Nicholas 'Nick' Choi (stadion) wrote in remains_rpg, @ 2016-04-12 14:24:00 |
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Entry tags: | # 2019 [04] april, nick choi, olivia jensen |
no other road, no other way
Who: Nick Choi and Olivia Jensen
Where: The LBJ and out on the streets of Austin.
What: Nick and Olivia go out on her first scouting trip since her accident.
When: April 4th, 2019 - Morning.
There came a time in every athlete’s rehabilitation when they would be faced with something that felt too big or too scary to tackle. While Olivia might not have been a track star anymore, Nick was absolutely still approaching her rehab as if she were, because he not only knew the mindset, but he also knew Olivia and could see the cogs turning in her mind during each of their sessions. She was ready for this, ready to head back out into Austin and face that last hurdle all she needed was a little push. One that Nick knew wouldn’t be easy, but then was anything in life worth having truly easy? They had agreed to meet at the main doors to head out into the city, Nick showing up ten minutes early and fully prepared to track Olivia down if she didn’t show. He had come back from an injury before, he knew the mental hang ups that could come with that -- maybe not the same as the one she was facing (he hadn’t been attacked after all), but he was familiar with the self-doubt that could manifest during those months when you weren’t quite one hundred percent. So with a bag thrown over his shoulder, he leaned up against the doorframe of one of the exit doors, eyes scanning the lobby in wait for her. When he finally caught sight of her, Nick smiled and waved. “So you decided not to stand me up, huh?” He joked as he pushed off of the doorframe and strode towards her. “You ready for this?” Nick questioned, his tone full of concern as he studied her for any tells that maybe today wasn’t the day, maybe he was pushing her out of her comfort zone too quickly. "Shut up," Olivia replied irritably, rolling her eyes. She'd barely slept the night before, and she had a feeling all that tossing and turning hadn't been all that helpful for Maizie's sleeping, either. She'd be lying if she said there hadn't been the barest flicker of excitement as she slipped on her running shoes and did up the laces, though, or pulled her hair up into the same precise sort of ponytail that she'd used to wear, but that didn't mean she was ready for Nick's incessant brand of optimism. "I guess." “Because you know we could always just skip right over this and go straight to that race we talked about months ago,” he continued, trying to keep his tone light and make this less of a big deal than it was. She looked down at herself, checking to make sure her laces were right and her belt was securely fastened. Olivia's backpack had been lost last October, and the gun Gray had given her had been a casualty of the incident as well, but she had replacements for each on her hip and back. They didn't feel right. The knot in her stomach wasn't helping, either, and she hoped to God she wouldn't cramp. She probably would, though; they'd been training with shorter distances, and even though the route for this morning wasn't too extreme this would be her first test. For a moment, she allowed herself to consider the offer: not go out at all, crawl back into bed and pretend the whole thing hadn't happened. But everyone in the department and Oval Office knew about it, and they'd know she'd chickened out if she did. She felt like she was going to vomit. Nick’s attention shifted to his own pre-scouting trip check, primarily to give Olivia some privacy while she wrestled with the options he had given her. Truthfully he felt he knew Olivia well enough to know that she wouldn’t back down, that her answer would in fact be the one she had just given him. Inwardly he was proud of her, even if she didn’t sound excited and he caught the frown that settled on her face as she looked down at her ankle, he had faith that she would come back from this scouting trip with a ‘win’ in this recovery column -- and it would have nothing to do with his own skills at rehabilitating athletes and everything to do with Olivia’s own abilities and determination. "No, let's just go." Olivia reached up to tighten her ponytail unnecessarily before she glanced at her right ankle with a frown. She took a deep breath then, testing her ribs as she bit her lip and looked up at Nick. "Might as well." “Alright, here goes nothing,” Nick answered with a smirk as they moved towards the door, a silent notification given to the security guy on duty -- another possible witness of her shame, should she choose to not go through with this -- that they would be heading out into the city now. “If you hit a point where you don’t think you can handle going on we’ll turn around.” He tacked on as they stepped out into the open air of Austin. Olivia had been outside a few times since she started rehab, most notably to go to that birthday party at the Dog Park with the others, but none of those times had felt as familiar and dreadful as this did. The city almost seemed peaceful in the early morning light, with the crumpled buildings and Capitol skyline a dim reminder of the horrors that were possible on its streets. The route was easy, one they both knew well and one Nick had scouted just the day before to make sure there weren’t zombie hordes lurking down alleys that may result in a sequel to their siege or worse, Olivia being injured. “Ready?” The question was asked again, Nick fully prepared for whatever rolling of the eyes or unamused look he may receive from Olivia for inquiry again if she was really prepared to set out. She didn't answer immediately; after all, she could barely sort out how she felt, let alone vocalize them aloud. Though they hadn't yet moved faster than a twenty minute mile pace, her heart was pounding and her stomach cramping. It was pathetic. She wanted to push past it, tell him she was ready so they could just get this over with, but instead she shook her head. "No." What he didn’t expect was for Olivia to honestly and bluntly state that she wasn’t ready to head out there. He probably should have been, after all he knew that her encounter and subsequent injury had both shaken her. “Liv, you really don’t have to do this today,” Nick began gently, no longer using his professional Athletic trainer/coach voice, but instead sounding far more like a worried older brother. “We can give it another month, strengthen your ankle more and try again.” In truth her ankle was strong enough to handle it now, but maybe a month would give her some time to work through the mental hurdles that were making her nervous. “I’m going to tell you right now though, you’re ready for this physically,” Nick reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. “But I know that’s only half the battle,” another pause. “Did you want to talk about what’s freaking you out about this?” "No," she said again, frowning. She didn't shrug his hand off, though, even as her gaze grew shifty and she seemed to look everywhere except for directly at Nick's face. How could she possibly explain the way she was half-convinced that what had happened once would happen again? All the successful times she'd gone out were practically erased from her memory by now, replaced by that fateful day at the Barton Creek Square and, from years ago, the day Nick had gotten bit just for that hair dryer. She was bad luck, probably, and not only would her ankle probably give out, but something else -- Ghouls, or zombies, or more of that gang -- would happen, too. At the same time, though, was postponing the inevitable really going to help? As terrified as she was, Olivia couldn't imagine doing anything else at her shelter. And if she were being honest with herself, she wanted so badly to be out there. The thought of crawling back into bed with Maizie just minutes after she'd left made her stomach flip over. She took a deep breath. "Let's go. I don't -- I mean, there's no point in not, right?" Olivia knew Nick wouldn't force her into going out today, but she wasn't sure if she could forgive herself if she didn't at least try. She'd never operated this way, and she didn't want to start now. "And if it gets bad, like. I don't know." She forced a smile, feeling grateful for the sunglasses covering her watery eyes. "We can just try again the next day. Right?" There was no pushing from Nick for Olivia to talk about whatever was eating away at her (and there was something), he knew her well enough to know she would dig her heels in, that it would take an act of God or a a lot of cajoling to get her to open up and admit her fears. That wasn’t to say he wasn’t prepared to do that at some point, but he was choosing instead to focus on one thing at a time. Today’s goal was to get her outside and scouting like she used to, which in and of itself might take some gentle prodding and verbal acrobats. “No, there really isn’t any point in not going,” he agreed with a nod, letting his hand fall away from her shoulder as he moved further away from the Library building. “If it gets bad we’ll head back and try again, and keep trying again until you’re comfortable.” Nick meant it too, they wouldn’t give up on this -- but he wouldn’t push her to do more than she was ready to do. He knew what that could do to a person, how detrimental that kind of approach could be. Nick had never subscribed to that school of thought, but he had seen others that did and had bore witness to the after effects. He wouldn’t put Olivia through that no matter how much he wanted to see her overcome this. Nick was ready to spend the rest of the apocalypse helping her through this if that’s what it took. “Alright,” Nick gave Olivia an encouraging smile before he looked out ahead of them and began heading in the direction of their scouting route for the day. “Let’s go.” |