COMPASSION
Chapter 18
Derek Lombard accompanied Katelyn and Michael back to the ranch. With him he had a list of the equipment he would need to work with Michael. That list had been sent to Darren and been filled. The gym at the ranch was now a physiotherapy centre. Derek was allocated a spare bedroom in the manager's house.
"Andy and Raul have promised me they won't be trying to include you in threesomes Derek so you are quite safe."
Jack had said it hoping to have some fun explaining what he meant.
"That's ok Mr. Hancock, I'm not gay so they would be nursing some bruises if they tried."
He had said it with a smile on his face and Jack looked at Katelyn.
"Sorry Jack, I spoilt your fun, I've told Derek about the family set up here."
"Oh well, never mind. Derek, Dr. Michaels and I are Darren and Jack. Andy is my ranch manager and Raul is my foreman. The house is very comfortable, the boys did a complete makeover when they moved in . They are much younger than us. You are senior staff so you will eat with Andy and Raul, just let them know if you have any dietary requirements. Your remit here is to restore our son to a good state of mobility. Achieve that and you'll have our undying appreciation."
"Thank you Jack. Ok. Tiger, want to show your two Dads what we've achieved in one week?"
Mike grinned at his dads.
"I still hurt all the time I'm exercising Dad, Pa, but watch."
Derek helped him stand and position his crutches, then he moved behind him while Katelyn took the wheelchair. The expression on Mike's face was testament to the pain he was suffering as he walked a few steps across the floor of the saloon, before Katelyn had the wheelchair back in position for him to sit in.
"It's the muscles Dad. They haven't got used to being used again yet."
Jack didn't know what to say. He had never expected to see this again. He managed a, "That's great Son," before hightailing it for his bedroom. Not appropriate for anyone to see him cry.
Darren smiled and said, "I think your Dad might be a little emotional Son as he sees you progress."
Mike knew, "I know Pa, but I'm going to make it all the way for him more than anyone."
No one was upset at that comment. They knew they were all loved, but there was just that little extra something between Jack and Michael, as there was between Darren and Paul.
The gym began to look crowded some days, Michael and Derek were there a lot, but Jack and Darren still worked out and impressed the hell out of Derek. Middle fifties and they looked awesome. Katelyn worked out as well, but with her there was a certain amount of deviousness. She had become very attracted to Derek. They were often the only two adults at lunch, which increasingly Derek was taking at the main house with Michael and Katelyn.
The best that could be said about Michael's progress was `slow and painful'. Muscles that had not been worked for six years were reluctant to perform. Nerve response was good so it was no longer a case of nerve or spinal damage, just the body refusing to give up its lazy mode.
"Mike, I can't put a time frame on this, but I'm pretty certain you are going to have to be prepared for a year of slow progress, your muscles are going to give you hell before they let you use them properly. I'm going to suggest to your Dads that you go back to school. I'll brief Paul that you should walk between classes whenever possible. He can look after your chair. I'm sure your Dads will be able to get dispensation for you both to be a little late if you have far to go in between classes. We can put in the specialist exercises either early in the morning or after supper, before you go to bed. Not much fun or free time, but Jack told me your education is almost as important as getting your legs working."
Mike nodded, he had listened to his Dad expound the advantages of a good education often enough to know. He would make it. Paul was so enthusiastic and encouraging, it made him laugh sometimes. The boy was still small like his Pa, but he was no woos.
Six months and the tears were still quite frequent. The pain level had remained high and progress very slow. Michael was still on crutches, but able to walk much further before the pain became too much. There were four frustrated men and that eventually erupted into cross words. Katelyn saw it and tried to mediate and calm troubled water, but the stress was showing.
"Derek, this family is beginning to tear itself apart, isn't there something you can do with Michael to ease the tension?"
"I don't know Kate, I can have a word with Dr. Arnold, see what he thinks."
Terence Arnold called Darren.
"Darren, the semester ends next week. I'd like Michael back here for the school break. I think we can do some more specialised work with him in our physio department. If you allow Katelyn to come with him I'll put them up in a college apartment. Derek would continue to work with him but with more facilities."
Darren was sure this was a mass of half truths, but that it might be the thing to calm the atmosphere at home.
"Thank you Terence. You must send me the bill for this one. I'll arrange for Katelyn to have transport that can carry the chair."
Family conference and Jack agreed, Paul wanted to go as well but that was considered too disruptive. Jack wanted the boy with him more and more now as it became clear he was going to be running the ranch when Darren and he retired. Arguments were quelled, Michael would agree to anything that might ease the pain, Katelyn would be delighted to be able spend quality time with Derek. Paul was pleased he was going to spend more time with Jack, and Darren was pleased for all of them that there would be a period of calm in the home.
The machines at Johns Hopkins were ground breaking techno machines that worked the muscles. It would have been incredibly boring for Mike, but he had a load of catching up to do at school and used the time to do just that, with Katelyn's aid of course.
"Are you going to marry Derek, Kate?"
That hit her from the outfield, so she blustered making Mike laugh.
"You are aren't you?"
"Of course not silly, I'm going to be with you and Paul until you are old and grey."
"Oh, so I guess Derek will come to work for Pa then, will he?"
Kate was shocked, Mike had just come up with the solution to her dilemma if Derek and Darren would go for it. She thought Derek was going to propose and she so wanted to say yes, but her love for the boys would make that impossible, until Mike's suggestion.
Katelyn smothered Michael in kisses, "You clever boy. I meant it, I want to be with you boys forever, you are like my own sons, but I would like to say yes to Derek if he asks me."
He did, one night he took Katelyn out for a romantic dinner and proposed.
"I love you so much Derek, I never expected to get married. My life has been, and will always be the boys, but if you can work where I work I`ll marry you, but you have to share me with Michael and Paul."
Derek laughed.
"I've always known that, but I can live with that. I'll talk to Darren and see if there is any opening for me in the area, and I'll apologise to Dr. Arnold for not coming back to Baltimore."
Darren knew he could use a physio therapist of Derek's ability so that was one problem solved. Jack solved the other one when he talked to Katelyn on the `phone.
"While you are up there in Baltimore I'll get the old nursery wing revamped. Your bedroom suite can stay but the nursery itself we can convert to a saloon and dining room with a kitchen for you both to live in if you want."
"Thank you Jack, I wouldn't have left the boys to marry Derek, you know that don't you?"
"Of course," was the reply.
The equipment that Michael was hooked up to worked his muscles for far longer than he could have achieved and after two weeks the pain when he actually walked was considerably reduced. Terence Arnold carried out another scan to check his work and declared himself satisfied for Michael to return home and school.
"If you would like to start riding again Michael, I don't see a problem. Keep the rides short and only up to a canter, no heavy pounding gallops."
Michael grinned at him.
"Thanks Doc. I'll be a model patient and take it easy."
The atmosphere in the Hancock/Michaels house took on an air of gaiety. After school each day Michael and Paul would go riding for half an hour. When they got back each night, Michael insisted on currying Blackie and feeding him before puting him in his stall for the night, nearly always with an apple or a couple of lumps of sugar.
"Your Pa was a wonderful friend Boy, I must make sure I look after you."
Blackie warmed to his master now that he was a happy boy almost as though he understood what Mike was saying to him. Paul was a happy boy as well, he could see the old Mike emerging and he loved it. During the next semester, the wheelchair appeared less and less often. The crutches became two sticks just before school broke for another holiday and at the beginning of the final semester for the year, Michael walked into school on his own legs with just an occasional steadying hand from his little brother.
A final trip to Baltimore then, accompanied by Paul this time, and a week of intensive work and a final scan.
"Don't go mad Michael, but I'm lifting all restrictions on your activity. I think your spine will continue to strengthen, but if it tells you it's tired, believe it and ease back. You aren't completely out of the woods yet, and probably won't ever be, you'll have a weakness there forever."
Mike was a little disappointed but after six years in a wheelchair he was happy just to be walking and riding again, becoming a rancher wouldn't be that bad, or perhaps he'd do some travelling as a journalist for a travel magazine. He wouldn't be doing everything the way he had dreamed of, but at least he would see it all.
That was what transpired. Mike went off to college to study journalism and Paul made sure he went to the same college to study Marketing and Business Management. He had some revolutionary ideas for the ranch and needed these skills. ******************************************************************************* Complications for the brothers next part.