"Will you go to lunch with me?" I ask. 

"You mean show you to the cafeteria? Sure." She says and I shake my head. 

"No I mean go out and go for drinks and have lunch." I ask and I see the weariness across her eyes and I hear her phone ping again for the ninth time today. I watch her eyes harden then look at me with a forced smile. 

"Sure I would love too but you should go shower and I will change in my office." She says and we take the elevator to our floor then we part ways as I head to my room and her to her office. 

"Well this will be interesting." I say.