One day, someone is going to thank Lita for her hard work and dedication toward medicine and healing. No back talk, no complaining. Just hero worship and effusive praise. Obviously, that day is not today and that someone is not Olivia Jensen. Not that Lita expected anything different; she knew the kind of low blow not being able to be mobile was to Liv. Lita had gotten to know the Maizie's friend pretty well in the past few months, with Lita staying so much at the LBJ and all. Olivia being able to be out in the open, being able to run and be active was essential to the younger woman's survival and mental well being. A broken ankle, while relatively minor medically speaking, probably seemed akin to a death sentence to the former college athlete.
"Well you might not want the crutches," Lita replied with a heavy sigh. "But without them you're gonna fall flat on your face. And if you think for one second I'm going to carry your ass around piggyback style, you've got another thing coming. Come on, you got this. One stair at a time."
Lita could have taken the elevator easy enough but it wouldn't do anything to help Olivia get acclimated to the crutches. Her apartment was on the third floor so it wasn't like she was asking her to climb the empire state building or anything.
"No, you can't just do anything," Lita crisply reminded her, giving Olivia room to maneuver but staying close enough should she slip. "I'm your doctor and I'm telling you I want to keep an eye on you to make sure there aren't any further complications. But if you think you know better than me, I'm not going to stop you. If you leave now, I bet you can make it to the LBJ on foot by Tuesday. I'm sure you won't run into any complications."
Lita knew she was being tough, perhaps more so than was strictly necessary. But from the tone in Liv's voice and her sulky attitude, Lita knew the girl needed to be pushed and prodded so as to not throw a pity party for herself. It was an easy trap to fall victim to and Lita was determined that Liv not succumb.
"So, what were you and Nadia looking for when you ran into trouble?" Lita asked, monitoring Olivia's shaky progress with a careful eye. Lita knew Nadia and had treated her for an ankle injury as well some months earlier. She was smart and capable and it was no coincidence that Liv had fared as well as she had due to Nadia being there with her at the time of the attack. Lita shutters to think what might have happened if Liv had been out there alone.