“It feels so good to be back behind the wheel.” It was nothing fancy, but the used Honda Civic would get me from point A to B. Plus, I’d finally be able to go places by myself…
“How was church?” I asked.
“Really good message today,” Preach said. “Focused on spiritual and physical health. How they impact each other and stuff.”
“Interesting,” I said. I couldn’t count the number of times I’d prayed to God to bring Emmett back to me somehow. To make my hand heal. But I hadn’t gotten my answers yet.
“I can only hang out for an hour and a half,” Preach said. “I’ve got a shift at Helping Hands.”
“How’s little William doing?” I asked. “He was so cute that day I met him.”
Preach grinned. His smile made me feel all warm and squishy inside. “He’s doing great. I’m actually taking him to shoot some hoops at the park today.”
“Aw, that’s sweet.” I put the car in reverse, thankful it was a push gear shift since I still had my brace on. I’d been cleared to drive, so even though this freaking hand of mine was still weak, I was happy and to be in my own car again…that made me even happier. “So, what do you want to do on our hour-and-a-half date?”
“What about the lake?” Preach asked. “That spot I brought you to the night of the bonfire.”
“Sounds perfect.”
Fifteen minutes later, the rocks pinged off my undercarriage as I pulled off the road into a gravel parking lot. I grabbed my steel water bottle and got out, then locked the door.
Preach stretched his hands over his head. His six-pack peeked out as his shirt came up a few inches. “Can you believe it’s going to be fifty-five degrees today?”
“Finally,” I said with a laugh. “But, honestly, I’m ready for eighty-degree weather.”
Dried leaves crunched under my feet as we made our way through the woods. A squirrel shot across the path in front of us with an acorn in his mouth. It was like the forest had come to life. Green leaves emerging from towering oaks and flowering shrubs budded everywhere.
“It’s so beautiful here,” I whispered.
“Like you,” Preach said. He kissed the back of my hand.
Emerging from the line of trees, we walked up to the lake directly in front of us. Smooth as glass, the sun reflected off of it, causing me to squint.
“So, what’s the latest on PT? You had a session yesterday, right?” Preach asked.
We sat down on the same log we’d sat on the night of the party. “Thank God for small towns and favors. Heidi snuck me in on a Saturday.”
“See, small towns aren’t so bad,” Preach said.
“The hand’s getting stronger, but…we’re still at seventy percent loss of strength.” I shook my head, dread shooting across my stomach. “I’m working at thirty percent strength here, Preach. Thirty freaking percent after five weeks!”
The pinky and ring fingers drooped pretty severely, but the middle finger had gotten a lot of its feeling back. Too bad my other two fingers weren’t behaving.
“Does it hurt?” He rested his shoulder against mine.
“There’s little stingers of pain rumbling through my ring finger and pinky a lot. I get some real zingers sometimes. But mostly it feels like your foot when it’s fallen asleep. You know how that feels?”
He nodded.
“And I can’t grip much.” I couldn’t help slouching. “Which means my RNLTD is still undetermined.”
“Um, what?”
“Oh, I mean, my report no later than date, that’s RNLTD.”
“Your PT can’t give you an estimate on how long until you’re back to normal?”
My gut soured. “I see my recruiter on Thursday. He said he was meeting up with my PT this week.”