Page 3 of The Sunny Side (Rojo 2nd Generation: Rojo Police Department #3)
FOUR MONTHS AGO
B RAWLEY
“I’m not sure what to tell you, Brawley. You didn’t believe the X-ray, so we did other tests, but they all say the same thing. My suggestion is that you have the surgery sooner rather than later because the longer you wait, the more of a toll it’s going to take on your body.”
“It’s just my knee, Spruce, and the pain isn’t so bad that I can’t work through it.”
“But it’s not just your knee anymore, is it? You’ve got arthritis in your hip and your ankle, and if you don’t take care of this, it’s going to start on the other side.”
“Seriously?” I scoffed.
“How is it that you think it makes sense to take better care of your motorcycle than your body? When a part needs to be replaced on your bike, you don’t hesitate because you depend on it to get you where you need to go, but when your knee gets jacked up, you fight tooth and nail against the repair. ”
“Changing a part on my bike might take a day, two at the most. This is gonna fuck up my whole life. It’s hard for me to believe that I’m still walking if things are that desperate.”
“How old are your shoes?” Lana Tempest, the physical therapist who worked here at Parker & Hamilton Medical Center, asked as she walked over to me.
I looked down and thought about it for a second before I said, “I guess I’ve had them for a couple of months.”
“And you wear them often?”
“I wear them when I work out and when I’m off duty and not planning to ride.”
“Kick off your shoes and let me show you something.” I toed off my running shoes as she stopped in front of me. She bent over and picked up my sneakers before she held them out with the soles facing me. “What do you see?”
“I’m not exactly sure. What am I supposed to see?” I asked uncertainly.
“Look at the differences on the soles. Do you see how the tread on the left shoe is worn in different areas than the right?” When I nodded, she said, “That’s because you’re limping.
You might not realize it, but one leg is compensating for the weakness in the other, and the pain you feel with every step is causing that weakness. ”
“Can’t you just repair it instead of having to replace it?” I asked.
Spruce shook his head before he said, “I had Jenna call the orthopedic surgeon that read your films to discuss whether that was an option, and she said that a repair would just be a short- term fix. There’s just no sense in going through that surgery and the rehab only to have to get a knee replacement later. ”
I sighed before I said, “There’s no way I’ll be able to stay on patrol if I have it replaced. I’ll never be able to pass the physical.”
“No, you won’t,” Spruce agreed.
Lana rested her hand on my arm before she said, “Talk to Uncle Nick and get his input on the situation, Brawley. Just because you can’t be out on patrol doesn’t mean there’s not a place for you at RPD.”
“I can’t imagine what he’d have me doing if I couldn’t be on patrol anymore.”
I thought of all the hard work I’d put in getting to this point in my career and the future I had planned out that would take me through the ranks and maybe even to the chief’s position when he decided to retire. I’d always known that my goals were lofty, but that was what dreams were all about.
I said, “I’ll go talk to Nick today and get back to you when I’m ready to schedule the surgery.”
I decided to just rip off the band-aid and go find the chief now instead of going home and stewing about it. Apparently, change was imminent. After tweaking my knee on a call with Corey a few weeks ago, I knew it was coming sooner rather than later.
What had been so easy when I was younger and even until the last year or so had started racking up pains in my body.
I had played football like it was a religion from the time I was in pee wee sports until high school and did every other sport I could during the off-season.
When I wasn’t playing sports, I was hiking in the mountains.
I had even taken up rock climbing for a time until I finally admitted that I was way too heavy for a hobby that required a person to be that flexible and agile.
After years of hard hits on the football field and hundreds of jumps and falls on the uneven terrain of mountains and canyons, dewy grass in the middle of the night had been my downfall.
I smiled to myself when I thought of how Corey had been injured, but I had to admit that I’d rather get stabbed in the ass by a garden gnome and almost die from blood loss than blow out my knee and ruin my career.
When I got to the station, I pulled into the visitor lot since I wasn’t scheduled to work and then trudged up to the front doors, paying more attention to how I was walking than I ever had before.
I realized that Lana was right. What she’d seen on the tread of my shoes had told the entire story.
Yes, my knee hurt when I stepped a certain way, so I didn’t do that.
Instead, I turned my foot at an angle and then twisted my other foot as I pushed off.
Fuck. This was really going to happen.
I saw that the chief’s door was open, and for a second, I hoped he wasn’t inside. But fate was not on my side. I found him sitting behind his desk staring at his computer screen.
I didn’t even have to knock before he looked up and motioned for me to come inside.
“What’s going on, Dumont? I thought you took the day off for a follow-up with your doctor.”
I shut the door behind me and sat down in the chair across from him before I said, “I went to the appointment.”
“Bad news?” he probed.
“I need a total knee replacement, and I have arthritis in my hip and ankle.”
“Shit, son. How did tweaking your knee come to that?” he asked.
His tone wasn’t that of a chief but instead of a man I’d known my entire life and a close family friend. To be honest, Nick Cardenas was part of my extended family, but when we were in the station or on duty, we kept our relationship strictly professional.
When I was a kid, he didn’t have a problem chewing my ass for doing something stupid, and now that I was an adult and he was my boss, he had even less of a problem doing that. However, it was sympathy I saw on his face today and not anger.
“I guess it’s been fucked up for years, and I’ve just learned to ignore it. I was sure I just twisted it or something the other night, but then Spruce took some X-rays and Jenna got involved. Now there’s an orthopedic surgeon in the chat, and I’m completely fucked.”
Nick crossed his arms over his chest and took a deep breath as he looked over my shoulder at the view outside his office window. I knew not to bother him when he had that look on his face, so I sat quietly, wallowing in my self-pity while I waited for him to say something.
“I’ve got two positions open, and I’ve been considering consolidating them into a new one. The pay would be better than what you’re bringing in now, and the hours wouldn’t completely suck, but it would require you to be responsible 24/7.”
“Doing what?”
“Carter, the resource officer at Bowie, is ready to retire. Also, a few days ago, I was given an opportunity to bring in another drug dog from a few counties over. He’s already been trained, but the officer he worked with died suddenly, and he’s having a hard time adjusting.
I spoke to the wife of the officer, and she insists that the dog is mourning and will be fine once he gets back into a structured routine and starts working again.
I think you’re the perfect candidate to be both Carter’s replacement and the dog’s new handler.
You’re young enough to relate to the students but old enough to be trusted by the staff.
I also happen to know that you’re great with animals and active enough to keep up with the constant training and exercise a working dog like that requires. ”
“And I won’t have to pass the PT requirements?” I asked in shock.
Nick smirked and then said, “I think accommodations can be made, considering Carter hasn’t been able to pass the PT exam in about fifteen years.”
I chuckled when I imagined the portly Officer Carter trying to run an eight-minute mile. Hell, the poor man was older than my parents, and I was pretty sure neither of them could either.
But then again, my dad might finish out of sheer grit and determination.
My mom, on the other hand, would scoff at the thought and then challenge whoever was administering the test to try to make it through an hour of advanced yoga without keeling over.
Considering that class nearly killed me every time I tried it, she’d most definitely win that competition.
“What do you think, Dumont?” the chief asked.
“I’m thinking that what I thought was the worst day of my life may have just turned into the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
◆◆◆
THREE MONTHS AGO
“Have you been following the rules?” Lana asked as I used my crutches to maneuver through the torture devices set up around the workout room. “I know you’re not the best at that.”
“Out of all our friends, who can you think of that would be better at following the recovery guidelines after surgery than me?” I asked.
Lana thought about it and then nodded before she said, “You have a point there, Brawley. I’d have to say that you really are the best bet.”
“You said that I was making good progress earlier,” I reminded her.
“You are! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a patient who was as far advanced in their recovery only four weeks out of surgery. I’m sure it’s been hard to adapt to such a sedate lifestyle, considering you were always on the move, but you seem to be doing very well. What’s your secret?”
“I got a dog.”
“I heard about that! I can’t wait to meet him.”
“I should be able to start taking him with me everywhere soon, but right now, we’re still getting to know each other and doing what training we can while I’m still on crutches.”
“It’s good there are things you can do with him.”