Adult-FanFiction.org : Cartoons

Finding your Feet	By : DancingBear Category: +G through L > Hey, Arnold! Views: 13192 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold, nor any of the characters. I do not, and will not make any money from this story. (Original creator: Craig Bartlett)

Chapter List
- 1-Finding your Feet
- 2-2
- 3-3
- 4-5
- 5-6
- 6-7
- 7-8
- 8-9
- 9-10
- 10-11
- 11-12
- 12-13
- 13-14
- 14-15
- 15-16
- 16-17
- 17-18
- 18-18
- 7
- 8
- 9
"Hey, Arnold… do you have a minute?"

Arnold cringed, this was going to be painful, he could tell by the concerned look on Jon's face. He was a nice guy, and a good physical therapist (as far as Arnold knew… he didn't really have anyone to compare Jon to) but he could be a little… soul-searchy at times.

Still, what could Arnold do? Refuse? "Uh… sure." He limped across the gym into the consult office, leaning hard onto his cane, and lowered himself into a chair.

Jon closed the door behind him and sat down. "How are you holding up?" He was trying too hard to make eye contact, leaning forward in his chair… all the little 'bedside manner' tricks they used to make a patient feel 'comfortable'. Only it made Arnold anxious.

"Fine, fine."

"Have you still got pain in your residual limb?"

Constantly. "Yeah, same old, same old…"

"Phantom pains?"

"A little, more like phantom cramps… but no worse than before." Liar.

"You been sleeping OK?"

Not even slightly. "Yeah, not great, but OK."

Jon sighed, ran a hand across his bald head. "Look man, I know something's up. I just want to know how bad it is."

"It's… it's just all this…" Arnold gestured to his leg. "It's nothing…" he trailed off. He had never been very good at lying. He must have 'not coping' written across his forehead.

Jon referred to the clipboard on his lap "You're losing muscle mass, you're losing strength. You're obviously not doing the exercises. I'd guess you either aren't wrapping properly, or at all when you're at home. You went out without wearing a sock, with an improperly wrapped limb, and attempted a long walk. Which, unsurprisingly, led to your first fall… so now you're back to using the cane." His eyes were full of concern. "Have I missed anything?"

Arnold shrugged, chastised.

"I'm not trying to make you feel guilty." Jon sighed. "But you should be on your permanent prosthesis by now. We were hoping to get you on the suction suspension, but we might have to settle for the pin… you just aren't stabilising."

He shrugged again. What was he supposed to say?

"You're not sleeping well, are you?" Jon asked softly. Arnold shook his head.

"Have you been taking days off work?" Arnold nodded.

"Anything else?"

Arnold couldn't meet his eyes, he was humiliated.

"Got any personal stuff going on that you aren't dealing that well with?"

He nodded.

Jon made a sympathetic noise. "Girl trouble?"

He nodded again.

"I knew it. Alright man, we can work on this stuff…" He flipped through some of the pages on his clipboard. "I want you to talk to someone… anyone. Try something, if it doesn't stick, we'll look at something else, OK?" He smiled encouragingly.

"Uh, like what?" A shrink? Awesome… so now I'm an official spaz.

"Well… you can go see a counsellor, your cover stretches to that, so it wouldn't cost you any extra. There are support groups that cater to amputees, both exclusively, and with their partners or loved ones…" He paused. "But to test the waters, why don't you talk to one of the other guys here, that has been going through this for longer?"

Arnold baulked. Try make personal small talk with some stranger over the bars? He wouldn't know where to start.

"There are some guys, ex patients I suppose, who still come in to use the gym. They are open to talk to anyone who is having a hard time adjusting… we just ask that you think about doing the same for others, once you feel like you've got a handle on things."

"I'm… I'm not really… I don't think I really need to do anything like that. I'm fine, really."

Jon paused, staring hard at Arnold… "Alright, tell you what. We get your strength back up to where it was in…" he check his clipboard "..March, by the end of the month, and I'll forget about it. You don't make it, you talk to someone. Deal?"

"Where was I in March?"

"At your best. So it means you'll actually have to do some work, to get back there in just over three weeks." Arnold went to protest, but Jon cut him off. "I want you to start doing all of your exercises at home again, at least twice a day, preferably three times… four if your feeling awesome… but don't push it too hard too fast, listen to your body." He spun around on his chair to check his computer. "I'm going to change your sessions here, too. You'll come in three times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday."

"I… uh, what about work?"

"You can come in after work, just like you do now."

"Oh… OK." Arnold wasn't quite sure what he had agreed to.

"And eat properly." The printer on Jon's desk spat out of piece of paper. "Your new timetable. You start Wednesday, so try get a good night's sleep before then."

Arnold stood to leave.

"About the girl…" Jon rushed, standing and moving to open the door for Arnold. "… you have to trust them, Arnold. When they say they don't care about your leg, you just gotta let yourself believe them… or you'll drive them away."

He pictured Helga, the last time he had seen her… her big teary eyes growing stern, cold… while he just stood there, unable to tell her what the hell was going on inside his head. "Too late for that."
- 7
- 8
- 9
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Adult-FanFiction.Org is not in any way associated with or related to FanFiction.Net

Adult-FanFiction.org (AFF, the site), its owners, agents, and any other entities related to Adult-FanFiction.org or the AFF forum take no responsibility for the works posted to the Adult-FanFiction.org by its members.

While AFF and its agents attempt to remove all illegal works from the site as quickly and thoroughly as possible, there is always the possibility that some submissions may be overlooked or dismissed in error. The AFF system includes a rigorous and complex abuse control system in order to prevent improper use of the AFF service, and we hope that its deployment indicates a good-faith effort to eliminate any illegal material on the site in a fair and unbiased manner. This abuse control system is run in accordance with the strict guidelines specified above.

All works displayed here, whether pictorial or literary, are the property of their owners and not Adult-FanFiction.org. Opinions stated in profiles of users may not reflect the opinions or views of Adult-FanFiction.org or any of its owners, agents, or related entities.

Website Domain ©2002-2017 by Apollo. PHP scripting, CSS style sheets, Database layout & Original artwork ©2005-2017 C. Kennington. Restructured Database & Forum skins ©2007-2017 J. Salva. Images, coding, and any other potentially liftable content may not be used without express written permission from their respective creator(s). Thank you for visiting!

Powered by Fiction Portal 2.0
Modifications © Manta2g, DemonGoddess
Site Owner - Apollo

Finding your Feet