He frowned as he stared out, wondering if he needed to do something just so that he could adjust to navigating the grounds in a wheelchair.
When a woman behind him called out, “Hey,” he turned to see Lana.
“Hey.” He smiled. “What are you up to?”
“I wanted to ask you that, since such an odd look was on your face.”
“Oh, I was trying to convince myself that I should get into a wheelchair and make a trip around the grounds.… I haven’t really been out exploring, and I could use the fresh air. Also I see the animals out there, and I keep thinking that it would be nice to get down there to them. But… a wheelchair?”
“Right, I guess crutching long distances is hard, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “But it’s unfortunately just as hard,” he added, “to force myself to think about going outside in a wheelchair for that trip.”
“Sorry.” She offered him a knowing smile. “However, if you want to go in the wheelchair, I’m more than happy to go out there with you.” He looked at her, frowning. She nodded. “I’d prefer you went with the wheelchair, as you’re a big man, and I’m not sure I could get you back here again, if you can’t get inside on your own.”
He smiled. “And I’m also apparently a proud man, and it’s hard for me to consider going in a wheelchair.”
“I guess it depends on how you want to experience the rest of your day. It’s really pretty down there, and an awful lot of animals are down at Stan’s, if you want to go visit.”
“Maybe I should do that to begin with. I could make it into the elevator with my wheelchair.”
“Then let’s do it,” she said enthusiastically.
He looked at her, smiled. “You don’t have to babysit me, you know?”
“I wasn’t babysitting, didn’t mean that at all.”
And he heard the hurt in her voice. He winced. “I didn’t mean that in a bad way.”
“Good,” she said, “because that’s not how I see it. I seriously do like going to Stan’s and seeing the animals. He has quite a few that I wouldn’t get a chance to pet otherwise.”
“Okay, good. Let’s go see them. I haven’t made my way down there yet.”
“Oh, you’ll love it.”
And she seemed so honest in her response that he felt bad for even suggesting that she was doing it more out of pity. And he would have to work on that because he kept putting these negative qualities on other people, even though they didn’tdeserve it. He sighed, as they went back to his room and switched his crutches for a wheelchair.
“Tired?” she asked.
“I shouldn’t be. It seems as if I’ve done nothing today but sleep and eat.”
“Yet sometimes you need that.”
“That’s what everybody keeps telling me,” he said, with a smile, leading them once more into the hallway.
As the elevator door opened, they slowly made their way into the vet clinic area. People were seated in the waiting room, but Lana walked up to the reception area. “Hey, Ryatt and I are here to see whether any animals need to go out or to be walked or something.”
“Or just a cuddle,” Ryatt added, with a smile.
“Well,” Robin murmured, “how about you take a couple dogs outside? They need to go out into the back.”
“Perfect,” he said. “That sounds great.” And, with that, they went outside and were handed two dogs on leashes.
“They just need a little bit of a walkaround, if you’re up for it,” Robin said.
Lana nodded. “That would be good.” And then, for the next twenty minutes, they visited with the animals, as Lana wheeled Ryatt and led the animals around the green space closest to the vet’s.
“I don’t know how these animals handle all this medical intervention in their lives. We can’t explain it to them, how it’s for their own good, as the docs here can explain it to me,” he said, after a few minutes.