Page 60 of Revive Me

“Uh, didn’t you just come back from a three-week motorcycle tour along the East Coast?”

“Yeah, and?”

“Hate to break it to you, Dad, but that’s not same old. That’s the definition ofdifferent new.”

I can visualize him waving me off even through the phone. “That was just a random idea. It wasn’t anything special.”

I roll my eyes to myself. Only my sixty-five-year-old father would think a drive like thatwasn’t anything special.

“But on a similar note, that’s actually the reason I called you,” he says. “I wanted to talk to you about our annual trip.”

I glance at the clock on the wall. “I only have a few minutes before my next patient. Should I call you on my way home instead?”

“Sure, honey, you can call me after. I just wanted to see if you’d thought any more about where you wanted to go for our family trip this year.”

For as long as I can remember, our family has gone on a trip to a different destination every year, chosen by someone different. It’s always an active trip, ranging from snowboarding in Colorado to riding ATVs in the Vegas desert, but we try to plan things none of us have ever done before. Last year, my brother picked Mexico, where we spent five days visiting Mayan temples, diving into cenotes, and getting our scuba diving certification. The year before that, my other brother picked skiing in Vermont. This year is my turn.

I chew on my bottom lip for a moment before saying, “I was actually thinking about Utah. We could go canyoneering.”

“That’s a new idea,” Dad comments. “Where’d that come from?”

“I heard one of the clinic’s patients talking about it. I thought it sounded fun.”

“I love it. Let’s do it.”

“Yeah?” I say, feeling giddy. “Okay, cool. I’ll run it by Sean and Colin during our next family Trivia Night.”

Movement catches my eye, and I turn to see Roman enter the gym. He gives me the barest smile when he sees me looking, which is Roman forecstatic. I have to bite down on a smile that would undoubtedly look too excited, and wave to him instead.

I’m just about to say goodbye to my dad, when he suddenly exclaims, “Oh, speaking of Trivia Night, don’t forget we had to push it to next week since neither of your brothers could make this week. Which is unfortunate because I think this week is history week and the Knowing Stones would have crushed the competition.”

I shake my head, smiling, at the reminder of the team name my brothers came up with over a decade ago. Somehow, it stuck all the way to our monthly family catch-up dates at the local restaurant, where we played musical bingo, themed Trivia Nights, and dominated dart tournaments. It became a tradition that came second only to our annual family trip.

“I didn’t forget, Dad, don’t worry,” I respond, never taking my eyes off Roman. “I’ll be there next week.” But then something occurs to me and I shift my full focus back to my phone. “Oh, and since I’m not seeing Sean this week, you have to be the one to bug him about doing his PT on his wrist. You know as well as I do that he needs a regular kick in the ass if he wants to get his full range of motion back.”

My dad’s chuckle floats down the line. “Okay, okay, I’ll remind him. Have a good rest of your day, Liliana, I love you.”

“Bye, Dad. Love you.”

As soon as I hang up, my attention shifts back to where Roman is already starting his warmup exercises.

Twenty minutes later, I’m placing my hands on my hips and announcing, “Alright, today, we’re going to do some cycling.”

Roman quirks an eyebrow at me from where he’s sitting on the treatment table, having just finished stretching. “As in, biking? Did you forget I can barely move my legs, Doc?”

I drop my hands to my sides with an exasperated sigh. “Why, yes, that did slip my mind. My apologies, I thought we were dealing with an ingrown toenail.” I lift my chin in the direction of the machine in the corner. “You’re going to try the cycle machine. But combined with FES.”

Thattriggers the reaction from Roman that I expected. Any time we try something new with gait training, his body locks up and a wall drops over his eyes. So far, I haven’t had to fight him to try an exercise, but I think that might be because I’ve stuck with what he’s familiar with. I’ve been waiting for one to elicit an even bigger reaction.

Which, judging by the expression on Roman’s face, I just found.

“Have you ever tried FES?” I ask gently.

His headshake is stiff. “Never got as far as we’ve gotten.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “How far did you get before?”

His jaw clenches as he looks over toward the parallel bars. “I quit as soon as they put me in the harness last time.”

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