About Learning to Walk, a City Hospital Novel
by Drew Zachary
184 pages / 52000 words
ISBN: 978-1-61040-554-6
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html, lit, Adobe and Sony optimized pdf, prc, epub, also available in
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Sometimes love means learning to walk all on your own.
A terrible motorcycle accident leaves Kit in pain, living with his father
and needing to teach his legs how to walk again. He's actually lucky to be
alive, but don't try telling him that; Kit's too wrapped up in bitterness
and pain to feel any sort of happiness.
Neil knows exactly how lucky Kit is. As Kit's physiotherapist, he's seen the
man's medical records, and knows a lot of people never recover after an
accident such as Kit’s. His job is to get Kit moving and to get him walking
again, so when Neil finds himself attracted to Kit, he buries the feelings
and focuses on the job.
That's hard to do, though, when Kit starts falling for Neil in return. And
starts making moves. Neil is determined to keep things professional between
them, though, because he feels that Kit's recovery is far more important
than a physical relationship. Can Neil teach Kit to walk again without
either of them getting their hearts broken?
Review
Tory Temple, co-author of Happy World and By the Numbers, writes: When
Kit Matheson is hit on his motorcycle by a drunk driver, he doesn't want to
hear how lucky he is that he wasn't killed. Facing life from a wheelchair
doesn't seem very lucky, even though the doctors have told him that he'll
definitely be able to walk again. When he meets Neil Kirkpatrick, his
physiotherapist, Kit thinks that Neil's going to be just like every other
medical professional that's tried to help him.
When Kit and Neil actually start looking at each other as more than patient
and therapist, however, it sets off a range of feelings that neither of them
is expecting. I loved reading the slow development of their friendship while
wondering how these two were going to maintain the professional relationship
that Neil is so intent on keeping. Drew Zachary is always good at making me
believe how opposites attract and I definitely rooted for both Kit and Neil.
This was an engaging, heartfelt read. Drew never disappoints!
Sample
"Mr. Matheson. I'm Neil Kirkpatrick. It's nice to meet
you." Keeping his voice cheerful, he went right over to Matheson's chair and
held out his hand. The man was pretty good looking, even dressed down and
looking pretty low.
Mr. Matheson looked at it for a long moment before shaking. "Yeah, hi. Kit."
He didn't sigh, but his voice lacked any enthusiasm, and he sounded tired.
He didn't look up to meet Neil's gaze.
"Kit. Cool." Neil grabbed a rolling stool and sat across from Kit. "So, I'm
going to be your physical therapist for the duration of your recovery. From
your medical file, it looks like you'll be able to walk again. I'm not going
to blow sunshine up your skirt -- it's going to take work, but it is
entirely doable."
Kit finally looked at him, his blue eyes dull. Not drugged -- Neil had seen
enough of that to know -- but without spark. Without hope. "So they tell me.
And they tell me the work is going to hurt, and that it's up to me. They
tell me a lot of things."
"Well, I'm not a 'they', I'm just me. And I'm telling you that yes, it's
going to take work, and yes, some of it -- a lot of it -- is going to hurt.
None of it is going to be easy. And it's totally up to you. You have a
choice to make -- walk again or don't." Neil grinned. "Personally, I think
walking again is by far the better option."
"Sure you do." Kit shrugged one shoulder. "Sure I do. But I'm in pain as it
is, and you're not the one who's going to be adding more on top of it. You
get to tell me what to do, and I'm the one who winds up eating painkillers
like they're candy and fighting addiction." Kit grit his teeth. "Do you know
how many doctors I have?"
Neil did a rough calculation in his head. "Probably four. Maybe five."
They'd have the man at a psychologist at least once a week. "It'll get
better, though. As you strengthen your muscles and relearn how to walk, the
pain will lessen. I'm here to help you, Kit. I want you to succeed."
That got him a bitter smile. "I wanted that, too. I was working on it when
my whole life got taken from me. Just do me a favor, all right? Never tell
me I'm lucky it wasn't worse. If you do, I'll leave and I'll never come
back. There's nothing lucky about this."
Neil carefully schooled his features. "All right, I won't tell you that." He
got that Kit couldn’t see that yet, that he wouldn’t believe it, maybe for a
long while.
"You'll be among the first. You and my shrink." He looked toward the door
with a jerk of his head. "I can't drive. I can't do much of anything. I had
to move back home with my father. My dad is out there, probably charming the
nurse. You can tell him how lucky I am -- he'll be thrilled to talk about
it."
"I'm not here for your father, Kit. I'm here for you. I'm not going to give
him a report on how you're doing or share anything with him that we do in
here, okay? You are my patient. Not your father or anyone else."